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Update May 6:<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n On May 23, filmmakers Junko Kajino and Ed M.\u00a0Koziarski fly to Japan to begin production of the documentary\u00a0Uncanny\u00a0Terrain<\/a><\/em>, about organic farmers’ response to Japan’s nuclear crisis. We’ve\u00a0been consulting with experts in the U.S. and Japan about safety precautions and\u00a0the questions we need to ask, as we\u00a0capture the farmers’ efforts to meet\u00a0this otherworldly threat with natural methods, and Japan’s efforts to preserve\u00a0its food supply, its communities and its landscape.<\/span><\/p>\n This is a critical moment for the organic farmers\u00a0just outside the nuclear evacuation zone around the beleaguered Fukushima\u00a0Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. \u00a0Some of the farmers have already been forced\u00a0to abandon their land, their livestock, and their homes to the threat of\u00a0radioactive fallout. \u00a0But many more are faced with uncertainty about the\u00a0level of contamination in their soil, and they’re exploring how they can help the land repair itself.<\/span><\/p>\n Nearly 50 donors have generously contributed to cover\u00a0our travel, but we still need your help to purchase video and audio equipment\u00a0as well as radiation monitoring and protection gear, and to continue production\u00a0through the September harvest. June 11 is our funding deadline, but PayPal\u00a0contributions are available to us immediately. \u00a0If you can, please\u00a0support\u00a0the film today<\/a>, and either way, spread the word by forwarding this email. \u00a0Thanks!<\/span><\/p>\n Japan Tsunami Charity ART show\u00a0and Fukushima\u00a0Nuclear Disaster Benefit <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The weekend before we leave, we’re participating with\u00a0painter\u00a0Hiromi Tanaka<\/span><\/a> and\u00a0musician\u00a0Tatsu Aoki<\/span><\/a> in\u00a0a show at\u00a0Creative Lounge Chicago<\/span><\/a> in\u00a0Wicker Park benefiting the Fukushima Organic Farmers Network, Japanese Red\u00a0Cross,\u00a0and the production of\u00a0Uncanny Terrain. \u00a0If you can,\u00a0please come wish us bon voyage and help these worthy causes. <\/span><\/p>\n It’s Friday and Saturday, May 20-21, 6-10 p.m. at\u00a01564 N. Damen Ave., 3rd Floor. \u00a0$10 minimum donation includes food and\u00a0drink. \u00a0Painting and video installation continues Sunday, May 22, 1-6 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n Links<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Following the Farmers of\u00a0Northern Japan, After the Quake<\/a> <\/span><\/span>by Twilight Greenaway in\u00a0Civil Eats<\/span><\/p>\n Documenting the Disaster:\u00a0Words with director Junko Kajino before she heads to the devastated regions of\u00a0Northeastern Japan to document the effects of radiation on local organic Uncanny Terrain in Nancy\u00a0O’Mallon’s About Harvest<\/a><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n Directors to produce Japan documentary\u00a0this spring<\/a> <\/span><\/span>by Ed M. Koziarski in\u00a0Reel Chicago<\/span><\/p>\n The Story<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The first sprouts are beginning to emerge on Colorsof the Seasons Farm, 45 miles from the malfunctioning Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear\u00a0power plant and 20 miles outside the evacuation zone.<\/span><\/p>\n 28-year-old Masanori Yoshida left his job as a cook\u00a0at a French restaurant in Tokyo three years ago to work his family\u2019s land with\u00a0his wife, siblings, parents, and grandmother.\u00a0 They grow natural crops\u00a0including \u2018firefly rice,\u2019 so named because the insects, driven near extinction\u00a0by chemical pesticides and fertilizer, have proliferated as farmers return to\u00a0the traditional methods practiced by their ancestors.<\/span><\/p>\n The Yoshidas\u2019 farm is one of hundreds of organic\u00a0farms in Tohoku, the earthquake and tsunami-ravaged region of northern Japan\u00a0that supplies much of the rice and vegetables to Tokyo and across the country. \u00a0Government warnings have limited the sale of food grown there since high levels\u00a0of radiation were detected in some spinach, milk and fish from the region.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cWe don\u2019t know if our crops will be safe,\u201d Masanori <\/span>says. \u00a0\u201cWe can\u2019t ignore this issue. But we won\u2019t stop cultivating our <\/span>land. \u00a0We farmers need to nurture the environment, nature and culture, and <\/span>pass them to them to the next generation.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span>Noboru Saitou\u2019s Nihonmatsu Farm is famous for <\/span>cucumbers.\u00a0 He also grows rice, shiitake, garlic chives, bamboo shoots, <\/span>and flowers.\u00a0 Noboru works closely with the agricultural city of <\/span>Nihonmatsu, 25 miles from the troubled nuclear reactor on the edge of the <\/span>evacuation zone.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cToday, the \u2018problem\u2019 spinach sprouted,\u201d Noboru says.\u00a0\u201cWe were supposed to ship this after it grew, but now we can\u2019t. \u00a0After spinach is cucumber season, then rice.\u00a0 When the fields are golden\u00a0we will harvest the rice.\u00a0 That\u2019s the best part of farming.\u00a0 After\u00a0that we\u2019ll plant canola.\u00a0 Each plant yields a lot.\u00a0 I hope I can\u00a0continue this year.\u00a0 But now I see how hard it is.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Hiromasa Kitagawa is the unofficial leader of MattariVillage, an off-the-grid community of homes made from recycled construction lumber, powered by wind, solar and water, heated by wood fire.\u00a0 The people\u00a0of Mattari share the food they grow.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe grow vegetables that you can even eat the skin,\u201d\u00a0Hiromasu says.\u00a0 \u201cWe spend our time and passion to go back to the way\u00a0vegetables are supposed to be grown\u2026 We aim for 100% self-sufficiency. \u00a0Soon we hope to open our community for people to experience the sustainable\u00a0lifestyle.\u00a0 It\u2019s cold in winter, but spring is so green, autumn\u2019s colors\u00a0are vivid, the night sky is beautiful, the water is clear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n After the earthquake, Megumi Kondou was evacuated\u00a0from her Chitata Farm. \u00a0Megumi awaits government approval to return to her\u00a0farm.\u00a0 She may not be able to grow her renowned koshihikari <\/em>rice\u00a0this year.\u00a0 Instead she\u2019s considering growing canola, which she believes Farmers and scientists search desperately for ways to\u00a0continue safely using this rich land, or restore it to its natural state. \u00a0Whether they can succeed, or whether the farmers must abandon their ancestral\u00a0homesteads, remains to be seen.<\/span><\/p>\n After suffering the world\u2019s only nuclear attacks in\u00a0World War II, Japan emerged from poverty and devastation and entered into a\u00a0period of unprecedented technological innovation and economic growth.\u00a0 Can\u00a0today\u2019s Japanese respond to this catastrophe with new forms of innovation that\u00a0will allow this nuclear-dependent society to continue providing healthy food to The Project<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Filmmakers Junko Kajino and Ed M. Koziarski are\u00a0embarking on the new documentary Uncanny Terrain<\/em>, to follow the organic\u00a0farmers of Tohoku as they contend with the threat that nuclear fallout from the\u00a0Fukushima Power Plant poses to their land and their livelihood. <\/span><\/p>\n From spring planting season, we will document the\u00a0testing of their land and crops for radiation, their efforts to adjust to the\u00a0changing environment, through the harvest and beyond. <\/span><\/p>\n We are seeking financial support to cover our travel\u00a0and living across Tohoku in the coming months, and for the purchase of highly\u00a0portable, high quality video equipment to document what we find. <\/span><\/p>\n We will build an international online community of\u00a0people interested in sustainable agriculture and energy and in the future ofJapan, through regular video updates and ongoing dialogue around the issues\u00a0raised in the film.\u00a0 In the end we will have a film intended for\u00a0international broadcast and distribution, and around the film we will have\u00a0generated a wealth of new friends, knowledge and media to address these\u00a0questions in our own communities. <\/span><\/p>\n The Filmmakers<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Ed and Junko wrote, produced and directed the\u00a0psychological drama feature film The First Breath of Tengan Rei<\/span><\/em><\/a>. \u00a0Erika Oda of Kore-Eda\u2019s After Life<\/em> stars as an Okinawan woman who They\u2019re developing the film and graphic novel Hand\u00a0Head\u00a0Heart, <\/em>based on Junko\u2019s experience growing up in a traditional extended family on\u00a0a cattle farm in central Japan, and learning the sword fighting martial art kendo<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nfarmers<\/a> <\/span><\/span>by Quin Slovek in\u00a0Inflatable Ferret<\/span><\/p>\n
\nmay help reduce radiation in the soil, and is a potential source of biodiesel.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nits people, and live in better harmony with the natural world?<\/span><\/p>\n
\nkidnaps the teenage son of a U.S. Marine convicted of raping her when she was a\u00a0girl.\u00a0 An IFP Independent Film Lab selection, Rei<\/em> screened\u00a0theatrically, at educational venues and festivals across the U.S., Japan and in\u00a0India.<\/span><\/p>\n