Perspectives Japan
[Venue] F5 Forum Yamagata 5
How are the memories carved into a place experienced and passed on to the future? Contemporary Japanese documentaries pose this question to us today.
Don’t Shoot My Back—A Life of an Actor- JAPAN / 2024 / 82 min
Director: Nakamura Yumi
The space before the camera is an actor’s sacred ground. For four years, a daughter documents her father as he loses this domain to old age. A struggle over the memories of a father, a daughter, and the mother who always supported the family.
Appalachian Lenses- JAPAN / 2024 / 85 min
Director: Kasezawa Atsushi
In a small American town, a workshop has continued since 1969. Through filmmaking, young people confront the memories and realities of their hometown. But on the eve of their screening, a harsh event befalls them.
My Blue Heaven- JAPAN / 2024 / 95 min
Director: Murakami Hiroyasu
The family home, where a father spends his final days. In the face of a closing life, new connections among family members and others are born and expand. The son's camera quietly gazes upon the transformation of a space that holds the memory of a life.
The Future of Dialogue: Yoshida Dormitory at Kyoto University- JAPAN / 2025 / 100 min
Director: Fujikawa Keizo
Japan’s oldest student dormitory holds a century of autonomous history. Facing a university demanding their eviction due to the building's age, the residents, fighting for the survival of their space, question the future using dialogue as their foundation.
Spring, On the Shores of Aga- JAPAN / 2025 / 64 min
Director: Komori Haruka
The memory of Niigata Minamata disease is carved into the Agano River basin. While documenting the efforts to pass this memory on to the next generation, the film traces the meaning of living on the land and handing down its stories.