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Producer
Shizumi
Shigeto
Manale
Shizumi
Shigeto
Manale
is a
performing
artist,
choreographer,
educator,
and
film
producer
born
in
Hiroshima
and
raised
in
Osaka,
Japan.
"Pictures
from a
Hiroshima
Schoolyard"
marks
her
third
and
most
ambitious
film
collaboration
with
Bryan
Reichhardt
of
Boru
Television.
Several
years
ago
during
a
visit
to All
Souls
Unitarian
Church
in
Washington,
D.C.,
she
discovered
the
remarkable
artworks
featured
in the
film.
Since
then,
Shizumi
has
worked
tirelessly
to
locate,
establish
connections
with,
and
learn
from
the
original
Japanese
artists
and
teachers
who
are
now in
their
70s
and
80s.
Shizumi's
experience
in the
medium
of
film
traces
back
to
1974,
when
she
received
a
grant
to
attend
the
University
of
California
at
Berkeley.
There
she
wrote,
choreographed,
directed
and
danced
in the
film
"Prejudice
Against
Love."
Another
film
project
focused
on
dance,
"An
Artist's
Loneliness,"
was
featured
in the
Vincent
Van
Gogh
Film
Festival
at the
Van
Gogh
Museum
in
Amsterdam
in
1986.
In
1990,
Shizumi
first
collaborated
with
the
director
of
"Pictures
from a
Hiroshima
Schoolyard,"
Bryan
Reichhardt.
His
film
about
Shizumi's
performing
arts
works,
"Shizumi
Dance
Theater,"
won
that
year's
cable
television's
Award
for
Cable
Excellence
(Cable
ACE)
for
excellence
in
dance
and
drama.
This
collaboration
was
followed
by the
documentary
film,
"Geisha:
An
Artists
Journey,"
which
was
developed
to
explore
the
vanishing
world
of the
geisha
and
inspirations
for
Shizumi's
own
art.
Shizumi
coordinated
filming
in
Hiroshima,
Kyoto,
Osaka,
Tokyo
and
Nara
in
Japan.
The
film,
which
premiered
at the
National
Geographic
Society,
was
first
broadcast
in
2007
on PBS
television,
where
it
continues
to be
shown
each
spring,
and
was
featured
in the
Santa
Barbara
International
Film
Festival.
Shizumi's
primary
artistic
discipline
is
dance.
She
has
trained
in two
separate
forms
of
Japanese
traditional
theater--Kyogen
and
Noh--which
were
perfected
during
the
Muromachi
period
(1336-1568),
and
Nihon
Buyo
(jiuta
mai
style),
a
refined
dance
that
has
developed
over
the
course
of
four
centuries
and is
intended
for
entertainment
on
stage.
Shizumi
also
studied
dance
with
the
San
Francisco
Ballet
and
theater
at San
Francisco
State
University.
Shizumi
is
involved
in
many
activities
in the
Washington,
D.C.
area
where
she
now
lives.
She
has
served
as an
artistic
consultant
for
the
National
Cherry
Blossom
Festival
for
the
past
seven
years,
including
coordinating
a "Zen
Garden
Exhibition"
at the
National
Geographic
Society
in
2007.
Shizumi
continually
works
to
introduce
Japanese
culture
to
young
people
and
others.
She is
the
founder
and an
artistic
director,
and
choreographer
of
Shizumi
Kodomo
(Children)
Dance
Troupe,
which
provides
children
ages
3-18
the
opportunity
to
learn
Japanese
traditional
and
modern
dance
and to
perform
at
such
major
venues
as the
Kennedy
Center.
In
2009,
she
choreographed
the
Kodomo
Dance
Troupe's
performance
at the
Smithsonian
Institution
on the
eve of
President
Obama's
Inauguration.
Shizumi
also
developed
and
produced
the
dance/theater
piece
"Kakurembo/Hide
and
Seek"
for a
Japan
tour
of
deaf
and
hard
of
hearing
students
from
D.C.'s
Gallaudet
University
and
choreographed
Silver
Spring,
MD
based
Lumina
Studio
Theater's
production
of
"Shogun
Caesar"--a
version
of
Shakespeare's
Julius
Caesar
set in
feudal
Japan.
Her
assistance
with
the
play
"Nora's
Lost"
at
Yorktown
High
School
in
Virginia
led to
the
school
becoming
regional
champions
of the
VHSL
One
Act
Play
Competition.
As
a
rostered
artist
of the
arts
education
organization
Class
Acts
Arts,
Shizumi
travels
to
schools
and
other
organizations
across
the
Washington,
D.C.
region
to
provide
children
and
others
with a
wide-ranging
introduction
to
Japanese
culture.
In
addition
to her
dance
performances,
educational
programs
on
Japanese
culture,
and
film
projects,
Shizumi
is
currently
working
on a
manuscript
about
the
life
of a
seven-year-old
Japanese
girl
who
grew
up in
Hiroshima
after
World
War
II.
Producer's
Note
Why
I Want
To
Make
the
Film
"Pictures
from a
Hiroshima
Schoolyard"
By
Shizumi
Shigeto
Manale
To
me,
these
drawings
and
calligraphy
by
Hiroshima
schoolchildren
are
evidence
of a
miracle
that
opens
the
door
to
another
level
of
human
kindness.
I
first
saw
these
drawings
together
with
three
hibakusha
(atomic
bomb
survivors)--Mr.
Yoshio
Sato
(75
years
old),
Shotaro
Kodama
(76
years
old),
and
Kazuhiro
Yoshimura
(65
years
old)--from
Hiroshima
and
Nagasaki.
We
were
at All
Souls
Unitarian
Church
in
Washington,
D.C.
on
August
9,
2006.
The
drawings
had
been
carefully
removed
from a
neat
paper
cardboard
box.
Though
slightly
damaged
by
mold
and
moisture,
they
still,
surprisingly
after
59
years,
expressed
the
energy
and
excitement
of the
school
children
in
Hiroshima
who
had
created
them
long
ago.
I
knew
immediately
that
these
drawings
had to
be
preserved
in
order
to
keep
alive,
not
only
the
hopes
and
dreams
of the
artists,
but
the
history
of a
tragic
historical
period
recorded
by
these
children.
It
would
be
critically
important
to
start
the
restoration
and
preservation
work
as
soon
as
possible.
As
I
removed
the
drawings
from
the
box,
they
looked
as
colorful
and
alive
as if
the
children
had
just
finished
them!
I was
stunned
and
could
not
find a
word
to
express
this
miracle.
Looking
at
these
drawings
triggered
the
memories
of one
of the
hibakusha,
Mr.
Yoshio
Sato.
Though
currently
living
in
Tokyo,
he
talked
about
his
childhood
memories
and
Hiroshima
as if
he was
back
in the
city.
Then,
questions
arose.
Since
these
pieces
dated
from
1947,
we
could
not
help
but
wonder
if
Hiroshima
was
enjoying
the
cherry
blossoms
at the
time
as was
depicted.
Was
the
city
this
beautiful?
Was
the
amusement
park
still
there?
Photos
of
Honkawa
Elementary
School
in
1947
show
us
devastating
ruins,
including
school
windows
and
doors
with
glass
blown
out.
But
what
the
students
drew
was
what
their
hearts
saw.
Another
hibakusha
could
not
help
but be
inspired
by
these
children
as he
silently
stared
at
their
drawings.
Another
kept
taking
pictures
to
preserve
their
liveliness.
It
was an
inspirational
moment
for
everyone
in the
room
that
day---as
if a
life
treasure
had
been
found.
Especially
for a
Japanese
person
like
myself,
it is
easy
to
relate
to the
feelings
expressed
by
these
children,
to be
inspired
and to
feel
sympathy.
But
there
is a
more
universal
meaning
in
these
drawings,
a
specific
perspective
that
transcends
a
particular
place.
It
is the
responsibility
of our
generation
to
preserve
the
history
found
here
and
pass
it on
to
future
generations.
By
restoring
and
preserving
these
drawings,
we
will
also
pay
tribute
to the
kindness
in the
hearts
of
ordinary
Americans
and
members
of a
small
church
in
Washington,
D.C.
in
1947,
during
this
most
difficult
period
in the
relationship
between
the
U.S
and
Japan.
In
order
to
make
more
people
aware
of the
drawings
and
the
story
behind
them,
as
well
as
demonstrate
their
relevance
for
our
society
and
the
world
today,
a
documentary
film
seemed
the
best
medium.
In
this
film
we
will
interview
surviving
child
artists
from
the
school
in
1947
as
well
as
members
of All
Souls
Unitarian
Church
whose
vision
to aid
children
in
Hiroshima
led to
the
artwork--and
who
continue
educational
and
peace-building
work
today.
The
film
will
provide
a
first-hand
account
of the
artwork
of
Japanese
school
children
who
survived
the
bombing
of
Hiroshima
and
also
the
compassion
this
attack
stirred
in
members
of a
church
in
Washington,
D.C.
at
that
time.
Fortunately,
in the
winter
of
2007,
members
of All
Souls
Unitarian
Church
found
the
funds
to
restore
these
pictures.
When I
heard
about
their
efforts,
I felt
they
had
bestowed
kindness
on my
own
children.
It is
a
deeply
moving
story,
and
the
artwork
created
by
these
children,
victims
of one
of the
most
devastating
human-made
disasters
in
history,
speaks
to us
still.
The
aim of
this
educational
effort
titled
"Pictures
from a
Hiroshima
Schoolyard"
will
be to
allow
children
and
the
community
at
large
to see
how
life
transcends
adversity,
whether
it is
physical
or
emotional.
By
offering
a look
at
this
tragic
episode
in
history,
the
film
will
offer
children
a new
perspective
on
their
lives
today.
This
project
salutes
Japan's
role
as a
leader
in the
movement
for
world
peace
as the
only
people
who
have
suffered
from
the
use of
nuclear
bombs
in
time
of
war.
In
the
past
several
years
since
beginning
work
on
this
project,
I have
been
able
to
locate
21 of
the
artists
of the
drawings
in
Japan,
two in
America
and
also 2
of
their
former
teachers.
We
were
able
to
film
in
Hiroshima
during
the
summer
of
2007
and,
with
support
from a
US-Japan
Foundation
grant,
again
in
Hiroshima
and
the
U.S.
in
2009-10.
We
have
interviewed
more
than
fifteen
people,
including
American
witnesses
of the
history
behind
these
pictures.
By
presenting
this
documentary
film
"Pictures
from a
Hiroshima
Schoolyard"
to
American
and
Japanese
audiences,
we
hope
to
instill
a
sense
of
responsibility
for
preserving
history,
learning
from
the
lessons
of the
past,
and
fostering
peace
and
harmony
in
today's
world.
Shizumi
Shigeto
Manale
Shizumidance@starpower.net
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