Australian premiere & International premiere of documentary 'Where but into the sea?' and other screenings

Impact summary

Documentary 'Where But Into The Sea?' premiered in Australia at the Australian Jewish Film Festival and internationally at the Miami Jewish Film Festival in 2022. There were other screenings in Japan. This is a significant cultural documentary regarding a unique route of escape for persecuted Jewish peoples that involved a transit visa through Japan authorized by Chiune Sugihara, who was a diplomat in Lithuania at the time. It is estimated that around 6,000 lives were saved, with Jewish refugees sojourning in Kobe and Yokohama after arriving to Tsuruga. These refugees eventually were sent to Shanghai, where they endured difficult treatment during the war, but did not face the terrors of the death camps in Europe.
This journey is shared through the story of a brother and sister, separated during their flight but reunited once resettled in Australia after armistice. The telling of this story in a populist format allows the last generation of survivors to speak about their experiences.
International official selection in these two important film festivals has a high impact value in terms of the penetration of an independent feature documentary to the market most available for its screening. Subsequent screenings in Japan have created significant engagement with media and with the diplomatic contingency to Japan from Lithuania. It has political and social currency, as well as an educational and historic value.

Research and engagement activities leading to impact

The research leading up to this documentary were supported by JSPS Kakenhi Grant Number 17K02041 / 18KK0031 led by Professor Kenji Kanno of Tokyo University of Science (TUS). There are several publications related to the research. The documentary is designed to be a more populist element of the research that allows dissemination beyond academe, however the interviews recorded for the documentary also provide vital first-person accounts for incorporation into the formal research writing.
In order to undertake work in the project, I initially met with the team in Sydney to assist them with location scouting, local legislation, filming, and language / cultural support. I was subsequently invited as a visiting professor to TUS. During this visit, I designed and built the bilingual website for the Marylka Project, which is the over-arching title of the historical and artistic research activities. I was also tasked with writing a range of grant applications, however CSU elected to not review these funding applications, frustrating plans to expand the project. Over a few years, we met repeatedly to undertake various recording activities to support the documentary element of the project. I was eventually asked to make a more significant contribution to the documentary, and provided animated sequences and voiceover work for the film project.
The documentary had some screenings in Japan, notably in Tsuruga, the port of landing for Jewish refugees, and in Tokyo, where the main creative and academic team are centred.

Research outputs associated with the impact

Osawa, M. (2022). Where but into the sea? [motion picture]. Japan.

Other items are as per Prof. Kanno's bibliography of the Marylka Project:

– [Abstract] ‘Japan and Jewish Refugees (1940-1941) -In the Weyland-Jakubowicz family’s footprints’, Bulletin (Liberal Arts Section), no.50, Tokyo University of Science, March 2018.

– [Abstract] ‘The Arrival of Jewish Refugees to Wartime Japan as reported in the local newspaper Fukui Shinbun (Part I: 1940)’, Namal, no.22, Japanese-Jewish Friendship and Study Society in Kobe, January 2018.

– [Abstract] ‘The Arrival of Jewish Refugees to Wartime Japan as reported in the local newspaper Fukui Shinbun (Part II: 1941)’, Namal, no.23, Japanese-Jewish Friendship and Study Society in Kobe, 2019.

– [In Japanese] ‘On the Actual Number of the so-called “ Sugihara Survivors” — An Essay of Empirical Study ‘, JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grants, 18KK0031 (‘ Tracing the footsteps of the Jewish refugees who sojourned in wartime Japan and Shanghai: a transboundary and multilateral research ‘), Interim Report (1) List of the refugees and their actual number, September 10, 2019

– ‘List of Jewish refugees in Japan during World War II‘, JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grants, 18KK0031 (‘Tracing the footsteps of the Jewish refugees who sojourned in wartime Japan and Shanghai: a transboundary and multilateral research’), Interim Report (1) List of the refugees and their actual number, September 10, 2019

– [Abstract] ‘Relief activities for Jewish refugees in wartime Japan as seen through the JDC archives (Formative period: December 1939-June 1940)’, Namal, no.24, Japanese-Jewish Friendship and Study Society in Kobe, February 2020.

– [In Japanese] Fictional discourse of ‘Visas for Life’, Tokyo, Editorial Republica, 648p. July 2021.

– [Abstract] ‘The Jewish Society in wartime Shanghai as reported in Tairiku Shinpo (Part I: January-April 1939)‘, Bulletin (Liberal Arts Section), no.51, Tokyo University of Science, March 2019.

– [Abstract] ‘The Jewish Society in wartime Shanghai as reported in Tairiku Shinpo (Part II:May-August 1939)‘, Bulletin (Liberal Arts Section), no.52, Tokyo University of Science, March 2020.

– [Abstract] ‘The Jewish Society in wartime Shanghai as reported in Tairiku Shinpo (Part III:September 1939-February 1940)‘, Bulletin (Liberal Arts Section), no.53, Tokyo University of Science, March 2021.

– [Abstract] ‘The Jewish Society in wartime Shanghai as reported in Tairiku Shinpo (Part IV: On the unreleased movie ‘Driven People’)’, Bulletin (Liberal Arts Section), no.54, Tokyo University of Science, March 2022 [coming soon].

– [Abstract] ‘Was there a plan for Jewish extermination in Shanghai under Japanese military rule? –Around Mitsugi Shibata and Josef Meisinger’, Journal of Kyoto Association of Jewish Thought, no.9, June 2018.

– [Abstract] ‘Was there a plan for Jewish extermination in Shanghai under Japanese military rule? (continuation and conclusion) –Investigation into the unpublished documents of the Naval Captain Toshiro Saneyoshi’, Journal of Kyoto Association of Jewish Thought, no.10, 2019.

– [Abstract] ‘The Process of establishment of the Designated Area for Stateless Refugees in Shanghai -As described in the unpublished documents of the Naval Captain Toshiro Saneyoshi-‘, Journal of Kyoto Association of Jewish Thought, no.11, 2020.

– [Abstract] ‘The Aftereffects of establishment of the Designated Area for Stateless Refugees in Shanghai -As described in the unpublished documents of the Naval Captain Toshiro Saneyoshi-‘, Journal of Kyoto Association of Jewish Thought, no.12, 2021.

“The Designated Area for Stateless Refugees in Shanghai: Exploring Aftereffects Using Unpublished Documents of Captain Toshiro Saneyoshi” in The History of the Shanghai Jews: New Pathways of Research, Palgrave Macmillan, November 2022, ISBN:978-3-031-13761-7, pp.75-96

Researcher involvement

My own involvement in the work has two elements. Support during filming activities in Australia, and active contributions to the documentary.
During filming I assisted with location recording and location scouting. I assisted with translation and cultural guidance. I also sourced archival images and media related to boat arrivals in Australia with the assistance of the National Screen and Sound Archive.
During production, I was asked to input to the editing process with regard to translation and subtitling, and was eventually asked to provide animation and voiceover to assist in a section of the work where a story of the past needed dramatisation.
I informed the team of filmic legal matters as there is less issue in Japan than there is beyond it, and intentions to show the work internationally meant taking care with all aspects of the work.

Outcomes of research leading to impact

The product of the research that has my involvement is the documentary, which is in itself a research output, given it is informed by the academic research. The fact of the work's existence, its celebration of Sugihara's contribution to saving so many lives, and the unique opportunity to memorialise through the moving image some of the surviving Australians who were saved by these 'Visas of Life' has significant value. The work has screened internationally, and has generated attention to the story of Japan's protection of Jewish people during a time when that was actively frowned upon by their international ties during the war.

Beneficiaries of the impact

The broader society able to view this work benefit from a factual account of this action to preserve life. It reinforces the fact of the Holocaust and its diasporic events, which is in modern times becoming less visible as the history of the Second World War fades from view. In an increasingly polarised international environment where antisemitism thrives, works such as this documentary provide context and presence to the cultural milieu of modern Jewish culture, which is informed by intergeneration trauma. In this sense, it helps to build an understanding of an element informing modern Jewish culture as a displaced community.

Details of the impact achieved

Official selection at film festivals is a significant impact for an independent documentary, which can otherwise have a limited theatrical profile. That these are festivals designed specifically to highlight Jewish culture gives a particular focus which aligns to the information and intention of the film. Screenings at multiple festivals allow for different audiences to experience the work, and are validating to the work overall as a benchmark of quality.

The screening dates for the Miami Jewish Film Festival were January 13-17, 2022. The screening dates for the Australian Jewish International Film Festival were March 10 - 17, 2022.
There were multiple screenings, and JIFF in Australia held an online Q&A with Prof. Kanno and Director Osawa in conjunction with screening events in Sydney and Melbourne.

Impact date	13 Jan 2022 → 17 Mar 2022
Category of impact	Social Impact, Cultural Impact
Impact level	International