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Hiroshima Film Presented At ICA, April 8

London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (map) will host a screening of Child of the Atom, a documentary about the Hiroshima A-bomb, combining live-action with anime footage. The event is on Friday April 8 at 1830; admission is free, but tickets must be reserved at the box office, 0207 9303647.

A trailer is available at the website of the director David Blandy, including images (some modified) from Barefoot Gen and Akira. Blandy made the film with Ai Takita-Lucas ("Inko"), a manga artist based in London, who has a blog here.

From the ICA website:

Artist Film Club features the public premiere of David Blandy's latest work Child of the Atom. Inspired by his grandfather's belief that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima saved his life when he was a POW held by the Japanese, Child of the Atom revolves around footage of Blandy and his daughter visiting Hiroshima for the first time together. Attempting to literally and symbolically come to terms with their personal connection to the bombing of the city, Blandy intersperses scenes of modern Hiroshima with flashback sequences of apocalyptic anime, featuring the film's eponymous character who must decide if he is hero or villain.

Throughout his practice, David Blandy undertakes investigations into the cultural forces that construct his identity, ranging from his love of hip hop and soul, to computer games and manga.

After the screening David Blandy will discuss making the work, memory, and family legends in relation to historical traumas, with collaborating Manga artist and Japanese expat Inko and Anne Piper, a novelist and playwright, who has been actively protesting against nuclear weapons for over 50 years in addition to being Blandy's grandmother.