Yamagata Rough Cut!
Aim for a Grand Incompletion, Rather than a Small Completion
Recently, there have been many Japanese documentary films playing in cinemas, and the number of film festivals and opportunities for watching these films has been increasing. Making a film and screening it in a theater is now easier than ever before. But for the creator, the purpose and meaning of making a film is not simply social recognition as a writer or director, let alone commercial success. The beauty of filmmaking is in the process of creation, in which the creator struggles and contemplates, rather than rushing to completion.
In this program, we are not going to screen completed films, but rather five rough cuts that are currently in production. We will have an open discussion with our audience of domestic and international guests. The discussion will be carried out through simultaneous interpretation between Japanese and English. We are focusing specifically on independent films, which tend not to be seen by many people in their process of creation. This occasion is not an opportunity for the creators to present their works for fund-raising or to decide whose work is the best, or anything like that. Instead, we hope that you, the audience, will carefully watch these unfinished films and discuss their details with their filmmakers. We invite our participants to discover new perspectives, to take advantage of this occasion to experience works-in-progress from the points of view of both creators and the audience.