The Radiant

Amateur's Riot (Shirōto no ran) is a Japanese association of activists, committed to the living conditions of the poor people (binbōnin) in Tōkyō. The association was founded in 2005 by Matsumoto Hajime, Yamashita Hikaru, Futatsugi Shin, Mochitsuki Rui and Ogasawara Keita. The protagonists of Shiroto no Ran played an important role in the anti-nuclear demonstrations that appeared in response to the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe.

In a quiet forest, a sign warns of radiation hazard. “Is this the past or the future?” muses the masked figure who appears like a kind of ghost in nuclear disaster areas. At a time when nuclear power may be re-emerging as an alternative to fossil fuels, this calmly observed and compelling tour takes us to places that may serve as a warning.

Depicts assorted natural and human disasters, including the crash of the Hindenburg (1937), earthquakes in Alaska (1964) and Long Beach (1933), the LeMans auto racing crash at which 82 people were killed (1955), Hurrican Camille (1964), the eruption of the Mt. Etna volcano (1971), a tornado (1974), the collapse of Idaho's Teton Dam (1976), the sinking of the Andrea Doria (1956) and the Texas City explosion which devastated Galveston (1947).

An enormous shroud of white cement covers a hillside in the remote of western Sicily. It is both land art and a memorial to the town of Gibellina that was devastated by an earthquake in January 1968. It’s a work by the Italian artist Alberto Burri. He covered the ruins of the town with white cement and fissures function as pathways that wind through an area of roughly 20 acres. Petra Noordkamp captures Il Grande Cretto di Gibellina by Alberto Burri as an experentiental work of art filled with a sense of place and history.

Matsubara Hidetoshi, one of Japan's last traditional falconers, resides in rural Tohoku with only the company of his birds. A high school student requests to become the apprentice of falconer Matsubara, who resolves to pass on his knowledge in recognition of her enthusiasm. Matsubara and his apprentice train on Mt. Gassan, a site of religious pilgrimages that over centuries has been the hunting grounds for many falconers and their birds. The two struggle to control a hawk that never misses them. A sudden request by a young city-dweller may be key to retaining his legacy. It depicts the forgotten lives in modern times that are deeply connected to the nature around us.

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Fukushima's Minami-soma has a ten-centuries-long tradition of holding the Soma Nomaoi ("chasing wild horses") festival to celebrate the horse's great contribution to human society. Following the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the wake of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, local people were forced to flee the area. Rancher Shinichiro Tanaka returned to find his horses dead or starving, and refused to obey the government's orders to kill them. While many racehorses are slaughtered for horsemeat, his horses had been subjected to radiation and were inedible. Yoju Matsubayashi, whose "Fukushima: Memories of the Lost Landscape" is one of the most impressive documentaries made immediately after the disaster, spent the summer of 2011 helping Tanaka take care of his horses. In documenting their rehabilitation, he has produced a profound meditation on these animals who live as testaments to the tragic bargain human society made with nuclear power.

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Ring of Fire is about the immense natural force of the great circle of volcanoes and seismic activity that rings the Pacific Ocean and the varied people and cultures who coexist with them. Spectacular volcanic eruptions are featured, including Mount St. Helens, Navidad in Chile, Sakurajima in Japan, and Mount Merapi in Indonesia.

The earthquake that struck Friuli in 1976 is still vivid in the collective imagination, for how it served as an example in the subsequent reconstructions. A necessary story to prepare us for the environmental upheavals that lie in wait.

The definitive account of Japan’s struggle as it faced a nuclear catastrophe while still reeling from the devastation of an earthquake and tsunami.

Documentary about the aftermath of the earthquake that shook Juchitán, on the Mexican Pacific coast. It tells the story of Dxani -muxe seamstress- and Jacinto -mason- and how their lives were radically changed by the strongest earthquake that hit this community; and the poor response of the corrupt authorities.

Eerie images of landscapes after the Fukushima nuclear disaster shot on black and white 8mm.

Global warming in context. What the climate of the past tells us about the climate of the future.

Eiko Kanno is a 79 year old grandmother whose life has been completely changed by the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. Her life should have been with her grandchildren but because of the disaster which caused her entire village of Iitate to be evacuated. She now lives by herself in temporary housing. Yoshiko Kanno and her extended family are very important to her changed life. Yoshiko Kanno lost her parents in the evacuation and she found herself living next door to Eiko Kanno. They entertain themselves by telling jokes to each other like a comedic duo. They now live together.

On Oct. 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. PT, soon after Al Michaels and Tim McCarver started the ABC telecast for Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics, the ground began to shake beneath Candlestick Park. Even before that moment, this had promised to be a memorable matchup: the first in 33 years between teams from the same metropolitan area, a battle featuring larger-than-life characters and equally colorful fan bases. But after the 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake rolled through, bringing death and destruction, the Bay Area pulled together, and baseball took a backseat.

In 2011, a catastrophic nuclear disaster forced the immediate evacuation of Fukushima, Japan. This documentary follows an international team of scientists using hundreds of cameras to track and investigate the astonishing wildlife that now thrives in this deadly radioactive environment.

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