Currents
Hanabi
Ana Vaz
North American Premiere
In this diaristic journey through the combustible heart of contemporary Japan, filmmaker Ana Vaz uses Yoko Hasuke’s essay “Journal of a Radioactive Brain” as the inspiration and anchor for a freeform inquiry into living amidst natural and manmade disasters. Special Mention winner at the 2026 Locarno Film Festival.
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Country
- France/
Brazil - Language
- English,
Japanese - Year
- 2026
- More information
- Official film page
Screenings
In this diaristic journey through the combustible heart of contemporary Japan, filmmaker Ana Vaz uses Yoko Hasuke’s essay “Journal of a Radioactive Brain” as the inspiration and anchor for a freeform inquiry into living amidst natural and manmade disasters. With the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster constantly simmering below its surface, Vaz’s discursive and associative film features a kaleidoscopic flow of images on video and 16mm shot over the course of 10 years, accompanied by a vibrant, densely layered soundscape. In her radical vision, the threat of ecological disaster leads to—and rhymes with—the hope and imagination for a practicable human future.
In this diaristic journey through the combustible heart of contemporary Japan, filmmaker Ana Vaz uses Yoko Hasuke’s essay “Journal of a Radioactive Brain” as the inspiration and anchor for a freeform inquiry into living amidst natural and manmade disasters. With the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster constantly simmering below its surface, Vaz’s discursive and associative film features a kaleidoscopic flow of images on video and 16mm shot over the course of 10 years, accompanied by a vibrant, densely layered soundscape. In her radical vision, the threat of ecological disaster leads to—and rhymes with—the hope and imagination for a practicable human future.