Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2013

Before the nuclear accident that made it a household name around the world in 1986, Chernobyl was an ordinary town in the Ukraine. The new international co-production Land of Oblivion [pictured] was granted special permission to film on location to tell the story of a young couple whose wedding is interrupted by its alarm sirens. Currently screening at Ginza’s Cine Switch (4-4-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku; www.cineswitch.com).

When the luxury airship the Hindenburg burst into flames while attempting to dock on May 6, 1937, it immediately entered public consciousness and the mass media, starting with a live radio broadcast (“Oh, the humanity!”). Since then, there have been countless documentaries and a big-budget Hollywood film. Now, Germany has produced yet another take on the doomed blimp, with dialogue Deutsch and lots of computer-generated explosions. Hindenburg opens February 16 at Shinjuku Wald 9 (3-1-26 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku; www.wald9.com).

They say there is no business like show business and there are countless movies supporting that claim. Laputa in Asagaya (2-12-21 Asagaya Kita, Suginami-ku; www.laputa-jp.com/laputa) is running a program of classic Japanese films on characters who work in front of the footlights, February 24-April 20. The lineup includes Tokyo Rhapsody (1937) and The Birth of the Jazz Girl (1957).