Unearthing War Trauma in Oda Kaori’s Gama (2023) and Creating Cultural Memory
Abstract
Gama is a 2023 documentary by Oda Kaori, a voyage in the underground unearthing the memories of victims' families and survivors of the 1944 Battle of Okinawa. After briefly exploring other representations of Okinawa, this article analyses Oda’s approach to its reality and identity, focusing on oral narration as not just the main cinematic device, but also as the symbol of the importance of a transgenerational consciousness of history. In addition, this study aims to reveal her vision of the underground by examining the features which characterise Gama as expository and primarily realistic, along with the contrasting allegorical elements.
Presentato: 10 Marzo 2026 | Accettato: 24 Giugno 2026 | Pubblicato 30 Luglio 2026 | Lingua: en
Keywords Trauma • Okinawa • Japanese cinema • Memory • Documentary film • Battle of Okinawa
Copyright © 2026 Ilaria Di Antonio. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2026/62/008