We held our monthly JCC Cinema event on Saturday, 5th March 2016 and screened a heart warming documentary entitled, ‘Oyako ~ Present to the Future~. The documentary by renowned photographer Bruce Osborn follows him on his life learn journey of his OYAKO photo series.

With a mission to create public awareness on the importance of family ties, Osborn travels around Japan to meet and photograph Oyako relations. The documentary focus attention on footage from post-disaster visits to East Japan, interviews from prominent spokespeople for Japanese culture and a short play on Oyako.

The screening saw an attendance of over 60 people and most knew and supports the Oyako movement. Following are questions we asked the audience and their response to them:

Watching the documentary, did it affect your viewpoint on the Oyako exhibition? Let us know, how so?

“Very much so. The film reminded me the importance of strong and good relationships.”

“The behind the scenes about the exhibition through the documentary made the stories come to life.”

“Documentary film gave depth to the exhibition.”
“The importance of family.”

What are your impressions on the 3.11 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami tragedy and which particular aspect of the movie did you like most?

“Very striking images and wonderful film!”

“It devastated many lives and was very touching to see the bonds of the parents and children.”

”It was devastating, but the exhibition and documentary provided a new perspective of hope and the human spirit. The documentary behind the photo exhibition.”

“Bruce's passion and principle of taking photos of parent-child as an important unit.”

“Life is unpredictable. How we deal with adversity is very important and enlightening.”

“I was still in Japan then and the strength of the people in the film in Tohoku was truly inspirational.”