VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The documentary film “Masa Kini adalah Masa Lalu: Ayah, Jawa dan Film-Film Ilusi” or in English means “The Present is the Past: Father, Java and Illusionary Films”, which tells the history of the Japanese occupation of Indonesia during the Pacific War, was screened in Tokyo, last Sunday (18/9).

The film's Director, Shinichi Ise said in a statement in Tokyo on Sunday that the film was the result of his efforts to trace films produced by his father during the war and the Japanese occupation in Indonesia.

Shinichi's father, Chonosuke Ise (1912-1973), was known as a film editor who co-produced propaganda films that justified Japan's hegemony in Asia. At that time, Japan occupied various regions in Asia in the Pacific War under the pretext of liberating the region from European colonialism. Chonosuke was sent to work for a Japanese film company in Java, Nihon Eigasha (Nichiei), as a reporter from 1943 to 1945.

Shinichi admitted that he started doing research while following in his father's footsteps 30 years ago. About 130 propaganda films, which were produced by Chonosuke, Shinichi said, were found to be stored and preserved at the Dutch Audio Visual Archives (the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision). Shinichi has tried to find the essence of the war in Indonesia by looking for his father's works.

The documentary film “Masa Kini adalah Masa Lalu” (Ima wa Mukashi) was screened at the Hibiya Library and Museum, Hibiya Convention Hall in Japanese at 11.00 local time and with Indonesian subtitles at 13.45 local time.