Film: A Body in Fukushima
A Body in Fukushima is a film created by Eiko Otake to be screened either with or without a photo exhibition and/or Eiko's live performance. The film was crafted from tens of thousands of photographs, taken by William Johnston, of Eiko Otake in the surreal, irradiated landscapes of post-nuclear meltdown Fukushima, Japan.
A Body in Fukushima had its world premiere at the Museum of Modern Art’s Doc Fortnight Festival 2022 and has since been screened at
FICA - International Environmental Film Festival in Goiás, Brazil
Jumping Frames — Hong Kong International Movement-Image Festival in Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong
ROLLOUT Dance Film Festival in Macao
2023 International Uranium Film Festival (The Atomic Age Film Festival) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Theater Rotterdam in the Netherlands
Cinema Verde Environmental Film & Arts Festival in Florida
2024 Yokohama Triennale at the Yokohama Museum of Art in Japan
Indonesia Bertutur’s Layarambha Program
Eiko traveled six times to evacuated, desolate Fukushima since the triple disaster—earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown—of 2011. From her second trip forward, she was accompanied by photographer Johnston (also a professor of Japanese history and public health at Wesleyan University) who documented her body in places of nuclear contamination.
This film is an assemblage of photographs and spare inter-titles, accompanied by an original score. Since her last trip to Fukushima in 2019, Eiko has been collaborating with Kronos Quartet’s David Harrington to create the score of violin and found and recorded natural and unnatural sounds. This rendering of A Body in Fukushima will be premiered at Wesleyan University in May 2021.
A Body in Fukushima is comprised of five sections: January 2014, July 2014, August 2016, June 2017, and December 2019. Throughout, Eiko is in constant dialogue with a post-apocalyptic environment as she navigates a changing terrain over five years.
Eiko Otake and William Johnston have co-taught courses on nuclear and environmental issues at Wesleyan University focused on ideas of “the body,” both human and environmental, as a foundation for inquiry. A Body in Fukushima is a testament to their empathy for the environment and a comment on the dangers of human heedlessness in the natural world.
In addition, various parts of A Body in Fukushima have been screened in Brussels, Belgium; Hong Kong; Australia; Frankfurt, Germany; Philadelphia; Fukushima, Japan; Martha's Vineyard; Durham, NC; the Cathedral of St. John the Divine; the University of Toronto; and Taipei, Taiwan. In Taiwan, Eiko also performed a version of A Body in Places following the intermission, using the theater as a "place."
In 2017, co-presented by Performa 2017 and Met Live Arts, Eiko performed all day at the three Met buildings: the Cloisters, the Breuer, and the main building on Fifth Avenue. For this work, Eiko created a seven-hour video.
The film is available in English, Chinese, and Japanese. For those interested in previewing all, please contact us.