Minamata, a British film released in 2021, is based on the true story of an American photographer documenting how the citizens of Minamata, Japan, became ill due to the industrial discharge dumped into the river by a Japanese corporation. The Minamata disease, mentioned in the movie, is a neuromuscular disorder resulting from mercury poisoning. To prevent further human health impacts from mercury pollution, the UNEP Minamata Convention on Mercury, a multilateral agreement to mitigate anthropogenic mercury emissions and releases, was initiated in 2017.
