Japanese

Nature and Symptoms / From Four Poems

(Shizen to choko / yottsu no shi kara)

- JAPAN, AUSTRIA / 2015 / Japanese, Korean, German / Color / Blu-ray / 50 min

Director, Sound, Source: Iwasaki Takamasa
Photography: Iwasaki Takamasa, Sebastian Arlamovsky, Simon Graf

Employing clues from the poetry of Wakamatsu Jotaro and other poets from Minamisoma, Fukushima, the director weaves together voices and footage from said prefecture as he serves as a local guide for photographers Tsuyuguchi Keiji and Chung Chu-ha, and Nikolaus Geyrhalter, director of the film Pripyat, on their visits there.




Tracing the Future: Photographer Naoya Hatakeyama

(Mirai o nazoru shashinka Hatakeyama Naoya)

- JAPAN / 2015 / Japanese, English, French / Color / Blu-ray / 87 min

Director, Photography: Hatakeyama Yohei
Editing: Hatakeyama Yohei, Ojiri Koichi
Music: Minato Oohiro
Sound Editor: Ogawa Takeshi
Production: Trace the Future: Photographer Naoya Hatakeyama Production Committee
Production Company: CINEMACTION Toyogeki
World Sales: Play Time

Hatakeyama Naoya’s mother was living in his childhood home in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture when she lost her life in the March 2011 tsunami. Ever since then he has frequently visited the town to take pictures. This is Rikuzentakata seen through the eyes of someone not only known worldwide for his photographs of mines and urban underground spaces, but also a native of the town.




- The Light After the Tsunami

(Nami ato no akashi)

JAPAN / 2014 / Japanese / Color / Blu-ray / 89 min

Director, Photography, Editing, Source: Sakashita Kiyoshi
Music: Onodera Tomoko
namiato.com

Matsuakashi—a Bon festival (Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of one’s ancestors) ceremony in the Iwate Prefecture city of Miyako. Its origins are unknown, with most historical records lost because of the area’s perpetual pummelling by tsunami. The director attempts to shed light on the mystery by following locals who maintain the tradition today, albeit with slight differences between families. Since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, this kind of interest in local history and traditions has increased.




LIVE! LOVE! SING!

(Live! Love! Sing! Ikite aishite utaukoto)

- JAPAN / 2015 / Japanese / Color / Blu-ray / 100 min

Director: Inoue Tsuyoshi
Photography: Iwasaki Ryo
Sound: Okuyama Misao
Production Company, Source: NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)

The protagonist, who evacuated from Fukushima to Kobe because of the nuclear crisis, sets off on a journey with her friends to visit their high school alma mater. A dramatic work of fiction made for television, but incorporating actual footage from Fukushima towns where access has been restricted due to the nuclear disaster, it also draws connections between the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and the 3.11 disaster and Tsunami. The version screened will be a special edition originally broadcast only in Hyogo and Fukushima prefectures.