104 minutes / Color
Closed Captioned
Release: 2016
Copyright: 2016
Winner of a Peabody award, a duPont-Columbia award, and named Best Documentary at the Busan International Film Festival, THE APOLOGY follows the personal journeys of three former "comfort women" who were among the 200,000 girls and young women kidnapped and forced into military sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Seventy years after their imprisonment in so-called "comfort stations," Grandma Gil in South Korea, Grandma Cao in China, and Grandma Adela in the Philippines are facing their twilight years. After decades of living in silence and shame about their experiences of institutionalized rape and sexual slavery, in THE APOLOGY they give first-hand accounts of the truth. They are seeking an apology, and hope that this horrific chapter of history will not be forgotten.
To bring THE APOLOGY to the screen, director Tiffany Hsiung enlisted an all female team (including Mary Stephens, editor of Lixin Fan's film Last Train Home). Hsiung drew on devastating personal experience as well as six years spent documenting the lives of survivors of military sexual assault during WWII.
"An incredibly moving, emotional film. The plight of the so-called 'Comfort Women' who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during World War II has seldom been told so powerfully." —BBC News
"A powerful, intimate portrait." —San Francisco Chronicle
"A must-see for everyone! Truly inspiring; an outstanding documentary." —Asian Movie Pulse
"A moving testament to all women who have suffered and survived similar atrocities." —Film Journal International
"A landmark film for its subject matter and the sensitivity with which Hsiung approaches it, 'The Apology' is one of the best films ever produced by the NFB." —POV Magazine
"They should sell Kleenex instead of popcorn at theaters showing ['The Apology']. This powerful documentary is alternately harrowing and uplifting, and always emotionally devastating." —The Hollywood Reporter
Select Accolades
The story of one woman's brutal ordeal as a "comfort woman" for the Japanese Army during World War II.
BAN Zhongyi | 2012 | 80 minutes | Color | Japanese; Mandarin | English subtitles
Till today the history of the 1937 "Rape of Nanking" is a point of contention between China and Japan. How is it seen in each country, and can a shared memory ever be constructed?
Michael Prazan | 2007 | 53 minutes | Color | French | English subtitles
Investigates the Japanese army's mistreatment of New Guinean women and "comfort girls."
Yuka Sekiguchi | 1989 | 54 minutes | Color | English subtitles
