"A Family Perseveres": clip from Agent Orange: A Personal Requiem by Masako Sakata

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Uploaded by on Aug 2, 2010

Film distributed in North America by: First Run/Icarus Films. http://www.frif.com/new2008/agen.html
Distributed internationally by: Siglo Ltd. http://www.cine.co.jp
TRT: 66 min

Moved to take up film making after the death of her husband, an American veteran whose cancer was likely caused by exposure to the herbicide during the Vietnam War, Masako Sakata gracefully weaves her husband's story—and her wrenching loss—with the ongoing impact of Agent Orange on Vietnamese families with disabled children. The Japanese director might have been inspired to embark on a personal journey of discovery and healing, but her revealing, openhearted 2007 documentary speaks to all of us.

In this clip, with some trepidation, the filmmaker sets off to meet a family with a child described as having two heads. We are prepared for the worst but are gratified to encounter a spirited boy who, though deformed, has two doting parents dedicated to his well being.

Much more interested in humanity than horror, Masako Sakata allows us to move past the initial shock of the boy's appearance in order to see him as a human being who receives, and returns, love.

"We had an excellent guide/translator," Sakata recalls. "When we explained what we wanted to film, he lined up several families for us to visit. Before we went to [this] family, I was apprehensive with the description of 'two-headed.' But after the first impact was gone, I was more overwhelmed by the care and love the family gave him rather than his abnormality. This sequence owes a lot to Huang. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 30 with cancer. I was told many people die young with cancer in this area."

http://makeagentorangehistory.org/agent-orange-resources/agent-orange-films/a...

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