Michael
Dwyer
Director / Producer
Michael Dwyer studied film at Bard College and SUNY Purchase. He works by day as a graphic designer but his heart is tied to art with a mission and social cause behind it. Dwyer has produced three short films, Watch (2003), Rising Tide (2006), and Mom and Pop (2007), which were shown at festivals around the globe, including at Slamdance. Rising Tide won a Silver Medal at the 2005 Bilbao Film Festival awards for a short documentary.
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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.
For the last two years (before during, and after COVID), I have been interviewing Tomiko at her home and have also spoken to members of her family and friends, who can attest to her remarkable accomplishments and never-ending optimism and joy. Included in the film is one of her former Japanese language students along with several colleagues from her time at Vassar College.
I feel this film is important for historic 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.
