Winner, Best Documentary Feature Film, 2008
63 Years On focuses on Korean women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. During the war, an estimated 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Dutch East Indies and Indonesia were abducted from their homes against their will or were recruited with offers of work in military factories and subsequently forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military. The majority of these women came from Korea, and this film chronicles the survivors’ persistent efforts to be recognised as WWII victims by Japan and international forums. 63 Years On tells the stories of five women— a Korean, a Chinese, two Filipinas and one Dutch—who reveal their experiences as survivors, including one elderly Korean woman, Kim Haksun, who by speaking of her ordeal on television, created an international groundswell to lobby the Japanese government for an official apology.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
