Now is the Past – My Father, Java & the Phantom Films

During WWII, Japan occupied many regions in Asia, claiming release from European colonialism. Chunosuke Ise, a Japanese film editor, created a variety of propaganda movies in Indonesia to rationalize Japan’s hegemony in Asia. The film ‘Now is the Past’ examines the journey of his son, Shin-ichi Ise, a Japanese documentary filmmaker, who started research 30 years ago while following his father’s path. Meanwhile, the senior Ise’s propaganda films, almost 130 of them, turned out to be preserved at the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. The son has tried to see the truth of war in Indonesia by looking for the father’s work.