Lessons of the Blood
2010 - Film & Video (Film & Video)
1:46:30 minutes
James T. Hong
Lessons of the Blood by James T. Hong pieces together interviews, extensive archival and field research, and TV footage addressing Japan’s use of biological warfare and experimentation on Chinese prisoners during World War II, as well as the revisionism of the Japanese government and Chinese survivors’ attempts to live with this horrific history and to find justice. Co-written, directed, edited and produced with Yin-Ju Chen, whose work is also represented in the Kadist collection, Lessons of the Blood is a meditation on propaganda, the ways in which national mythologies can literally infect and poison the most vulnerable among us, and the legacy of World War II in China, presented through the testimonies of survivors, academics, medical experts, nationalists and activists. The film locates its genesis in the publication of the New History Textbook in Japan in 2000, which infamously glossed over the Japanese Empire’s wartime atrocities, sparking rage and violent protests in China and South Korea in 2005. Using the publication of the textbook as a point of departure, Hong and Chen spent six years — starting in 2004 — following disparate strands of research, including tracking down and interviewing over twenty survivors in China — many of whom lived in highly inaccessible, rural enclaves, spoke local dialects rather than Mandarin, and were locatable only by visiting these villages in person and forming relationships within the local community. Lessons of the Blood also acts as a legal document, as Hong and Chen’s research and documentation were used to aid the survivors after an initial unsuccessful lawsuit against the Japanese government. Because the film spans a period of six years, it subsequently chronicles — through the eyes of ordinary people left behind by both Chinese and Japanese nationalistic agendas — the changes in a rapidly changing China, which chose to remain silent about its Pacific neighbor’s wartime atrocities for many decades because of its economic dependency on Japan.
James T. Hong is an Asian-American filmmaker and artist whose works focus on controversial race and class issues, and historical conflicts in Asia. His film, 731: Two Versions of Hell (2007), was awarded the Best World Documentary Award at the Jihlava International Festival in 2007. Other film productions include Lessons of the Blood (2010) and The Turner Film Diaries (2012).
Colors:
Related works sharing similar palette
© » KADIST
arquivo mangue
2022o que diriam as pedras a marte? [What would the stones say to Mars?] is a sculptural work consisting of two parts by arquivo mangue...
© » KADIST
What are the genealogies of curatorial and artistic pedagogies within West Africa? Which models of transmission can enable cross-border solidarities, exchanges, and sustainable education? In a discussion with curators and cultural practitioners active on the African continent or taking part in its diaspora, we will reflect on the contemporary art ecosystem through the lens of alternative pedagogies...
© » ARTS EQUATOR
Mapping Asian Arts Media: Key Findings (Singapore, Malaysia and Cambodia) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles March 5, 2021 By Kathy Rowland What is the state of the arts media landscape in Southeast Asia? Based on global trends, the answer seemed evident: the landscape has shrunk, and its impact on the arts ecosystem is a growing concern amongst arts writers, artists and policy makers...
© » AMERICANSFORTHEARTS
Americans for the Arts Remembers Star of Film, TV, and Stage, Angela Lansbury | Americans for the Arts Jump to navigation Americans for the Arts Arts Action Fund National Arts Marketing Project pARTnership Movement Animating Democracy Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Instagram YouTube Load Picture Home News Room Americans for the Arts Remembers Star of Film, TV, and Stage, Angela Lansbury Hello Guest | Login Americans for the Arts Remembers Star of Film, TV, and Stage, Angela Lansbury Friday, October 14, 2022 Americans for the Arts mourns the loss of beloved Artists Committee member Dame Angela Lansbury , who passed away in her Los Angeles home on October 11, 2022, at the age of 96...
© » KADIST
Alicia McCarthy
2010A painting reminiscent of a certain “naive primitivism,” Untitled (the way in is the way out) is representative of McCarthy’s work...
© » THEARTNEWSPER
New York Old Master sales deliver tepid results at Christie's and Sotheby's Art market Museums & heritage Exhibitions Books Podcasts Columns Technology Adventures with Van Gogh Search Search Art market news New York Old Master sales deliver tepid results at Christie's and Sotheby's Scattered seven-figure highlights failed to make up for dozens of passed lots and multiple key withdrawals Judd Tully 2 February 2024 Share Nardo di Cione, Madonna Annunciate; Archangel Gabriel (14th c.) Courtesy of Sotheby's The premier auctions among Christie’s and Sotheby’s winter sales of Old Master works in New York this week did little to counter concerns about the deteriorating market for the classics...
© » 1854 PHOTOGRAPHY
The Desi Boys will show you Kolkata from the streets - 1854 Photography Subscribe latest Agenda Bookshelf Projects Industry Insights magazine Explore ANY ANSWERS FINE ART IN THE STUDIO PARENTHOOD ART & ACTIVISM FOR THE RECORD LANDSCAPE PICTURE THIS CREATIVE BRIEF GENDER & SEXUALITY MIXED MEDIA POWER & EMPOWERMENT DOCUMENTARY HOME & BELONGING ON LOCATION PORTRAITURE DECADE OF CHANGE HUMANITY & TECHNOLOGY OPINION THEN & NOW Explore Stories latest agenda bookshelf projects theme in focus industry insights magazine ANY ANSWERS FINE ART IN THE STUDIO PARENTHOOD ART & ACTIVISM FOR THE RECORD LANDSCAPE PICTURE THIS CREATIVE BRIEF GENDER & SEXUALITY MIXED MEDIA POWER & EMPOWERMENT DOCUMENTARY HOME & BELONGING ON LOCATION PORTRAITURE DECADE OF CHANGE HUMANITY & TECHNOLOGY OPINION THEN & NOW All images from Desi Boys © Soham Gupta Soham Gupta made his name capturing Kolkata’s unseen poor...
© » KADIST
Enar de Dios Rodríguez
2022Ecotone by Enar de Dios Rodríguez is a video work presented in six chapters, each beginning and ending with a one-sided telephone dialog with an informal, friendly and conversational tone, that leads quickly into complex philosophical subjects...
© » KADIST
Paul McCarthy
2008Memory Mistake of the Eldridge Cleaver Pants was created for the show Paul McCarthy’s Low Life Slow Life Part 1 , held at California College of the Arts’s Wattis Institute in 2008 and curated by McCarthy himself...