11:30 am:
“Isamu Noguchi’s Unfinished A-Bomb Cenotaph” (2022)
49 min
Directors: Hama Shuichi and Shimada Keiko
© NHK World Japan
This documentary explores Isamu Noguchi’s unrealized proposal for a cenotaph commemorating the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Wishing to serve as a bridge between America and Japan, Noguchi unsuccessfully proposed two ceremonial monuments which he described as a “place of solace to the bereaved.” With visits to The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum Japan, the city of Hiroshima, The Noguchi Museum in Queens, and more, the program draws from a rich variety of interviews and archival sources including architect Kenzo Tange’s papers at Harvard and audio interviews with Isamu Noguchi to illuminate his efforts to bring this memorial to fruition.

12:30 pm: 
“Son of a Sweeper” (2020)
28 min 35 sec
Director: Dr. Lisa Mills 
This film documents the harsh and often life-threatening working conditions of sweeper communities in India, who manually empty latrines and garbage from streets. The film showcases the work of Vimal Kumar, who describes himself as a “son of a sweeper” and is the founder of a non-governmental organization called the Movement for Scavenger Community, which runs education centers that provide academic and social instruction to the children of sweepers.

4 pm: 
“Nuchi nu Miji – Okinawa’s Water of Life” (2022)
1 hr 10 min
Directors: Natsuko Shimabukuro and Jon Mitchell
© Ryukyu Asahi Broadcasting Corporation 2022
This film portrays Okinawans’ struggle for justice in one of the worst environmental catastrophes in modern Japanese history. Featuring interviews, archival footage, and documents obtained via the US Freedom of Information Act, “Nuchi nu Miji” reveals that since 2016, the drinking water for 450,000 residents, roughly one third of the population, has been contaminated with military PFAS “Forever Chemicals”­ and how the Japanese and US governments have refused to resolve the problem.