[jp] Dancing Zempukuji/The Apprentice Homeless DVD information

A Japanese independent documentary filmmaker, Yumiko Hayakawa's latest films are now available on DVD!

Dancing Zempukuji (50 mins) + The Apprentice Homeless (16 mins)
Price: 1,500 JPY + shipping
Order via e-mail: info@petiteadventurefilms.com

DVD Jacket (Front)

DVD Jacket (Back)

Film information

"Dancing Zempukuji"
（Produced as part of dislocate 2013/2013/50mins/English subtitles/Director：Yumiko Hayakawa）

Synopsis:           
Tucked in a corner of Tokyo’s Western district, Zempukuji is one of the neighborhoods to which people fled to during the bombings of WWII, and it has come to foster a unique culture which has attracted many artists and creators.

This film documents the song and dance of those who live in Zempukuji. From Korean drumming “Chango” to Kagura, Edo kappore, Butoh and contemporary dance, this is a celebration of all forms of performing arts which play out upon the stage of Zempukuji.

At the same time this film also offers an insight into the everyday lives of some of Zempukuji’s oldest inhabitants, its centenarian. In the span of a century how have we changed? What has remained unchanging? Here one resident of 102 years, still actively running his own coffee bean store, talks of a Japan which few have heard of before.

This work aims to reawaken something sleeping within us all, to open our eyes, catch our spirit and send us into a dance.

Staff List:
Director: Yumiko Hayakawa
Filming: Yumiko Hayakawa, Chanrasmey Koam
Editing: Yumiko Hayakawa
English subtitles: Emma Ota

"The Apprentice Homeless"
（Produced as part of dislocate 2013/2014/16mins/English subtitles/Director：Yumiko Hayakawa）

Synopsis:          
When did we come to lose our freedom in public space? Benches have been removed, performances banned and homeless people are finding it increasingly difficult to find somewhere to sleep.

Collecting cardboard from a supermarket, and setting up a “home” upon the sidewalk, here the artist endeavors, through a performance, to create her own living space within public space. See the reactions of passers-by and police interventions as Hayakawa attempts an apprenticeship of homeless life, the struggle of which is not without humor.

Accompanying the footage of an enactment of homelessness is sound track of interviews with those actually living on the streets of Shinjuku, mixing constructed images with raw voices of anger, sadness, hope and laughter.

This is a document of a small act of resistance, attempting to restore public space to our own hands.

Staff List:
Director: Yumiko Hayakawa
Filming: Yumiko Hayakawa, Naoko Inoue
Editing: Yumiko Hayakawa
English subtitles: Emma Ota

Festival Screenings:
A Corto di Donne (April 2014, Italy)
O!!iDO Short Film Festival (June 2014, Japan)
Split Film Festival (September 2014, Croatia)
Sapporo International Short Film Festival (October 2014, Japan)
A Film For Peace Festival (October 2014, Italy)