Four more "Ushiku" Premiers confirmed

Four more premiers for "Ushiku" have just been confirmed.

Following screenings today (Fri, Sept 24) and tomorrow (Sat, Sept 25) in Rotterdam's CAMERA JAPAN Festival, "Ushiku" will hold the following premiers:

Austria Premier on Oct 8 in Vienna's Japannual
https://www.japannual.at/film-2021/ushiku

Japan Premier Oct 9 in Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, where the film was described as "This is work of watchdog journalism that sounds the alarm about state power run amok."
https://online.yidff.jp/en/film/ushiku/)

Munich Premier Oct 11 in Underdox - Festival für Dokument und Experiment
https://underdox-festival.de/en/programm/festival-2021/2512/)

UK Premier Oct 24 in London East Asia Film Festival, where the film was described as “A powerful and disturbing, but essential record of human rights abuses.”
https://www.leaff.org.uk/documentary-1

And there are more exciting announcements coming soon! Thank you all for your support!

 

"Ushiku" awarded Top Prize in Asian Category at Festival in Korea

The 13th DMZ Docs took place from September 9th – 16th, 2021 in Goyang City and Paju City, Gyeongii Province, Korea. DMZ Docs is one of leading international documentary film festivals in Asia and aims to provide opportunities for Korean and Asian documentary filmmakers by promoting ‘peace’, ‘life’ and ‘communication’.

At the closing ceremony, held on September 16, Ushiku received the Asian Perspective Award, the top prize in the Asian Competition. When presenting the award, Director Lee Soojung, a judge on the Asian Perspective panel, said:

The awarded documentary, “Ushiku,” is a documentary that uncovers the confined secret lives of refugees in Japan that face harsh reality amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics, and the Japanese government’s uncompromising refugee deportations.

The documentary uses the limitations in filming as its cinematic medium, drawing the audience into reality and making it an issue for all. Through this, the film demonstrates the power of documentaries.

DMZ Docs HP: https://www.dmzdocs.com/eng/
Link to full closing ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir2J9ZluqcU

I was extremely honoured to receive this same award in 2015 for my film "-1287" (STORY). 

Korean Premier of "Ushiku" to begin

「牛久」韓国上映。Friends in Korea: "Ushiku" (homepage) screening from TOMORROW (Sept 9) in DMZ 국제다큐멘터리영화제 DMZ International Documentary Film Festival! 

This year, the festival is hybrid: streaming Sept 9-16 and in-person Sept 12 at 11:00 and Sept 15 at 16:30. INFO

 

WATCH a special message from one of the film's participants:

 

「牛久」アメリカ上映。Friends in the USA: "Ushiku" streaming UNTIL TOMORROW (Sept 9) in I Will Tell International Film Festival. 

 

Film only: https://iwilltell.com/video/ushiku/ 

With Q&A recorded live: https://watch.eventive.org/.../play/61200c8627ab2100455a7656

 

 

Dutch Premier of "Ushiku" announced

「牛久」オランダ、ベルギー、アメリカ、韓国上映！
Announcing the Dutch Premier of "Ushiku" in CAMERA JAPAN Festival on Sept 24 and 25.
INFO: https://camerajapan.nl/event/ushiku/

Upcoming screenings also include:

Belgium in Electric Shadows on Sept 5.
INFO

USA in I Will Tell International Film Festival ONLINE until Sept 9.
INFO

Korea in DMZ 국제다큐멘터리영화제 DMZ International Documentary Film Festival on Sept 12 and 15.
INFO

Post-screening Q&A held online in the I Will Tell FF

TONIGHT (Sept 1) at 7PM EDT in the US, a live ONLINE screening of "Ushiku" took place in the I Will Tell International Film Festival.  Peter, one of the participants in the film, and I joined the post-screening Q&A which was led by festival director Jenny Lee. INFO

"Ushiku" will be screening ONLINE in the US until Sept 9.

 

Tickets: https://iwilltell.com/video/ushiku/