Michael
Dwyer
Director / Producer
Michael Dwyer studied film and art at SUNY Purchase and Tufts University. By day, he works as a graphic designer, but his true passion lies in socially engaged art. Alongside his friend Robert Todd, he produced three short films—Watch, Rising Tide, and Mom and Pop—which have been showcased at film festivals worldwide, including Slamdance. Notably, Rising Tide received a Silver Medal at the 2005 Bilbao Film Festival.
Dwyer's recent work, Appreciation: The Tomiko Morimoto West Story, was featured in ten film festivals in 2023-24, winning multiple awards, including Best Short Documentary at the Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival. He also served as a consulting producer on Silent Witness for Kunhardt Films, which won a News and Documentary Emmy Award in 2024.
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I met Tomiko Morimoto West in August of 2019 in Beacon, NY. A friend of hers introduced us at the opening of an art exhibit I had organized that featured 1000 origami cranes. After speaking to Tomiko for only a few minutes, I realized that I had to chronicle her amazing life story as a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima as well as capture her inspiring personality on film.
I feel this film is important for historical reasons. It documents the story of a hibakusha (the survivor of an atomic bomb) who continues to speak out and share her experience hoping to promote peace in the present moment.
Tomiko Morimoto West is a rare individual who survived the single most horrific act of destruction that the world has ever seen. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, she has led a joyful and productive life most people would find hard to fathom. Tomiko is intent on spreading her message of peace and nuclear disarmament to future generations.
