:00:00. > :00:27.Now on BBC News, it is time for Witness.
:00:28. > :00:37.Hello, and welcome to a special edition of Witness, with me, Tanya
:00:38. > :00:40.Beckett. I am at the British library in London for the last time this
:00:41. > :00:45.year to bring you five of our most striking films of 2015. We will hear
:00:46. > :00:49.from the mother and daughter whose lives were changed forever by a
:00:50. > :00:59.massive environmental disaster in Japan. A drummer who jammed with
:01:00. > :01:02.Miles Davis on the album, Kind of Blue. And a breakthrough in the
:01:03. > :01:11.relations between the US and Iran in a wrestling match. First, 75 years
:01:12. > :01:17.since the Trotsky was assassinated at his home in Mexico. Our first
:01:18. > :01:22.witness, Esteban, is the grandson of the Russian revolutionary. Mexico is
:01:23. > :01:28.about the only land that will have him, so here it is, Trotsky, landing
:01:29. > :01:32.with his wife. Once a partner of Lennon and commander of the Red
:01:33. > :05:19.Remembering his grandfather in the country.
:05:20. > :05:24.Remembering his grandfather in the house that has become a museum
:05:25. > :05:34.dedicated to Trotsky's memory. In the 1950s, a mysterious epidemic had
:05:35. > :05:37.swept through the small town of Minamata in Japan. It was only much
:05:38. > :05:47.later revealed to be the result of mercury poisoning. We spoke to a
:05:48. > :05:53.witness about the environmental disaster that hurt a family.
:05:54. > :06:02.TRANSLATION: I cannot tell you how much I hate the chemical factory.
:06:03. > :06:09.They devastated our ocean and people. I just hate it. People used
:06:10. > :06:18.to say that life in Minamata was wonderful. The corporation was the
:06:19. > :06:24.only one in Minamata. We are still frightened by the offer must of what
:06:25. > :06:28.was leaked by the country. -- awfulness. It poisons the fish and
:06:29. > :06:41.people that get them got Minamata disease. -- poisoned. -- ate. There
:06:42. > :06:49.was no warning before the factory was built near the base. But the
:06:50. > :06:55.corporation denied anything and continued to pump its waste into the
:06:56. > :07:01.sea. TRANSLATION: That's got the disease before people. They became
:07:02. > :07:05.blind and stands round and round like they were crazy. -- cats. Soon
:07:06. > :07:12.became clear that people were suffering as well. TRANSLATION:
:07:13. > :07:19.Miyumi was my first daughter. She could not eat fish well because she
:07:20. > :07:24.was only three years old, but she could eat prawns by herself, so I
:07:25. > :07:30.let her eat many. We thought that something might be wrong with
:07:31. > :07:36.Miyumi. We thought she might have the strange disease. When her hands
:07:37. > :07:45.started shaking, I realised, she had the disease. She became unable to
:07:46. > :07:48.walk properly, unable to speak. Doctors from the local university
:07:49. > :07:54.filmed the shaking for it. They suspected metal poisoning. -- fits.
:07:55. > :08:03.TRANSLATION: When I visited her in hospital, she had lost her sight.
:08:04. > :08:08.But, she could still hear. I said to her, Miyumi, your mother is here,
:08:09. > :08:18.you do not have to cry any more. She gave me a sweet smile. It was her
:08:19. > :08:31.last smile on January three of 1958 she died. -- third. -- smile.
:08:32. > :08:40.By 1958, we knew it was caused by the corporation. They knew it was
:08:41. > :08:48.caused by waste water pumped into the bay by the factory. They tried
:08:49. > :08:54.to hide it. My second child Shinobu. She contracted Minamata disease in
:08:55. > :09:00.the womb. I did not think it was possible. But, three months after
:09:01. > :09:16.she was born, I noticed that something was wrong with her Shinobu
:09:17. > :09:22.is now 59 he sold. -- years old. In 1959 the corporation offered her
:09:23. > :09:33.some money. Her life cannot be replaced by money. And Fuji and
:09:34. > :09:39.Shinobu still live in Minamata today. Next, 20 years ago, Iraq
:09:40. > :09:46.decided to mark a thought in diplomatic relations by inviting a
:09:47. > :09:50.US team to a wrestling match in Iran. -- thaw. It was the first time
:09:51. > :10:00.in two decade that any US diplomatic visitors had stepped foot in Iranian
:10:01. > :10:06.soil. -- decades. They are the best fans in the world, Iran, it is a
:10:07. > :10:15.party. They chant and they have a guy with a whole and the sheer. --
:10:16. > :10:29.horn and they cheer. It is just amazing. Before going to a round, we
:10:30. > :10:34.knew there was a lot of tension between the US and Iran. -- Iran. We
:10:35. > :10:39.were the first Americans go to Iran in about 20 years, since the hostage
:10:40. > :10:45.crisis. We were a little nervous about the whole trip, but also, at
:10:46. > :10:49.the same time, I was very excited about the trip because I was going
:10:50. > :10:53.to get my first opportunity with Iran and compete against the best
:10:54. > :11:00.wrestlers in the world. Iowa is the first American to wrestle an Iranian
:11:01. > :11:06.in at least two decades. -- I was the. When I first walked up to him,
:11:07. > :11:09.I knew he was the national champion for Iran, one of their better
:11:10. > :11:15.wrestlers... I won't forget the match. He was strong, I and talking
:11:16. > :11:19.real strong. It makes you a little nervous just watching it. -- I am.
:11:20. > :11:23.There is so much energy in that room. He was their hometown
:11:24. > :11:29.favourite. APPLAUSE. I ended up getting a score
:11:30. > :11:34.early and had even turned him on top, which is very unusual, to be
:11:35. > :11:42.able to turn and by bringing in the top position. In many Minamata then
:11:43. > :11:46.he came back and got a scorer me. -- Then he. That was a defining moment
:11:47. > :11:52.in the at. If he turned me again he would be able to keep pushing. --
:11:53. > :11:56.score on me. -- in the match. He threw everything at me and I was on
:11:57. > :12:02.the offence and I managed to shut down. He not only shook my hand
:12:03. > :12:06.after the match, but he came up to me, and he gave me a kiss on the
:12:07. > :12:10.cheek. And, it was me looking uncomfortable and in showing his
:12:11. > :12:15.gratitude to wrestling and having a good match. Obviously, being an
:12:16. > :12:20.American, we are not used to, especially after competition, or
:12:21. > :12:27.anytime, but a male wanting to express himself kissing you on the
:12:28. > :12:30.cheek. -- any time. I won the match, but they won the tournament as 18.
:12:31. > :12:36.They are fantastic wrestlers. To be able to get on the map with and
:12:37. > :12:45.Iranian and be able to win is a big deal. -- a team. -- an. There was
:12:46. > :12:50.one they let us do at to see the city. They took us to the bazaar.
:12:51. > :12:57.That is what it is called, it was also an. Many people, very friendly
:12:58. > :13:01.towards us. -- it was awesome. My mother collect teapots so I bought a
:13:02. > :13:08.very nice one for my wife and my mother. When I returned to the US we
:13:09. > :13:11.got an invitation from Bill Clinton to go to the oval losses because he
:13:12. > :13:19.wanted to know what our experience was like in Iran's. -- Oval Office.
:13:20. > :13:26.-- Iran. He was very appreciative of what we did. He is still tough.
:13:27. > :13:32.Still calf. And the real good shape of the would-be kind of fun to scrap
:13:33. > :13:48.You can catch up on a thousand of against the -- tough.
:13:49. > :13:55.You can catch up on a thousand of our programmes on radio archive.
:13:56. > :14:03.Just go to this website. In the 1950s the Danish government removed
:14:04. > :14:13.20 in Newark children and took them to Denmark. The Fx are still being
:14:14. > :14:26.felt -- effects. This woman was taken from her family. .
:14:27. > :14:31.TRANSLATION: In 1948 the authorities held a national conference with the
:14:32. > :14:35.Danish colonial committee. They discussed sending children to learn
:14:36. > :14:43.Danish. The idea was that they would return to Greenland and teach their
:14:44. > :14:44.peers Danish. The authority sent out telegrams to priests and head
:14:45. > :14:51.teachers in Greenland's coastal town. They requested to find bright
:14:52. > :14:54.children in all those town. They had to be intelligent because they
:14:55. > :15:03.needed to learn Danish quickly and they had to be between six and ten
:15:04. > :15:06.years old. One day two grand colonial masters showed up and asked
:15:07. > :15:15.my mum if she was willing to send me to Denmark. They said was a great
:15:16. > :15:18.chance for me. The day I was leaving the Denmark we walked down to the
:15:19. > :15:23.harbour with my little suitcase. From the boat I looked at my mum but
:15:24. > :15:35.I could not way that her, I was too upset. I thought, why are you
:15:36. > :15:39.letting me leave? In Denmark I was put with two different foster
:15:40. > :15:47.family. The first was with a doctor outside Copenhagen. I did not feel
:15:48. > :15:50.welcome and felt like a stranger. The second was like a fairytale
:15:51. > :15:55.compared to the first. They were very warmhearted people. As far as
:15:56. > :16:02.adults were concerned, I did not trust them. They had set me to
:16:03. > :16:10.Denmark, so far away. The following year in 1952, 16 of us were sent to
:16:11. > :16:14.Greenland. When the ship docked I ran down the bridge into the arms of
:16:15. > :16:18.my mother and I talked about all that I had seen, but she did not
:16:19. > :16:23.answer. Looked up at her in confusion. After a while she said
:16:24. > :16:27.something but I could not understand a word she said. I thought, this is
:16:28. > :16:31.awful, I cannot speak with my mother any more. We speak to different
:16:32. > :16:37.languages. I barely recovered from the shock before the director tapped
:16:38. > :16:41.my shoulder and said get on the bus we are going to the orphanage. I
:16:42. > :16:48.thought I was going home to my mum. Why was I being sent to a
:16:49. > :17:01.children's home? I just got on and could hardly see the town through my
:17:02. > :17:04.tears. It was later revealed that at the conference in 1948, the Danish
:17:05. > :17:10.Red Cross were present. They suggested that when the innuit
:17:11. > :17:15.children come back to Greenland, a children's home should be built for
:17:16. > :17:20.them. They thought we should not go back to worse conditions than we had
:17:21. > :17:25.experienced in Denmark. With my mother, the relationship was never
:17:26. > :17:35.really rebuilt. The way my mum gave in. It was in the days when
:17:36. > :17:38.Greenland was a part of the colony. And they were masters in the worst
:17:39. > :17:43.part of the words. As far as the Danish authorities are concerned I
:17:44. > :17:48.felt disappointed. I've not been able to understand how they turned
:17:49. > :17:52.us into an experiment. It is just in Conran 's ball and I'm still bitter
:17:53. > :18:16.about it. I will be until the day I die. -- despicable. They received an
:18:17. > :18:25.official apology from Save V Children -- the. Miles Davis
:18:26. > :18:38.recorded and how will that changed transfer ever. Kind of blue was a
:18:39. > :18:44.death record of all time. We made it on the day. To play with Miles Davis
:18:45. > :18:51.was wobbly one of the best things you could do in the jazz world. I
:18:52. > :18:57.was unpopular and he had the most popular jazz bands in the world. I
:18:58. > :19:02.don't know what the magic is for most people. For me, it is the
:19:03. > :19:09.feeling in the way the guys play. I love being there with them. I think
:19:10. > :19:27.what got everybody about it was the sound. He could play really twitchy
:19:28. > :19:33.-- pretty ballads. If you were a drummer and played the way he likes
:19:34. > :19:38.you to play, it is not a test. He used to say, if I have someone in
:19:39. > :19:43.the band and I found something off them and I can't get anything back,
:19:44. > :19:50.then I know I have got the wrong guy.
:19:51. > :20:05.Where are you going to work now? Right here. Ready? It was just
:20:06. > :20:12.another Miles Davis record. When Miles came in there was no music. He
:20:13. > :20:15.had the manuscript had but that he had written down a few things like
:20:16. > :20:29.chord changes and something like that. That was probably the least --
:20:30. > :20:37.I have ever had making a record -- pressure. He said make it seem like
:20:38. > :20:42.you were floating. And that is the way he liked it. He always figured
:20:43. > :20:48.the first take was going to be the best one anyway. He stopped the tape
:20:49. > :20:59.one time because someone played a chord that he did not want. That is
:21:00. > :21:08.the only time he stopped it. It wasn't hard. It was like we were at
:21:09. > :21:12.a jam session or something. The rest of the world was playing structured
:21:13. > :21:19.tunes and this was nothing like that. This is what they call modal
:21:20. > :21:26.where you place chords and scale. It was easy on the ear. Ifan people who
:21:27. > :21:37.did not know about Jazz liked it. By the time it was over I loved it --
:21:38. > :21:46.even. Nobody thought it would be as big as it was going to be. Those are
:21:47. > :21:57.some really great guys that I was playing with. They are not here any
:21:58. > :22:10.more. And I think about them every day and I am going to love them to
:22:11. > :22:15.the end. That is how it lasts. That is all from us here at Witness. We
:22:16. > :22:21.will be back in 2016 with more tales of our times from around the globe.
:22:22. > :22:50.Now, from me and the rest of the Witness team. Goodbye.
:22:51. > :23:02.Hello. It looks like we will see wet and windy weather across most parts
:23:03. > :23:05.of the UK again. Obviously, concerns are flooding but especially eastern
:23:06. > :23:06.Scotland where the