A documentary by Academy award winner Steven Okazaki recently premiered across America on the Home Box Office television service, shedding new light on the double atomic bombings some 62 years ago, when the United States targeted Hiroshima, then Nagasaki, in an effort to bring the war to an end in 1945.
Okazaki's highly acclaimed 86-minute "White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" depicts both sides of the story, with narratives by 14 hibakusha and four Americans, including Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk, the navigator of the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped "Little Boy" over Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
" 'White Light/Black Rain' was such a wonderful film to see both sides of the story," said Yumi Tanaka, executive producer of the first-ever New York Peace Film Festival, which highlights films and performing arts related to the bombings.
The Yokohama native, who lives in New York, was struck by the unusual stories of the victims, including Shigeko Sasamori, one of the "Hiroshima Maidens," as well as the Americans, who offered their insights.