Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr67iCC_vps.
Los Angeles, CA - February 28, 2018 - “At 15:30 on Saturday, February 17, 2018, when we arrived at the venue [The Forum], we found a long queue at the entrance. Since I visit only at the Berlin Film Festival, the feeling that "Berlin Film Festival has finally started!" raised further in me,” opened Goethe Institut Japan for EFM’s Berlinale 2018 screening of Kazuhiro Soda’s observational black and white documentary, ‘INLAND SEA’ (Observational Film #7).
Known for his previous and unique observational documentaries such as ‘CAMPAIGN’, ‘MENTAL’, and ‘OYSTER FACTORY’, Soda’s 2018 ‘INLAND SEA’ ("Minatomachi") was chosen as an official selection to play in the 2018 Berlinale Forum section and received the prestigious nomination for the second-ever Glasshütte Original Documentary Award.
Produced by Kiyoko Kashiwagi, ‘INLAND SEA’ takes place in a small village in the Inland Sea of Japan, Ushimado, whose rich culture and close community are rapidly declining due to Japan’s post-war era of modernization.
“Kazuhiro Soda poetically depicts one symbolic example of a community that is depopulating in various parts of Japan with a quiet camera,” reported the Goethe Institut Japan, adding, “The unique method of observation movies delicately delineates parts left behind urbanization.”
‘INLAND SEA’ observes the remaining community in Ushimado – Wai-chan, an 86 year-old fisherman dreaming of retirement, Kumi-san, an 84 year-old villager wandering Japan’s shores in search for her son, and Koso-san, an elderly woman who run’s her deceased husband’s small seafood store, selling to fish to local villagers and giving leftovers to Ushimado’s stray cats.
“When the movie started, laughter and couscous voices echoed from the audience. As you entered the movie, laughter will soon change to tears,” continued the Goethe Institut Japan, adding, “There are not other filmmakers with a more thorough attitude than Soda practicing his own “Ten Commandments” of observing film.”
Goethe Institut Japan got the inside scoop on ‘INLAND SEA’ – capturing an exclusive interview with Soda, the film’s screening during Berlinale, and gorgeous clips from film.
Headlining: Kazuhiro Soda: “Movies mean something different for everyone,” the exclusive interview can be viewed here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr67iCC_vps.
“For me, documentary is an art form to recreate my personal experience in film language and to share it with the audience. It’s not about whether what I witnessed was true or not. It is about my personal, subjective experience. It’s closer to diary than to journalism or academic writing,” said Soda, referencing what movies mean to him.
Soda has been recognized worldwide for his observational documentaries, beginning with his first feature documentary, ‘CAMPAIGN’ (2007, Observational Film #1, winner of the Peabody Award in the U.S., Soda’s ‘PEACE’ (2010, Observational Film Extra, the opening film of DMZ Documentary Festival, winner of the Best Documentary Award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and winner of the Audience Award at the Tokyo Filmex), to name a few of Soda’s prestigious film awards.
‘INLAND SEA’ will compete in Asia’s oldest and most reputable platforms for filmmakers, the 2018 Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) from March 19th to April 5th, 2018, as well as the 40th “Cinéma du Réel” International Film Festival in Paris from March 23rd to April 1st 2018.
For more information about 'INLAND SEA', please visit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6869686/.
INLAND SEA (2018, 122 min.) Directed by Kazuhiro Soda. Editor: Kazuhiro Soda. Cinematographer: Kazuhiro Soda. Original Music: Kazuhiro Soda. Japan/USA. Silent. Laboratory X, TriCoast Worldwide, Rock Salt Releasing.
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Laboratory X – Kiyoko Kashiwagi, Kazuhiro Soda.
Special thanks: Goethe Institut Japan.
About Rock Salt Releasing, a label of TriCoast Worldwide:
Daisy Hamilton and Dean Fernando. TriCoast Worldwide is a premium International sales agent, representing the best of US and international films at all the major film markets. Sister company to TriCoast Entertainment and TriCoast Studios, the company is located at the Studio facility in Culver City, Los Angeles. Founded by: Strathford Hamilton and Marcy Levitas Hamilton.
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