Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue

The Bridge

October 1959 •German

A group of German boys are ordered to protect a small bridge in their home village during the waning months of the second world war. Truckloads of defeated, cynical Wehrmacht soldiers flee the approaching American troops, but the boys, full of enthusiasm for the "blood and honor" Nazi ideology, stay to defend the useless bridge. The film is based on a West German anti-war novel of the same name, written by Gregor Dorfmeister.

The Women Outside

July 1996 •English

They're called bar women, hostesses, or sex workers and "western princesses." They come from poor families, struggling to earn a decent wage, only to be forced into the world's oldest profession. They're the women who work in the camptowns that surround U.S. military bases in South Korea. In 40 years, over a million women have worked in Korea's military sex industry, but their existence has never been officially acknowledged by either government. In The Women Outside, a film by J.T. Orinne Takagi and Hye Jung Park, some of these women bravely speak out about their lives for the first time. The film raises provocative questions about military policy, economic survival, and the role of women in global geopolitics

Thou Shalt Not Kill

August 1991 •Polish

Józef Gębski's film is a documentary reconstruction of the crime committed by NKVD officers against Polish officers imprisoned in Starobielsk and Kharkov in 1940. Accounts of historians and prosecutors are juxtaposed with the testimony of the then heads of the central and regional NKVD board.

The Last Princess

August 2016 •Korean

Under the oppressive Japanese colonial rule, Deok-hye, the last Princess of the declining Joseon Dynasty, is forced to move to Japan. She spends her days missing home, while struggling to maintain dignity as a princess. After a series of failed tries, Deok-hye makes her final attempt to return home with help of her childhood sweetheart, Jang-han.

Hatred

October 2016 •Polish

Summer of 1939. Zosia is a young Polish girl who is deeply in love with Ukrainian Petro. Their great love will be put to the test when her father decides to marry her to a wealthy widower Skiba. Right after wedding she is left alone because her husband is drafted to the Polish army for the war with Germany. Meanwhile, tensions grow due to Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians living side by side.

The Collaborator

January 2007 •English

During the conflict in the former Yugoslavia many soldiers were convinced to kill fellow citizens including friends and relatives in the name of patriotism. The Kolaborator follows the story of Goran, 24, a promising young soccer player who is forced to become a soldier. Goran goes from being a talented athlete to an executioner virtually overnight. Following orders, Goran lines up civilians, shoots them and drags them into mass graves. Justifying his role as a protector of his people, Goran becomes increasingly detached from the task until his soccer coach and life-long friend, Asim, is led in front of him. As a familiar face stands defeated before him, Goran must reconsider his actions and choose between his own life and that of his dear friend.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

May 1983 •Japanese

Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.

Breaker Morant

June 1980 •English

During the Boer War, three Australian lieutenants are on trial for shooting Boer prisoners. Though they acted under orders, they are being used as scapegoats by the General Staff, who hopes to distance themselves from the irregular practices of the war. The trial does not progress as smoothly as expected by the General Staff, as the defence puts up a strong fight in the courtroom.

The Fog of Srebrenica

September 2016 •English

This is the story of survivors of the Srebrenica genocide, the only holocaust in Europe since WWII. 8,372 Bosnian men and boys were killed in one week.Heartbreaking and mind blowing testimonials - the story told by survivors, contrasted by hauntingly beautiful landscapes and horrifying archive. The film portrays extraordinary characters, people who have been struggling to come to terms with the past as well as dealing with the harsh realities of living in one of the poorest countries in Europe. Their stories raise serious and profound questions about the nature of human existence, war and forgiveness.

Conspiracy

May 2001 •English

At the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials meet to determine the manner in which the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" can be best implemented.

The Devil Came on Horseback

January 2007 •English

While serving with the African Union, former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle documents the brutal ethnic cleansing occuring in Darfur. Determined that the Western public should know about the atrocities he is witnessing, Steidle contacts New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof, who publishes some of Steidle's photographic evidence.

Comfort

September 2020 •Korean

The Hardest Hour

February 2024 •Ukrainian

The unique testimony of the tragic events and crimes of russia through the eyes of Ukrainians, which the entire world must see and feel. Film was created from 200 hours of chronicles: survival, resistance, and life during the war. Every minute was filmed by Ukrainians with their mobile phones. Each story in the documentary is a film captured and filmed by Ukrainians on their devices.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

May 2007 •English

Beginning just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn, the story is told through two unique perspectives: Charles Eastman, a young, white-educated Sioux doctor held up as living proof of the alleged success of assimilation, and Sitting Bull the proud Lakota chief whose tribe won the American Indians’ last major victory at Little Big Horn.

My Own Breathing

March 2000 •Korean

"My Own Breathing" is the final documentary of the trilogy, The Murmuring about comfort women during the World War II directed by BYUN Young-joo. This is the completion of her seven years work. BYUN's first and second documentaries spoke of grandmothers' everyday life through the origin of their torment, while My Own Breathing goes back to their past from their everyday life. Deleting any device of narration or music, the camera lets grandmothers talk about themselves. Finally, the film revives their deep voices trampled by harsh history.

The Great Raid

August 2005 •English

As World War II rages, the elite Sixth Ranger Battalion is given a mission of heroic proportions: push 30 miles behind enemy lines and liberate over 500 American prisoners of war.

In the Valley of Elah

September 2007 •English

A career officer and his wife work with a police detective to uncover the truth behind their son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.

A Resistance

February 2019 •Korean

17-year-old Yu Gwan-Sun participates in the Korean independence movement. The country is under the rule of Japan, which annexed the country in 1910.

The Battle: Roar to Victory

August 2019 •Korean

Over a 4 day period, a fierce battle takes place between Korean independence militias and imperialist Japanese forces in Manchuria, China. The militia includes a master swordsman and an expert marksman.

Red Maria 2

September 2015 •Korean

Korean sex worker Yonhee goes to Japan to build solidarity with her counterparts there. YAMASITA Youngae heads for Kyoto to give a lecture on how former prostitute-turned-comfort women were left out of the movement to achieve justice for comfort women. Korean professor PARK Yu-ha is sued by former comfort women because of her book Comfort Women of the Empire. Reportage writer KAWADA Fumiko Tells the story of BAE Bonki, a Korean who worked as a comfort woman in Okinawa. Shuttling between the issue of sex workers who refuse to be pictured as victims and the issue of comfort women who couldn’t even be acknowledged as victims, the film reveals stories that had disappeared from official memory.