Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
On 6 August 1945, 20-year-old Akiko Takakura was working alongside a friend at the Bank of Hiroshima when her life was upended in an instant. She was just 300 metres from the hypocentre of the atomic blast that the United States unleashed on the city that day. Gravely wounded, Takakura would somehow escape with her life. However, the lingering shadow of the carnage she witnessed that day would haunt her for decades to come. Through animations seemingly inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, the short film Obon (2018) from the Berlin-based filmmakers Anna Samo and André Hörmann captures Takakura’s memories of the blast, and the permanent mark they left on her, from the vantage of more than 70 years later. With an unsparing sequence depicting the brutal violence of bombing, the film highlights how the attack unleashed horrors that Takakura couldn’t begin to comprehend, and how it altered her relationship with her strict father.
Directors: Anna Samo, André Hörmann
Producers: André Hörmann, Christian Vizi, Günther Hörmann
Website: Obon Film
video
Human rights and justice
When a burial for slave trade victims is unearthed, a small island faces a reckoning
29 minutes
video
Technology and the self
A haunting scene from ‘Minority Report’ inspires a voyage into time and memory
7 minutes
video
Family life
The stream-of-consciousness thoughts and memories that emerge while cooking a meal
5 minutes
video
Ecology and environmental sciences
GPS tracking reveals stunning insights into the patterns of migratory birds
6 minutes
video
Human rights and justice
Can providing humanitarian aid be illegal? A troubling case from the US-Mexico border
17 minutes
video
Space exploration
The rarely told story of the fruit flies, primates and canines that preceded us in space
12 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
A lush animated opus evokes the frenzied pace of modern life
4 minutes
video
Family life
The precious family keepsakes that hold meaning for generations
10 minutes
video
Neuroscience
This intricate map of a fruit fly brain could signal a revolution in neuroscience
2 minutes