Japanese

Snow Poem

(Yuki no shi)

JAPAN / 1976 / Japanese / Color / Digital File (Original: 35mm) / 80 min

Director, Producer: Hatano Katsuhiko
Script: Kawasaki Hiroshi
Photography: Tanisawa Kazuyoshi
Sound: Toyoshima Shiro, Noma Hiroyuki
Music: Hoshino Susumu
Song: Aoi Hiroko
Cast: Kitahara Takashi, Isshiki Kyoko, Tonomura Shin, Hayasaka Tanio, Residents of Okura Village, Yamagata
Production Company: Buneisha
Screening support: Documentary Dream Center

A man who lost his house and family in a fire caused by his own carelessness finds his emotional wounds healed through an encounter with an innocent girl in the snow country. Shot on location in Hijiori Onsen, Yamagata Prefecture, many local residents appear as extras in this legendary fiction film from almost half a century ago. Hijiori History Research Group had been looking for the film for some years when researchers at the National Film Archive helped them reach the family of the deceased filmmaker. For this screening, the film has been digitized from 35mm negative film guided by a sole remaining 16mm print. Hijiori Onsen in Snow, another film directed by the same director, will be screened in the “Enchanting Tohoku through Open-air Cinema!!” program.


Hatano Katsuhiko

Born in 1936. MFA from Nihon University College of Art in 1962. Established a film production company in 1967. Of the 300-plus films he released during his career, 206 are permanently archived in the National Film Archive Japan.


Talk event
Guests: Saito Eiki (Head, Hijiori History Research Group; Hoteiya Shop) Hayasaka Ryuichi (Producer, Tojiba Radio; Kotobuki Soba Restaurant)
MC: Kawakami Atiqa (Director, With Each Passing Breath)