On November 23rd 2023, people involved in the Hiroshima International Film Festival (HIFF), including guest directors visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and offered flowers at the cenotaph for the atomic bomb victims.

Director of “In this corner of the world”, KATABUCHI, Sunao, Director of “Village”and “Saigo made Iku”, FUJII, Michihito, ISLAND, Naomi of “hikikomori”, Director of “El canto de las moscas”, Ricardo SOTO and Director HEYA, Kyoko, the representative of HIFF joined the flower offering, and prayed for peace. Ms. UMEZAWA, Fumiko, the daughter of Director KURAHARA, Koreyoshi, and Director KATABUCHI offered the flowers on behalf of the participants.

Director KATABUCHI said, “We can see the A-bomb dome through the monument for atomic bomb victims. Standing at this place evokes a solemn and dignified feeling as if time has frozen.”

For Director SOTO, this was his second time participating in the ceremony. Mentioning the flower offering, he said, “Flower nourishes people’s minds, I think it is a meaningful activity to lay flowers for the victims. In Mexico, my mother country, we have Day of the Dead in November. It is important to think of the dead in one’s mind.” He has also been to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and recalled the visit as an unforgettable memory that aches his heart.

The guests also went to the Korean Victims and Survivors Memorial Monument to pray for the Korean victims of the atomic bomb, starting this year. As we hold a film festival in Hiroshima; a city of “International” Peace and Culture, the visit has a strong message that we should remember that A-bomb also took the lives of foreign people who were in Hiroshima, not only local Japanese citizens.

HIFF (formerly Damah Film Festival in Hiroshima) celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. Power of positive always supported Hiroshima, which is now a symbol of postwar-recovery. With the key concept “Collecting films with positive power all over the world”, HIFF aims to be a unique film festival only possible in Hiroshima; a city recovered from the damage done by the atomic bomb.

Starting today, HIFF 2023 will be held for 4 days in the 1st and 2nd venues of NTT Cred Hall, Hiroshima City Cinematographic and Audio-visual Library (23rd, 25th, and 26th of Nov), Yokogawa Cinema (23rd and 24th of Nov). In this festival, we offer various programs; “Special screenings”, “Talk shows”, “HIROSHIMA EYE”, honors for “Director YAMADA, Yoji”, ”International short film competition”, and “Teach-ins”. Please visit the venue with your friends and family. We are looking forward to seeing you.