Kaki kóba

Sōda Kazuhiro, the Japanese director of original documentary and feature films who makes his films all by himself, takes us to the coastal town of Ushimado in the Okayama Prefecture in his documentary. Using an observational style, he captures the life of oyster hunters on the coast and in the local factory. The heroes of this deeply humane observation are Watanabe, an oyster hunter who came to the little port after the Fukushima disaster, and two Chinese émigrés. Given the strained Japanese-Chinese relations, they initially feel prejudice and distrust to each other; over time, it changes to a friendly and fully professional relationship. Time moves slowly and viewers are drawn into the everyday life of the small port where life is dictated by the rhythm of the tides, children playing near the factory and the cats looking on. (Eiga-sai)