The Ushiku immigration centre near Tokyo mostly holds refugees seeking asylum in Japan. Using a hidden camera, filmmaker Thomas ASH interviewed inmates despite the government-imposed media blackout on immigration centres. The detainees speak out about their treatment and Japan’s uncompromising refugee policy on the eve of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Het Ushiku immigratiecentrum nabij Tokyo huist vooral vluchtelingen, die asiel aanvragen in Japan. Met een verborgen camera interviewde filmmaker Thomas ASH de inzittenden, ondanks dat de overheid media verboden heeft in de immigratie centra in het land. De gevangenen spreken zich uit over hun behandeling en Japans compromisloze vluchtelingenbeleid, vlak voordat COVID-19 zou uitbreken.
Thomas ASH is an American filmmaker. ASH directed his first feature documentary, the ballad of vicki and jake, in 2006. He has also made two documentaries about children living in the areas of Fukushima contaminated by the 2011 nuclear disaster, In the Grey Zone and A2-B-C. Recent work has focused on death and dying in Japan. ASH produced the documentary Boys for Sale (directed by ITAKO), which screened at CAMERA JAPAN in 2017.
2019 – Sending Off おみおくり〜Sending Off〜 (CJ 2019)
2014 – -1287 (CJ 2015)
2013 – A2-B-C (CJ 2013)
2012 – In the Grey Zone (CJ 2012)
2006 – the ballad of vicki and jake