Damah Film Festival Back In Hiroshima, The First City In History To Be Destroyed By A Nuclear Weapon

Now It Is A Place Of Joy With Feature Film Doonby Screened Alongside 10 Short Films All Vying For Top Prize

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

HIROSHIMA, JAPAN (ANS) -- The Damah Film Festival, the premiere spiritually themed short-film festival in the world, returned to Hiroshima, Japan, this month, as ten filmmakers battled for the top prize.

A scene of total devastation in Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb of dropped on the city

The unique festival was held in the Japanese city that was once a place of unspeakable horror when it became the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon. It occurred on August 6, 1945, when near the end of World War II, the Atomic Bomb “Little Boy“ was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, directly killing an estimated 80,000 people. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000–140,000. Approximately 69% of the city's buildings were completely destroyed, and about 7% severely damaged.

Hiroshima was proclaimed a City of Peace by the Japanese parliament in 1949, at the initiative of its mayor, Shinzo Hamai (1905–1968) and now, fully restored, it was recently transformed into a place of joy, when the three-day Damah Film Festival concluded with the awarding of three top prizes and a sneak peek at the feature film, Doonby, starring actor John Schneider and featuring an ensemble cast that includes Robert Davi, Ernie Hudson, Jennifer O’Neill, Will Wallace, Jenn Gotzon and others.

Doonby poster

Written and directed by British filmmaker Peter Mackenzie the film was shot on location in Smithsville, Texas and features an emotional storyline that highlights the effect each of us has on one another’s lives. The screening was the first to feature Japanese subtitles.

The festival’s Grand Prize was awarded to the film “The Return,” from South Korean director Lee Jihyung and two entries “The Dust That Anyone Has,” and “The Day To Return With Father,” were awarded a Jurors’ Award and the Audience Favorite Award respectively.

The meaning of Damah

“Damah” is a Hebrew word meaning “Inspirational Metaphor,” and the festival “encourages an emerging generation of filmmakers from diverse perspectives to voice the spiritual aspect of the human experience through film and provides a forum for these artists to develop, discuss and display their vision.”

This year’s competition found 76 films competing for the top prize including submissions from Japan, the U.S., South Korea, Taiwan and other countries. The festival began in Seattle, Washington in 2001, and moved to Los Angeles in 2005. In 2009 it partnered with the city of Hiroshima for the annual Damah Film Festival in Hiroshima, Japan.

Logo

In the wake of Japan’s devastating earthquake and Tsunami earlier this year, some felt that the festival should be canceled, or at the very least downsized, showing only works submitted in past years. The Damah Hiroshima committee decided instead that it was the perfect time for this festival to take place, as they focus on films designed specifically to touch the hearts of viewers.

“We were so excited to be hosting such wonderful filmmakers again this year,” noted Damah Hiroshima director Kyoko Heya. “The best way we can rebuild the Japanese spirit is by inspiring those who have suffered so much to get back up and keep trying. We hope our films were an encouragement to those who have suffered and are continuing to suffer.”

For More information on Damah, please visit www.damah.jp/
For More information on Doonby, please visit www.doonby.com 

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Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries and also provides a regular commentary for Worship Life Radio on KWVE. You can follow Dan Wooding on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available this link.

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