For decades, disaster films were metaphors.

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Think back to the golden age of disaster ensemble films like The Towering Inferno, Airport and Earthquake the latter of which starred Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner and George Kennedy.

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Miyazaki visited the tsunami-hit area of northeast Japan four months after the disaster to screen his films to local children.

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They have made Emmy-award winning films of disaster scenes.

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Under the care of Lucas, on the other hand, we may have never gotten the films at all, or had a repeat of the prequel disaster.

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Last year, only eight of the 76 films in the festival were purchased, including director Todd Berger's "It's A Disaster, " which had its world premiere at the festival and was immediately acquired by Oscilloscope Pictures.

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