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Barefoot Gen Press Release
Here is the press release for Barefoot Gen,
courtesy of
Optimum
Asia. It is also worth noting that (to our knowledge),
Barefoot Gen is no longer available in the US or Europe, so this is
actually a UK exclusive release.
'BAREFOOT GEN'
OUT TO OWN ON DVD FROM AUGUST 1ST
'Gen effectively bears witness to one of the central horrors of
our time. This vivid and harrowing story will burn a
radioactive crater in your memory that will never let you forget
it.' - Art Spiegelman
On August 1st Optimum Asia will be releasing the acclaimed
anime Barefoot Gen with its sequel Barefoot Gen 2 onto
DVD. Powerful and tragic, Barefoot Gen is the
autobiographical story of manga artist Keiji Nakazawa who was six
years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on his hometown of
Hiroshima on August 6th 1945, killing most of his family.
August 6th 2005 will mark the 60th Anniversary of the Hiroshima
bombing and a donation will be made to War Child for every
Barefoot Gen DVD sold.
Sixty years on, Barefoot Gen is a haunting reminder of the
suffering that war brings to innocent people and Gen's experiences
will speak to children and adults everywhere. Drawing on his
horrific past, Nakazawa created Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot
Gen) in 1972, and it became one of the first mangas ever to be
translated into English. Mori Masaki directs this animated
film which was made in 1983 and was written and produced by Nakazawa
based on his influential manga.
Opening in the rundown city of Hiroshima, we witness the events
leading up to the bombing through the eyes of Gen, a young boy
growing up in post-war Japan. Fortunately when the bomb
detonates, Gen is shielded by a stone wall. Others are not so
lucky and are burned to death instantly by the 5000 degree heat
flash. As Gen runs home to find his family, he sees victims of
the bomb blast staggering around shocked and helpless in the rubble,
their skin burnt and melting. When Gen reaches home he finds
that his house has collapsed, trapping his father, brother and
sister in the wreckage. Pulling his pregnant mother to safety,
Gen watches as the rest of his family are burnt alive. What
follows is a nightmarish journey into the unimaginable horrors of
atomic war and the struggle to survive in a place that has been
destroyed by the most devastating device ever conceived by man.
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Established in 1993, War Child offers prevention, protection,
emergency relief and livelihood support to children displaced,
orphaned, injured or traumatised by war. It aims to give
children around the world a voice to challenge war farers by saying
'Your war is not with me'. Currently, War Child is
active in Bosnia (running a music therapy centre), Iraq, Afghanistan
and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). For more information
about these programmes:
www.warchild.org.uk .
reg. charity no. 1071659
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DVD Special Features
- Restored print
- Booklet containing interview with Keiji Nakazawa and an essay by
Jonathan Clements, co-author of The Anime Encyclopaedia
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Cat No: OPTD0245
RRP: £19.99
Running Time Barefoot Gen: 85 mins approx
Running Time Barefoot Gen 2: 85 mins approx
Cert: TBC
Audio: Japanese with English Subtitles
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