Inland Sea [with filmmaker introduction]

Wai-chan is one of the last remaining fishermen in Ushimado, a small village in Seto Inland Sea, Japan. At the age of 86, he still fishes alone on a small boat to make his living, dreaming about retirement. Kumi-san is an 84-year-old villager who wanders around the shore everyday. She believes a social welfare facility “stole” from her disabled son the ability to receive subsidy from the government. A “late-stage elderly” Koso-san runs a small seafood store left by her deceased husband. She sells fish to local villagers and provides leftovers to stray cats.?

Forsaken by the era of modernization of post-war Japan, Ushimado, a town so beloved by film director Shohei Imamura that he set two of his films there (BLACK RAIN, DR. AKAGI), is rapidly ageing and declining. Its rich, ancient culture and the tight-knit community are also on the verge of disappearing.

Portrayed in black and white photography, this latest observational documentary by Kazuhiro Soda (CAMPAIGN, MENTAL, OYSTER FACTORY) poetically depicts the twilight days of a village and its people by the dreamlike Inland Sea. Director Kazuhiro Soda will be in attendance to introduce this screening. 

This screening is presented by East Asia Film Festival Ireland with the support of Department of Asian Studies, University College Cork 

“An intimate and loving portrait.” Screen Slate