Między Hiroszimą a Auschwitz – polsko-japońska koprodukcja filmu "Ognie są jeszcze żywe"

Abstrakt

In the history of Polish cinema, most international co-productions have involved neighboring countries. One exception is Fires Are Still Alive (Ognie są jeszcze żywe, 1976), directed by Nobito Abe, the first Polish-Japanese co-production, and a rare example of such collaboration to this day. The plot revolves around the legacy of the Second World War’s tragedies in both countries: The Holocaust and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. While the film failed to achieve commercial or critical success, our aim is not to rehabilitate its artistic value, but to draw attention to its unique transcultural context. We use archival materials and a testimony from a film crew member to reconstruct the production process and reception. Furthermore, we analyze how the film develops and reframes existing discourse on Polish and Japanese national traumas and their universal dimension.