A SERIES of short films portraying the devastating impact of the tsunami which struck Japan in 2011 have gone on show in York.

Students and staff at York St John University, along with residents, attended the screenings of the work of filmmaker Hikaru Fujii, showing how everyday life was destroyed by the disaster and how forests have been contaminated.

The Art Action UK Respite Residency Project was set up after the tsunami as a way of demonstrating support for its victims and to highlight the political and environmental issues it created. The project’s UK screenings have been hosted by arts and research initiatives Morphe and Departure and supported by ACG, The Japan Foundation, the Otolith Group and Four Corners Gallery.

Hikaru’s films were shown in the Quad South Hall at the university. His work includes footage of the landscape in Tohoku and the forests of Fukushima, which were both devastated by the disaster.

The project has provided a platform for emerging artists from the area.