ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes documentary films from the Pacific Basin that investigate the consequences of genocide, crimes against humanity, and state terrorism. It draws on a rich theoretical tradition, commonly known as memory studies. The chapter examines some of the traumatic events that marked the history of the Pacific Basin and summarizes several documentaries from the US, Chile, China, and Vietnam. As with the internment of Japanese immigrant families in the US, the corporate media has largely ignored the challenges faced by rural migrants in the cities of contemporary China. The chapter also analyzes both the narrative and visual techniques used to rethink the consequences of these events for victims and historical memory. It reflects on the importance of documentary film, and the visual arts, in the representation of the past. Images of the Civil Rights movement and the protests against the Vietnam War had a great impact on the entire Pacific Basin, but especially in Latin America.
