Kinuyo Tanaka Film Series

Eighth film in Kinuyo Tanaka Film Series:

Sandakan 8 (1974): Kei Kumai. One of Tanaka's final roles, it typifies the kind of films made during the last years of her career when she went out of her way to appear in smaller, less mainstream projects. With Sandakan 8, Tanaka reaped rewards for her creative risk-taking. She received an acting prize at the Berlin Film Festival for her performance as a former "Karayuki-san" (women coerced into working as prostitutes in Southeast Asian during the Japanese occupation). One of the few Japanese films ever to deal with this explosive, and still controversial, legacy from WWII.