However...

However… examines the life and impact of Yamanouchi Yoyomori. As the head of the national Social Welfare Bureau in Japan, Yoyomori was responsible for compensating victims of Minamata Disease, a neurological disorder caused by methyl mercury poisoning. As the wheels of the bureaucracy slowed, Kore-Eda’s subject became a sort of martyr for the cause, having grown increasingly frustrated with his department’s unwillingness to support the victims despite his overwhelming commitment to them. (Viennale)
Kore-Eda Hirokazu (1962, Japan) is one of the most important directors to emerge from Japan in the last twenty years. Having proved his independent and humanist point of view in documentary film making, he made a very successful transition to fiction with Maborosi. Many consider the tragically true tale of social isolation of Nobody Knows, which was awarded the Cannes Jury Prize, the highlight of his career so far. His latest film Still Walking is included in the Spectrum section.