Mary & Myself

Mary & Myself

| 6 min

This short animated documentary tells the story of 2 Chinese Canadian women making their theatrical debut playing “comfort women” in Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues. Jia Tsu Thompson and Mary Mohammed spend long hours rehearsing at Mu Lan Teahouse in Halifax, where they read their lines over and over, sip tea, and recount buried stories of war. As they diligently practise together and at home, they come to have their own personal catharses. Fusing activism and performance, the film honours the thousands of girls and women from Korea, China, Japan and the Philippines who were forced into sexual slavery—into providing “comfort” to soldiers in the Imperial Japanese military during the 1930s and ’40s.

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Mary & Myself, Sam Decoste, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

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Credits
  • writer
    Sam Decoste
  • director
    Sam Decoste
  • animator
    Sam Decoste
  • producer
    Annette Clarke
  • narration
    Jia Tsu Thompson
  • original music
    Judith Gruber-Stitzer
  • sound design
    Judith Gruber-Stitzer
  • sound recordist
    Alex Salter
  • dialogue editor
    Tristan Capacchione
    Tom Elliot
  • foley
    Karla Baumgardner
  • musician
    Dave Gossage
    Amanda Keesmaat
    Judith Gruber-Stitzer
  • digital animation assistant
    Lindell Smith
  • photo research
    Yi Wen Guo
  • translation
    Yi Wen Guo
  • foley recording
    Geoffrey Mitchell
  • music mix
    Luc Léger
  • online editor
    Doug Woods
  • assistant on-line editor
    Kevin Riley
  • re-recording
    Jean Paul Vialard
  • technical coordinator
    Steve Hallé
  • production supervisor
    Candice Desormeaux
    Roz Power
  • production coordinator
    Stephanie Coolen
    Vanessa Larsen
  • marketing manager
    Melissa Wheeler
  • centre administrator
    John William Lutz
    Leslie Anne Poyntz
  • executive producer
    Ravida Din

  • zbiff

    unfortunately, you both are incorrect

    zbiff, 7 Jul 2016
  • post56

    It is sad that this animation is based on lies and fabrication. You can find the fact about comfort women in “Japanese Prisoner of War Interrogation Report #49” from United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The document clearly states “A comfort girl is nothing more than a prostitute or professional camp follower”. The document was declassified in 1973. If you tell a lie 100times or 1000times lie will eventually become the truth.

    post56, 3 Mar 2014
  • kimikoba

    'Mary&Myself' is nominated for Canadian Screen Award this year. Congratulation! But Japanese people feel very sad about this animation. This is the Comfort woman's story. Forced taking of comfort women is forged history. Therefore,'Mary&Myself' is not true history.(but there is no sin on author of this anime) China and South Korea have spread forged history to the world. Many people have believed it by testimony of lies and tears of lie. Unfortunately,the more tender-hearted people believe it more. Therefore there is no sin on author of this animation. Japan is a country of single ethnic mostly for about 2600 years. Same culture same religion same language. The Ethnic war was rare in Japan.(less than ten times for 2600 years) Foreign invasion had been blocked by sea. Therfore,there was No slavery No genocide in the history of Japan. Please remember the behavior of Japanese people when the ‪2011 Tōhoku ‬ earthquake and tsunami occurred. There was No looting No riot No rape. This is the ethnicity of the Japanese. Nanjing Massacre & forced taking of comfort women ? Japanese don't have such the way of thinking. We believe only tears of truth.

    kimikoba, 2 Mar 2014

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