THE OPPRESSED STUDENTS
(aka FOREST OF OPPRESSION - A RECORD OF THE STRUGGLE AT TAKASAKI CITY)
(圧殺の森－高崎経済大学闘争の記録)
Dir. Shinsuke Ogawa, 1967.
Japan. 105 min.
In Japanese with English subtitles.

SATURDAY, MAY 16TH 7:30pm with introduction and q+a

Rarely screened in the United States since their original releases, Shinsuke Ogawa’s films offer invaluable insight into Japanese radical politics and the collective action of workers, students, and villagers. Ogawa dared to imagine a new ethics and approach to documentary production in Japan, situating himself closely alongside political dissidents and communities and bringing the camera, and the filmmaker, closer to political struggle than had previously been done in Japan.

FOREST OF OPPRESSION is an undecorated and patient documentation of a multi-year protest at Takasaki University, which reached its peak in 1967 and 1968 with the students’ unprecedented occupation of university buildings. The film follows a relatively small group of young activists as they struggle to maintain their movement against violent Japanese institutions and the powerful cultural pressures surrounding themselves and their peers. An intimate view of long-term resistance, FOREST OF OPPRESSION forces its audience to sit with the messiness and uncertainty of grassroots organizing and reflects the changing feeling of time for those on the frontlines, as persistent and slow struggle erupts into sudden and dangerous moments of conflict.

Abigail Susik, Sean Lovitt, and Sabu Kohso will join us to discuss this piece of history, including how a group of teenagers involved with RYM in the Lower East Side caught wind of FOREST OF OPPRESSION and were inspired to adapt some of the Japanese students’ tactics.

Sabu Kohso is a theorist, translator, and long-time activist in global and anti-capitalist struggle. A native of Okayama, Japan, Sabu has lived in New York City since 1980. He has published several books on urban space and struggle in Japan and his translations include works by Kojin Karatani and David Graeber. His most recent book is Radiation and Revolution (Duke University Press, September 2020).

Co-programmed with Abigail Susik and Sean Lovitt.