Japanese

Chasing Santa Claus

(Santa claus o tsukamaete)

JAPAN / 2012 / Japanese / Color / Blu-ray / 80 min
Director: Iwabuchi Hiroki
Photography: Yamauchi Daido
Sound: Tsujii Kiyoshi
Production Company: ballooner
Source: TOFOO, LLC.

The Pageant of Starlight is a Sendai winter tradition. The winter immediately following the disaster also saw the streets of Sendai decorated with lights, despite fears that the event would be cancelled that year. Extravagance like a fleeting dream, the small voices of those who remember their families without exaggeration, and a song born from the city.




Sewers Recovery of Sendai

(Sendai no gesuido saigai fukkyu)

- JAPAN / 2013 / Japanese / Color / Blu-ray / 35 min
Director, Photography, Sound, Producer, Source: Takano Hiroyuki

These images indifferently record the process of restoration work performed on the sewage pipes that stretch out under Sendai. Without adopting the gaze of a news report, the camera occupies a site without conversation, assertion, or tears. Nevertheless, scars left from the earthquake remain deep, somewhere we cannot see.




The Meaning of Life

(Sonosakini)

- JAPAN / 2012 / Japanese / Color / Blu-ray / 42 min
Director, Photography, Producer, Source: Shimamori Chikako

A father manages a fish processing company in the City of Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture. He makes every effort to restore his company, which was lost in the waves. We see his face as a fourth-generation company president, and his face as father as he addresses his daughter through the camera. Watched over by his family and employees, this father appears strong, yet charming.