Chang-Jin Lee.

Comfort Women Wanted

Date: 2011
Length: 46:48 min.
Format: 4:3
Specifications: Black and White, Sound, Single Channel
Courtesy of the Artist

In her film „Comfort women wanted“, Chang-Jin Lee tells the disturbing story of more than 200.000 young women who were misused as sex slaves by the Japanese army during the Second World War. The video comprises six episodes; the facts about the war crimes are related in highly personal interviews. The first interview, an introduction to this theme, is with one of the perpetrators, a former soldier of the Japanese army. For her film the artists also selected five women as witnesses of those times. They live in the Netherlands, China, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan and were forced to work in brothels, which were known under the euphemistic name “comfort stations”. In the film we hear only the voices of those interviewed, on the screen we see black-and-white photographs with rapidly changing subtitles in English. These show us blurred pictures of the six protagonists. The women are representatives of the fate which thousands suffered. They came to terms with their destiny in various ways and have now found the courage to relate even the most intimate details of their fate. They are fighting for justice, for till today there has been no discussion in Japan about the problem of forced prostitution.

Anastasia Antropova

Interview:

► 1. Your work has been chosen among over 2000 festival entries to participate in VIDEONALE.14. In which context do you prefer to present your work, festival/cinema context or exhibition? And what kind of difference does the respective mode of presentation mean for you / your work?

I would prefer to present my work as an exhibition because it was conceived as a video installation in a gallery  or museum space.

► 2. Art can be seen as a mirror that registers and reflects life or as a tool that transforms it. Is there a particular theme, concept or problem your art addresses the most?

My work deals with the untold history of systematic sex slavery in Asia during World War II. This exploitation of 200,000 "comfort women" is the largest case of human trafficking in the 20th century. In the 21st century human trafficking has surpassed drug trafficking to become the second largest business in the world after arms dealing.

Despite growing awareness of the issue of trafficking of women and of sexual slavery as a crime against humanity, this particular recent historical event has been largely forgotten. COMFORT WOMEN WANTED attempts to bring to light this instance of organized violence against women, and to create a constructive dialogue by acknowledging this history.

► 3. In which way is the video medium an excellent possibility to express your intended subjects, especially in contrast to other media you use? Or do you work exclusively with video?

I have worked on mixed media installations, but this is my first time working on a video. I interviewed Korean, Dutch, Taiwanese, Indonesian, and Chinese, “comfort women” survivors, and a former Japanese soldier. Video was necessary for this particular project because I wanted to have their voices and stories to be heard. Yet, this is a not a typical narrative oriented documentary. Subtitles are typed against a B&W still image of each survivor while he or she talks about experiences at the comfort stations (or military rape camps), as well as their everyday hopes and dreams.

► 4. If you have the chance to ask the visitors of the VIDEONALE.14 exhibition questions about your own work, what would be your question?

Have you heard of  the comfort women issue before? Germany acknowledged the activities of its government during W.W.II, but Japan never did. Do you think it would make people respect the Japanese government less or more if they acknowledged this history?