“AFTER SPRING, THE TAMAKI FAMILY . . . (UMI NO KANATA)” | U.S. Premiere | Japan, Taiwan | Japanese and Taiwanese w/English subtitles | 96 min.
Directed and edited by Huang Yin Yu.
On a warm spring day in 2015, Grandma Tamayo and the Tamaki family — the largest immigrant family in the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa — journey back to their pre-World War II home: Taiwan. Like the Tamakis, the people who emigrated from Taiwan to Okinawa became political refugees under the 30-year U.S. occupation of Okinawa and the splitting up of the East Asia region to serve the geopolitical interests of China and the U.S.
The Tamaki family’s journey to their former motherland ekes out in memories — disorienting at first, but becoming clearer as the family’s complex identity, molded by war, is revealed. The result is a heartwarming film spanning 80 years of history.
Screenings: Nov. 7, 6:15 p.m. | Nov. 11, 11:15 a.m.
