2011/11/18

台湾: 慰安婦ドキュメンタリー資金不足で足踏み



台湾婦女救援基金会による解説は相変わらずだが、今回は間違い探しではない。生存する12人(実際の生存者はもっと多いだろうが)のドキュメンタリーが資金不足の為に頓挫してしまったというニュース。

台湾では現総統が慰安婦問題に熱心だが、実態は内向けのパフォーマンスらしい。国民の支持もそれほど強くないようで、何より反日一色の国ではないから、韓国と違って支援団体も苦労が多いのだろう。しかし、だからこそ完成されたドキュメンタリーを見てみたい気もする。作品の中で、元慰安婦の一人は日本国民と仲良くすることを視聴者に訴えているという。もしかしたら韓国のこの種のドキュメンタリーとは味付けが違うかもしれない。

A documentary on the 12 surviving former comfort women in Taiwan has stalled due to a shortage of funds, the foundation that is producing the film said Thursday.

The Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation said the project is a race against time as two of Taiwan's comfort women have died recently of old age.

Comfort women, females who were forced into providing sex services for Japanese military personnel during World War II, have been largely forgotten by society, the foundation said. The Japanese government has been reluctant to acknowledge the crimes and has not acceded to calls for an apology to the victims, it noted.

The Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation decided to take matters into its own hands last winter by starting a documentary on the remaining 12 comfort women in Taiwan, most of whom are over 87 years old.

"We no longer want to see their tears, we want to help them fulfill their dreams," the foundation said on its website.

The film, "Grandma's Springtime", documents the later stages of the women's lives.

In the film, one woman mounts an exhibition of her own photos, another engages in art therapy, and yet another summons the courage to make friends with Japanese nationals.

"If I can live pass these wounds, so can you," one of the women says. "There is nothing in life that is unbearable."

With the project stalled due to a lack of funds, the foundation has entered an online voting competition, held by the Taishin Charity Found

CNA 2011.11.17