Appalachian Lenses
- JAPAN / 2024 / English, Japanese / Color, B&W / DCP / 85 min
Director, Photography: Kasezawa Atsushi
Editing, Sound Mixing: Kawakami Takuya
Editorial Support: Hata Takeshi
Color Grading: Nishimura Yasuhiro
Producer: Tabakotani Akiko
Since 1969, a documentary workshop for young people has been held in a small town in Kentucky, USA. Interweaving archival footage of the town produced over the years, this film depicts through its lens young people confronting the harsh realities of a rural town plagued by poverty and depopulation. But the day before they will screen their completed works, the town is hit by a massive flood.
Kasezawa AtsushiBorn in Shizuoka in 1976, Kasezawa worked at a TV production company after graduating from university, then studied under Sato Makoto at the Film School of Tokyo, where he directed Aozora (2001). He also worked as assistant director on films by Sato and Suwa Nobuhiro, and joined Documentary Japan in 2002. His A Step Forward (2019) was released in theaters in 2019.