''Within Every Woman'' is a documentary film by

Tiffany Hsiung Tiffany Hsiung is a Canadians, Canadian documentary filmmaker. She is most noted for her 2016 documentary film ''The Apology (2016 film), The Apology'', which won a Peabody Award in 2019, and her 2020 short documentary film ''Sing Me a Lullaby'', ...

, depicting war crimes committed by the

Japanese Imperial Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Asia. It documents the systematic rape of over 200,000 young girls between the ages of nine and twenty-years-old during

in Asia. These atrocities and war crimes occurred between 1931 and 1945; however, to this day, the

Japanese government The Government of Japan is the central government of Japan. It consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and functions under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan. Japan is a unitary state, containing forty- ...

has not offered an official apology and many survivors still hide their shame. This project was started in 2008, with a trip to rural

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

to meet and document the survivors of the largest institutionalized rape system in world history, the comfort women system. Today, the survivors are referred to as "the Grandmothers", all above the age of 80. This documentary will show the complex healing processes of the women who have had to live their lives without acknowledgement of the atrocities they suffered.

History

in Asia began in 1937 with the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, which was marked by atrocities underscored by the infamous Japanese

scorched earth policy A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...

and an institutionalized "comfort woman" rape system that abducted girls and women aged 9 to 22 from

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

for military sexual slavery.

Toronto ALPHA

The directors and producers of Within Every Woman are collaborating with Toronto ALPHA in order to achieve their systematic goals of raising awareness of

Japanese War Crimes During its imperial era, Empire of Japan, Japan committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity across various Asian-Pacific nations, notably during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars. These incidents ...

during

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival

''Within Every Woman'' was selected to participate in the 2011 pitch forum at the

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...

on May 4 and 5. The project was pitched to a round table of local and international buyers. A short trailer was shown during the 7 minute pitch, followed by a 7-minute-long moderated question period.

Kickstarter campaign

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign was started in order to engage a larger audience and promote the documentary. Through this campaign, the film was successfully pre-sold and funds amounting to over $56,000 were raised, becoming one of the 100 most successful campaigns on Kickstarter and the most successful Canadian campaign on Kickstarter to date.

References

{{Reflist 2012 films 2012 documentary films Documentary films about violence against women Documentary films about rape Kickstarter-funded documentaries Films about comfort women Documentary films about women in World War II Documentary films about Japanese war crimes Canadian documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films English-language documentary films

History

Toronto ALPHA

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival

Kickstarter campaign

See also

References