20 Years After Aum: In Discussion with Director Mori Tatsuya    

The department of Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh is excited to host acclaimed Japanese documentarian Mori Tatsuya, who is best known for his work on the Japanese religious group Aum Shinrikyō.

Aum’s 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway system was a pivotal moment for Japan.  And at a time when the Japanese media made every effort to demonise Aum and its members, Mori Tatsuya’s documentaries offered a distinctly different perspective.

The Aum incident and Mori’s documentaries raise a number of challenging questions about both Japanese society and documentary filmmaking. What motivated the group to carry out such an attack? Why did young Japanese join the group in the first place?  How did media coverage of the event contribute to the attack’s legacy?  What is the role of the documentary maker in times of national crisis?

To discuss these questions, and to mark the twenty-year anniversary of the Aum incident, please join us for a screening of Mori’s seminal documentary ‘A’ followed by drinks and a Q&A panel session with the director himself.