Minamata, les victimes et leur monde

In the small town of Minamata in Kyushu, far from the metropolitan center, the fertilizer company Chisso built a factory to take advantage of cheap labor and commenced dumping mercury-filled wastewater into the nearby sea. Soon residents began exhibiting symptoms of a mysterious illness, a happening that would eventually develop into the worst case of environmental pollution in postwar Japan. Noriaki Tsuchimoto visits the patients and their families who sued Chisso and listens to their voices. His camera gently lifts the veil and reveals their reality. Minamata: the Victims and their World is impressive in how it stands on the side of the patients, not only providing a collage of individual portraits, but also an understanding of their everyday lives.