60 Years After Hiroshima, Two Films Confront the Dropping of the Bomb
Through the Haunting, Life-Affirming Art of Toshi and Iri Maruki

Hiroshima No Pika is an animated film made by Noriaki Tsuchimoto based on the award-winning children’s book by the Japanese artist Toshi Maruki. Through Maruki's heart-rending but beautiful water color illustrations, the film tells the story of a young girl and her family who live through the horrific bombing of Hiroshima. While the horror lies in the reality of the story, the beauty of the film’s articulation creates a sensitive and affecting movie for children and their parents to engage in together. Narrator Susan Sarandon, a longtime supporter of anti-nuclear war campaigns, lends her talent to this historical yet timely story, inspiring children to remember Hiroshima in the hope that it will never be repeated.

Nominated for an Academy Award, John Junkerman's documentary film Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima captures the artists Iri and Toshi Maruki in their decades-long collaboration to create a testament to the effects of the atomic bomb- the Hiroshima Murals, which have been viewed by over 100 million people around the world. Haunted by the memories of Hiroshima after the atomic blast, the Marukis began a series of monumental paintings depicting what they had seen. With engaging interviews and extended sequences of the Marukis at work, Hellfire reveals a message of hope in our nuclear age, and is a reminder of the power of art to render visible and meaningful what still seems unimaginable.

What the Critics are Saying

"These 15 ‘Hiroshima Murals’ constitute one of the world’s most powerful and sustained expressions of the effect of the atomic bomb." - The New York Times

"The beauty of the Marukis’ work is rich with inspiration." - Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe

"To say that these pictures are forceful, fearsome, and haunting is to understate the case. They’re plainly amazing." - Detroit News

"Maruki’s paintings are portraits comparable to Picasso’s Guernica and an urgent plea to prevent what happened twice from happening ever again." - Publishers Weekly

Maruki Museum for the Hiroshima Panels 

Susan Sarandon's Activism Links:
Check out these organizations recommended by Susan Sarandon to learn more about the prevention of Nuclear War.

Center for Defense Information

Union of Concerned Scientists

Nuclear Information and Resource Services

Physicians for Social Responsibility

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

National Resources Defense Council

Nuclear Policy Research Institute