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    		•
    [JAPAN, THAILAND]

    Yesterday Today Tomorrow

    (“Kino kyo soshite ashita e . . .”)
    - JAPAN, THAILAND / 2005 / Thai, English / Color / Video / 90 min

    Director, Photography, Editing, Producer: Naoi Riyo
    Production Company: Asia Press International
    Source: Naoi Riyo

    Two HIV-positive families from a village in Northern Thailand look ahead to their future, with their feet planted on the ground. Anna, who contracted HIV through her ex-husband, lives a peaceful life with her new husband while peddling fish and farming to make ends meet. Boy, a nine-year-old who lives in a neighboring town goes back to school after a long period of absentia due to his illness, yet is soon hospitalized with AIDS and gradually wastes away. The pathos of life seeps through the lush green landscapes and the mellow passing of time. Following these families during her three-year residency in Thailand, the Japanese director captures their hope for life and embracing of death.


    - [Director’s Statement] A rural village surrounded by hills in Phayao province, northern Thailand, is where two HIV-positive families live among the local residents. While constantly harried by the uncertainty of life, they still manage to carry on a humble and fulfilling daily routine, treasuring each day. During the filming process, I slowly began to realize that the ‘small’ things in life—shopping at the early-morning market, going for a walk, chatting with neighbors, sharing a meal with family, going to work, having a cold shower after work and so on—in fact constitute the very essence of our lives.

    This film emerged from the three years that I spent with the villagers of Phayao, and my encounters with the radiance of life glimpsed through such daily scenes as passionate soccer matches between high-school children and HIV-positive villagers. By capturing the daily lives of the two families, I have attempted to explore their feelings of joy and sorrow, and the conditions of life and death.


    - Naoi Riyo

    Born 1970 in Ibaraki Prefecture, Naoi Riyo is a member of Asia Press International. She has been living in Thailand since 1999. Between 2001 and 2004, she produced her first feature-length documentary, Yesterday Today Tomorrow. The English version, completed this January, was submitted for the 2005 Bangkok International Film Festival. After returning to Japan, she completed the Japanese version in May. Currently, she is preparing independent screenings of her film in Japan and Thailand.