The Japan Foundation

Eleven major film makers from Europe, America and Asia talk about Akira Kurosawa and discover surprising influences on their own work.

After the atomic obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, over 36,000 Australian men and women, part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), marched onto Japanese soil. They were assigned the toughest and most dangerous area of Japan: Hiroshima Prefecture, which included the atom-bombed city. The Forgotten Force tells for the first time the story of Australia's role in Japan. Rare archival and private footage, photographs and eyewitness accounts from both sides vividly recreate the atmosphere of post-war Japan - the horror of Hiroshima and its aftermath; the struggle to build a new "democratic" society while under the heel of military rule; the growth from suspicion and fear to friendship and trust between foes.

This omnibus film consists of three films made by three directors from three countries. With “Journey” as the theme, each of these films tells about a journey. “The Sea” is a film by Degena Yun (China), telling about mother and child’s trip to the sea from Beijing. “Hekishu,” a film by Daishi Matsunaga (Japan), tells about the journey of a Japanese businessman involved in infrastructure development in Yangon. The film depicts the entrepreneur’s emotional feelings in the face of Yangon residents who lost their homes due to the construction of the new infrastructure. The last is a film titled “Variable No. 3” by Edwin (Indonesia), which tells the story of a couple’s journey to Tokyo. There they meet a mysterious man. The man who works as a tour guide and rents out the inn, gives a strange advice to the husband and wife.

A Humble Life is certainly true to its title, a documentary study of the day-to-day world of Umeno Mathuyoshi, an old woman who lives in an isolated mountain house in the Nara prefecture in Japan.