Behind Forgotten Eyes

New Zealand Premiere

Narrated by Lost’s Yunjin Kim, this compelling documentary sheds light on the untold stories of a multitude of Korean women forced into becoming “comfort women”, and their struggle to survive.

First time director Anthony Gilmore uses moving testimonies of “Grandmother Moon”, “Grandmother Park” and “Grandmother Kang” to chronicle the journey of women and girls held captive for the service of Japanese soldiers during World War II. Now in their 80s, these women have recently found the courage to step forward and break the silence around their experiences. Gilmore has sensitively provided these women an environment of safety enabling them to talk about an extremely painful part of their lives.

The film uses animation to depict the events leading up to and during their imprisonment and gives viewers a first-hand account of the unthinkable: more than 200,000 young women sold, tricked and kidnapped into sexual slavery, all at the command of the Japanese Imperial Army. Almost as unsettling are interviews with the surviving Japanese soldiers who frequented these army brothels, whose viewpoints range from remorseful to coldly indifferent.

Despite the survivors’ efforts to make their experiences acknowledged, the government of Japan has yet to make a formal apology or make reparations, frequently denying that the events themselves ever took place. This is an issue that has been ignored for far too long. Time is running out for these women and their stories.