Minamata
- Screening Dates: 15th July, 6pm // 22nd July, 8pm
- Starring: Johnny Depp, Minami Hinasi, Bill Nighy, Hiroyuki Sanada
- Directed by: Andrew Levatas
- Running time: 115 mins
- Rating: M
- Language: English, Japanese with English language subtitles
DRAMA:
A true story about a 1971 trip to Japan by acclaimed news photographer W. Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp). He’s first seen as an alcoholic, war-traumatised casualty with a bohemian lifestyle betokened by a shaggy beard and ever-present beret.
His days as a star snapper for Life magazine are behind him and, although he thinks nothing of swaggering into an editorial meeting and throwing his weight around, editor Bob Hayes (Bill Nighy) ruefully gives him the bum’s rush. Then Smith receives a visit from a young Japanese woman, Aileen (Minami Hinasi), ostensibly for a Fujicolor commercial but really with an ulterior motive: she wants him to bring his camera to the Japanese village of Minamata, to alert the world to the damage caused by the Chisso company’s chemical plant.