Wings of Defeat

(USA, 2007, 89 mins)

digital video

Wisconsin Premiere

cinematographer: Francisco Aliwalas
additional camera: Tetsuhiro Kato, Eric Lin, Risa Morimoto
editor: Maya Stark
rough cut editor: Nicholas Rucka
assistant editor: Masako Tsumura
assistant sound editor: Hekiro Matsuoka
sound design: Tom Lino
consultant: Bill Gordon
composer: Hekiro Matsuoka
art director: Jef Castro
producer: Risa Morimoto
producer: Linda Hoaglund
associate producer: Fumiko Hattori, Terao/Levine Family Fund

• IMDB Film Info
• www.edgewoodpictures.com/wingsofdefeat/
• Trailer

What could be a better example of a strongly entrenched sterotype than that of a kamikaze pilot? Single-minded assassins, right? Fanatics. When Risa Morimoto discovered that her mild-mannered Japanese uncle had trained as a kamikaze pilot, she retraced his footsteps, asking surviving pilots about their provocative experiences. In Japan, they are largely revered for their selfless sacrifice. Yet few outside Japan know that hundreds of kamikaze pilots survived the war. Through rare interviews with surviving kamikaze pilots, we learn that the military demanded pilots “volunteer” to give up their lives. The Emperor’s ordered this to be so, and becoming a tokkotai (an abbreviation of Tokubetsu Kogeki-tai or Special Attack Squadron) meant being venerated as a god. Retracing their journeys from teenagers to doomed pilots, a complex history of brutal training and ambivalent sacrifice is revealed. These elderly gentlemen are all speak with wit and humor, making a thoroughly entertaining if bittersweet documentary. Winner, Audience Award, 2008 Asian American Film Festival.

Sponsored By:

UW Asian American Studies Program

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