"Wings of Defeat" and "Wings of Defeat: Another Journey" Double Screening
Date: Wednesday, Sep 10th
Time: 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM
"Wings of Defeat":
Risa Morimoto’s evocative documentary boldly confronts the popular notion of the kamikaze as fanatical patriots. The film’s genesis lies in the filmmaker’s discovery that her own uncle was a kamikaze pilot. To understand his experience, Morimoto delves into the complex history of the kamikaze, a history long shrouded by secrecy and shame after Japan’s defeat in World War II.
"Wings of Defeat: Another Journey":
Six American Navy veterans were interviewed for WINGS OF DEFEAT about surviving a kamikaze assault on their ship. After seeing the completed film, in which former kamikaze reveal that they were ordered to die, two veterans, Fred Mitchell and Gene Brick asked to meet their former enemies. Fred Mitchell wants to try to shed the hatred he has harbored for the Japanese who sank his ship and killed his friends. Sixty years later he still suffers from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and hopes that meeting former kamikaze face to face will help ease the burden of his nightmarish memories. Gene Brick simply wants to know why the kamikaze had been so eager to kill themselves crashing into enemy ships.
With a talk after the screenings with Producer/Director Risa Morimoto, Producer/Writer Linda Hoaglund, and Shireen Patell, Clinical Assistant Professor of Trauma & Violence Transdisciplinary Studies at NYU. Moderated by Shuki Cohen, Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY.
Cantor Film Center
36 East 8th Street
Theater 102
New York, NY 10003
212) 998-4100
http://www.apa.nyu.edu/