AN EVENING WITH STEVEN OKAZAKI

In Conversation with Pacific Time's Nguyen Qui Duc
Preceded by the world premiere screening of THE MUSHROOM CLUB

Historical PBS documentaries, gritty HBO-funded cinema-vŽritŽ works, and Sundance-hit independent feature narratives: Steven Okazaki's career has been one of remarkable range and accomplishment. In this rare appearance, Okazaki, in conversation with award-winning journalist and author Nguyen Qui Duc, will discuss his almost-three-decade career, and the many highlights and incredible stories which populate it. From his commitment to documenting the Japanese American experience, to his Academy Award for best short documentary in 1991, to his success in working with funders as diverse as PBS, HBO and Japan's NHK, this will be a session not to be missed. Okazaki will also discuss and take questions from the audience about his latest film, THE MUSHROOM CLUB.

THE MUSHROOM CLUB

USA 2005 | 35mins | Video Color | English & Japanese w/E.S.

Twenty-five years ago, in his documentary SURVIVORS, Steven Okazaki interviewed men and women who had lived through the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 2005, he returns to this subject and its many unresolved questions to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

THE MUSHROOM CLUB offers an urgent reminder of the destructive legacy of war, and a plea for more thoughtful engagement. The film's subjects include a 90-year-old survivor who collects the melted glass and metal that still washes ashore in Hiroshima, and members of "The Mushroom Club," a support group created for children born with defects caused by nuclear contamination.

Both a personal reflection and a moving portrait of the city and people of Hiroshima, THE MUSHROOM CLUB explores the legacy of the bombing, from its myths and monuments to its survivors, to the complex politics of pacifism and militarization which Japan still struggles with today.

—Chi-hui Yang