October 03, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Documentary detailing Japan'simmigration injustice awarded in Korea
Public scrutiny continues to grow following the death of Wishma Sandamali
in detention, a detainee’s claim of choking by a guard, and the recent caseof a detainee who suffered a broken arm in detention.

The Asian Premier of Ushiku, a hard-hitting Japanese documentary about the long-term detentionof refugees and asylum seekers to Japan, was held during the 13th DMZ International
Documentary Film Festival in Goyang City and Paju City, Gyeongii Province, Korea. At the closing
ceremony held in Goyang City and online on September 16, Ushiku was awarded the Asian
Perspective Award, the top prize in the Asian Competition.
AN INJUSTICE OF OLYMPIC PROPORTIONSWith Japan out of the global spotlight following the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the country's unjust
immigration system has again come into focus, with two incidents being reported in the pastmonth of harm suffered by detainees at the hands of immigration officials.
Consisting of uncompromising interviews filmed with a hidden camera in an attempt to bypass themedia blackout the government has imposed on its immigration centres, Ushiku takes viewers
deep into the psychological and physical environment inhabited by foreign detainees in one of thelargest immigration centres in Japan.
A FESTIVAL PROMOTING “PEACE”, “LIFE”, and “COMMUNICATION”
The DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, one of the leading international documentary
film festivals in Asia, focuses on programming documentaries promoting ‘peace’, ‘life’ and‘communication’. In their statement, the jurors commended the film, saying Ushiku “uses thelimitations in filming as its cinematic medium, drawing the audience into reality and making it anissue for all. The film demonstrates the power of documentaries.” This is the second major awardfor Ushiku, after it received the Audience Award for Best Documentary at its World Premier in the2021 Nippon Connection Film Festival in Frankfurt, Germany.

PAGE 1A MISSION FOR IMPACT
Coinciding with the film’s screenings on the international film festival circuit, the first stages of an
impact campaign have been launched on the film’s website. The campaign has been designed toprovide useful resources to the public on topics such as the history of immigration in Japan,
Japanese immigration law, and links to learn more. Defined by the vision of an immigration system
where all refugees are recognised through a just, timely, and transparent process, the goal of thecampaign is to foster meaningful engagement with audiences, and seek to uplift marginalised
voices, while dedicating its mission towards systemic change. The impact campaign is being
headed by South African Impact Producer, Daniel Ndevu.
BRINGING THE STORY HOME
The Japanese Premier of Ushiku was recently announced. Taking place in the renowned
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, the October 9 screening will be held online dueto the pandemic. Programming it in the Japan Perspectives strand, the festival describes the film
as a “work of watchdog journalism that sounds the alarm about state power run amok.”
At a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, ahead of the World Premierin May, Ushiku Film Director, Thomas Ash, spoke to the courageousness of the participants in thefilm, stating that “they are taking a massive risk in speaking out.” Appearing alongside Ash, weretwo of the film’s participants, Mr. Deniz and Mr. Louis Christian, who both shared theirexperiences of being detained at the Ushiku immigration centre in north-east Japan. LouisChristian, speaking to the necessary reforms that would alleviate the injustice of long-term
detentions, noted that “even if we change the law, but they [immigration authorities] don’t change
the way they see foreigners, it’s not going to work, they’re going to keep doing the same things.”
DOMESTIC SCREENING AMID FURTHER ABUSES COMING TO LIGHT
This domestic screening comes as the public’s eyes are on Japan’s immigration system following
a spate of accusations of abuse and mistreatment in detention facilities. These include the deathof 33-year-old Wishma Sandamali Rathnayake in an immigration detention facility in Nagoya,central Japan, on March 6th of this year. Wishma’s death while in the custody of immigration
authorities was the 17th over the past 14 years. Then on August 27, at the immigration facility inUshiku, the same centre where the documentary was filmed, a detainee was choked by a security
guard and was diagnosed with a sprained neck that required two weeks to heal. The security
guard claimed to immigration officials he had put the detainee in a headlock as a “joke”. Then on
September 15, a case was filed by a former detainee at the Osaka Immigration Bureau relating toa 2017 incident during which he was handcuffed with his hands behind his back for 14 hours.
Later, he was found to have a fractured arm.
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FILM FESTIVAL CIRCUIT SCREENINGS CONTINUE
Ushiku will next be seen in Rotterdam (Camera Japan Film Festival, Sept 22-26), Vienna(Japannual, October 6-10), Munich (Underdox, October 7-13), London (London East Asian FF,October 21-31) and across Japan (Yamagata International Film Festival, October 9). Details andadditional screenings can be found on the Ushiku website (www.UshikuFilm.com).
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Thomas Ash, best known for his work surrounding the Fukushima nuclear disaster and its healtheffects on children, which includes the feature documentary A2-B-C (2013), has lived in Japan
since 2000, and holds an MA in Film and Television Production from the University of Bristol (UK).
Ushiku is Ash’s sixth Japanese-language feature documentary.
ENDS
For more information, production stills or to request a copy for review, please contact:
E-mail:press@UshikuFilm.com

Additional Information for Editors:
Film Website:
www.UshikuFilm.com
Film Twitter Account:https://twitter.com/ushikufilm
Film Twitter Handle:@ushikufilm
Film Instagram Account:https://instagram.com/ushikufilm
Film Instagram Handle:@ushikufilm
Yamagata Int Doc FF
https://www.yidff.jp/Synopsis“Ushiku” takes viewers deep into the psychological and physical environment inhabited by foreigndetainees in one of the largest immigration centres in Japan. On the eve of Japan's recent – andhighly contentious – immigration reform efforts, the media blackout the government has imposedon its immigration centres is bypassed, bringing viewers into immediate contact with thedetainees, many of whom are refugees seeking asylum. Detainees are held indefinitely andsubject to violent deportation attempts by Japanese authorities against a background of theensuing COVID-19 pandemic and with the spectacle of the Tokyo Olympics looming on theimmediate horizon.
Logline:Seeking asylum in Japan, detainees at the infamous Ushiku immigration centre speak out insecretly recorded interviews.
Tagline:An injustice of Olympic proportion
Technical information:
87 minutes, JapanJapanese/ English with Japanese/ English Subtitles

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Thomas Ash Biography
In his films, Thomas Ash broadly focuses on issues surrounding health and medicine, including two
feature documentaries about children living in areas of Fukushima contaminated by the 2011
nuclear meltdown, ‘In the Grey Zone‘ (2012) and ‘A2-B-C‘ (2013). His recent work has focused ondeath and dying and includes ‘-1287‘ (2014) and ‘Sending Off’ (2019). Thomas served as
Executive Producer of ‘Boys for Sale’ (2017, dir: Itako), a documentary about male sex workers inTokyo.
Thomas Ash Filmography
おみおくり〜Sending Off〜, 77 min/ Japan/ 2019
売買ボーイズ (Boys for Sale), 76 min/ Japan (dir: Itako)/ 2017-1287, 70 min/ Japan/ 2014
A2-B-C, 71 min/ Japan/ 2013
グレー・ゾーンの中 (In the Grey Zone), 89 min/ Japan/ 2012
Jake, not finished yet, 81 min/ Japan & UK/ 2010
the ballad of vicki and jake, 84 min/ UK/ 2006
Editorial Appendix

OFFICIAL TRAILER1(link below)
FCCJ PRESS CONFERENCE2“Human Rights Abuses In Japan’s Detention Centers” at the Foreign Correspondents'
Club of Japan, May 20th, 2021
(link below)
THE DEATH OF WISHMA SANDAMALI RATHNAYAKE3“Her Death Shook Japan. It May Not Shift Refugee Rules.” in The New York Times, By
Hisako Ueno and Ben Dooley, August 10th, 2021
(link below)
DETAINEE CHOKED BY SECURITY GUARD AT USHIKU4“Security guard injures detainee at immigration facility” in Asashi, By Ryo Sasaki / StaffWriter, August 30th, 2021
(link below)
DETAINEE LEFT WITH BROKEN ARM AFTER 14-HOUR CUFFING5“Japan immigration footage shows mistreatment of detained foreigner” in Kyodo News,
September 15th, 2021
(link below)

1

https://youtu.be/HadlfyQ-dH8

2https://youtu.be/kJIT5Hkbd8w

3

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/world/asia/japan-immigration-refugee-wishma-rathnayake.html

4https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14429565

5https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/09/d1c38981c9a5-japan-immigration-footage-shows-mistreatment-of-detained-foreigner.html

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UNITED NATIONS CONDEMNATION6“Japan’s immigration policy under scrutiny: United Nations levels criticism at Japan,”November 27th, 2020
(link below)

6

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/1394/

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