1998, Dir. Tatsuya Mori
With Hiroshi Araki
136 min, Digital Projection

Director Tatsuya Mori’s moving and revealing documentary follows the Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, in the years following their sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, killing 13 commuters, seriously injuring 54, and affecting 6,000 more.  A follows the remaining spokesperson for the cult, the 28-year-old Hiroshi Araki, as he attempts to communicate with the press and public in the years following the incident.  What emerges is the tale of a young man lost in the wake of choices made by senior cult officials whose reasons behind the attack remain a mystery to all.  Mori’s documentary crafts a personal look at one of the most iconic moments in Japanese history in recent decades, attempting to unearth meaning in the acts of those who take apocalyptic prophecies into their own hands.