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Minatomachi

Inland Sea
Forum 2018
© 2018 Laboratory X, Inc.
Sometimes Mr Murata thinks that it was just yesterday when he was 50 or 60. “And now I’m pushing 90,” he says.
Like many parts of rural Japan, the fishing village of Ushimado suffers from an ageing population. Every day, Mr Murata still takes his boat out on the inland sea that separates Honshu and Shikoku, two of Japan’s main islands. He sells his catch at the local market, with a large share going to Mrs Koso, who runs the local fish trade and tours the village daily in her delivery van. She knows her customers’ preferences and habits inside out and tells the filmmakers how long each of the empty houses has been abandoned.
Ushimado provides the ideal spot for the patient observations made in Kazuhiro Soda’s Minatomachi, which is shot in mesmerising black and white. This location isn’t just perfect because the film’s producer Kiyoko Kashiwagi’s family hails from the village, nor because Shohei Imamura shot two features here. It’s perfect because all that’s needed is to listen and follow the local people, who – like the elderly Mrs Komiyama – occasionally hijack the camera and tell heart-breaking stories no outsider has ever wanted to hear.
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by Kazuhiro Soda Japan / USA 2018 Japanese 122’ Black/White World premiere | Documentary form

Crew

Director Kazuhiro Soda
Cinematography Kazuhiro Soda
Editing Kazuhiro Soda
Sound Kazuhiro Soda
Producers Kiyoko Kashiwagi, Kazuhiro Soda

World Sales

TriCoast Worldwide

http://www.tricoastworldwide.com http://www.tricoastworldwide.com

Produced by

Laboratory X

Photos

Kazuhiro Soda

Born in Ashikaga, Japan in 1970. He studied religion at the University of Tokyo and filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He practices an observational method of documentary filmmaking based on his own “Ten Commandments”. He has made eleven feature-length documentaries with this method, which have screened and received prizes at festivals worldwide. He is also the author of nine books published in Japanese, one of which, “Why I Make Documentaries”, has been translated into English, Korean and Chinese.

Filmography (selection)

1995 A Night in New York; 10 min. · A Flower and a Woman; 5 min. 1996 Freezing Sunlight; 85 min. 1997 The Flicker; 17 min. 2001 Intanetto de Kazoku ga Umareru (Internet Adoption); 59 min. 2005 Mafuyu no 111 (111 First in Winter); 20 min. · Soshite Musuko ha Korosareta (My Son Was Killed); 20 min. 2007 Senkyo (Campaign); 120 min., Forum 2007 2008 Seishin (Mental); 135 min., Forum 2009 2010 Peace; 75 min. 2012 Engeki 1 (Theatre 1); 172 min. · Engeki 2 (Theatre 2); 170 min. 2013 Senkyo 2 (Campaign 2); 149 min. 2015 Kaki Kouba (Oyster Factory); 145 min. 2018 The Big House; 119 min. · Minatomachi (Inland Sea); 122 min., Forum 2019 2024 Gokogu no Neko (The Cats of Gokogu Shrine)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2024