The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Overview

Nominated for an Oscar as well as winning a Jury Prize in the Sundance Film Festival last year, short film The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom is a amazing insight into the heart of a culture and people struggling to overcome a national disaster.

Director Lucy Walker unearths incredible stories of bravery, hope and resilience amidst the tattered remains of lives destroyed by the tsunami which hit Japan in the wake of a massive earthquake in March 2011. The film opens with 'citizen' footage of the tsunami approaching and we are privy to a moment that none of us could ever have dreamed of, even in our worst nightmares.

Walker gives us the 'inside' story, not the sensationalist versions seen time and time again on news broadcasts. She approaches the subject with the grace and sensitivity commonly associated with Japanese culture and manages to strike a balance between destruction and vitality, hope and despair. The result is a heartwrenchingly beautiful film that highlights the philosophical nature of the Japanese and demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit.

Screening with The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom is the very personal Scattered. Filmaker Lindsay Lindenbaum tries to make sense of her late father by sifting through the old home movies and photographs he has left her. Beautiful vintage footage and time-stained slides are cut with recent interviews of family members, but the hand-held style of filming can be difficult to stomach at times.

The film paints a portrait of what seems at first a dream life, but which is punctuated by rather unnerving and somewhat disturbing moments. I respect the fact that Lindenbaum has utilised her preferred artistic medium to explore an aspect of her life that obviously intrigues and bothers her, however I'm not sure I got as much out of it as she did.