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Minamata: The Victims and Their
World (1971, Jp.)
In Japanese documentary film-maker Noriaki Tsuchimoto's
expose (filmed over 17 years) that surveyed the development of Minamata
disease and its victims in the late 1950s - a harrowing example of
industrial waste and corporate irresponsibility:
- the discovery that the Chisso Corporation, a manufacturer
of fertilizer, had dumped pollutants (methyl-mercury) into the
water near the fishing village of Minamata on the western side
of the island of Kyushu - the residents had eaten poisoned fish
and over 2,000 subsequently suffered extensive brain and nervous
system disorders (an epilepsy-like affliction that led to convulsions
and ultimately death) over many years, from 1932 to 1968
- the sequences showing the effects of the disease upon
cats and then humans (including unborn fetuses)
- the shocking concluding scene of impassioned protest
by some of the victims (families of the dead and disfigured) at an
annual shareholders meeting to corporate leaders who showed little
compassion or care - until a growing public outcry eventually brought
victims compensation
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Annual Shareholders Meeting with Corporate Leaders
Protestors Confronted the Corporation's President
"How much do you think I suffered?"
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