<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">As some of you know, the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival is teaming up with DAFilms to screen online 10 select Japanese documentaries from the 30+ years of the festival, including work by Kawase Naomi, Sato Makoto, Hamaguchi Ryusuke, Oda Kaori, Yang Yonghi, and others. The series starts January 17 and is available for everyone outside of Japan. The first week is free. The description is below. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Along with the series, Markus Nornes is writing a post on each film that can be read on the YIDFF feed on Facebook:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.facebook.com/yidff" class="">https://www.facebook.com/yidff</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">There will also be some videos featuring those involved with the festival discussing its history and various aspects. One featuring Oda Kaori and Dwi Sujanti Nugraheni is already up, and the one I did with my partner Ono Seiko will be uploaded soon.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Hope you can check some of these out!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Aaron Gerow</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="oo9gr5id qv66sw1b mau55g9w aigsh9s9 iv3no6db fe6kdd0r c8b282yb hpfvmrgz nxhoafnm hzawbc8m jq4qci2q ht8s03o8 ik7dh3pa a8c37x1j d3f4x2em b1v8xokw keod5gw0 oi732d6d c1et5uql d2edcug0 a3bd9o3v" dir="auto"><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab c1et5uql ii04i59q kvgmc6g5 hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">++10 Japanese documentaries streaming online worldwide! ++</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">YIDFF partners with streaming service DAFilms, the VOD platform of the festival association Doc Alliance, for an online program available free for one week and on SVOD and TVOD for a further two weeks. The selection by YIDFF programmers highlights key works from the festival’s more than three decades in existence. This exclusive focus features documentaries by Kawase Naomi, Hamaguchi Ryusuke, and Ogawa Productions, among many others.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">The complete selection will be available entirely for free on <a class="esr5mh6w nhd2j8a9 kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 p7hjln8o r7d6kgcz rq0escxv f1sip0of e9989ue4 oygrvhab qu0x051f i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr py34i1dx gpro0wi8 a8nywdso lzcic4wl nc684nl6 jb3vyjys hcukyx3x oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FDAFilms.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2gjPTv-kvE2cS8pD-lPxRnb2ikYZbSYMFCoYbzdbME91I8tAAJsa53ggs&h=AT0leex7flDxRkt0yu9zT50Pc0qPibb0SOO9S5A31_6MI3Wn-3ERI0juaie8nqSu3nrMIfvu3SswsK1Yk5wao0TZcP0yGKELMCLl4doxDae8lVndjyR9Gj6UEcz0s6JcfTzzdLY&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT155zJqPq4V0yKqVPt8Ii5w6YV_HuCWANFeWWSt1pxIqF3IRbGSrlD6Winvfdm1wrFI7f4bLsLCtQysRAfEdhMnLzYEFQSzUuwxWkpDlAJmGMOXsJIDvmY0GSsb4rUNVot7Y9A90BiCT8gNw3886NrM43HdxybBjn23d7AXgjX4vYg" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0" target="_blank">DAFilms.com</a> from January 17 - 23 at this link: <a class="esr5mh6w nhd2j8a9 kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 p7hjln8o r7d6kgcz rq0escxv f1sip0of e9989ue4 oygrvhab qu0x051f i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr py34i1dx gpro0wi8 a8nywdso lzcic4wl nc684nl6 jb3vyjys hcukyx3x oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1" href="https://dafilms.com/program/1126-made-in-japan-yamagata-1989-2021?fbclid=IwAR2ZggHPvdtQSbYas7rlgNc7mSvfgEv1S2KET5feaYr3R9zqh5nvM2507og" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0" target="_blank">https://dafilms.com/.../1126-made-in-japan-yamagata-1989...</a></div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">The ten films in Made in Japan, Yamagata 1989 - 2021 trace a curious and inspiring pathway through the history of one of Asia’s most celebrated film festivals. The program is bookended by a cinematic record of the inaugural YIDFF in 1989, produced by Ogawa Shinsuke’s Ogawa Pro (A Movie Capital), and a 2021 documentary about the pandemic-induced closure of a traditional pickle shop, itself a memorable and important social space for the attendees of Yamagata every two years (Pickles and Komian Club).</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">Between these twin poles from 1989 and 2021, audiences will be able to discover a further 8 titles drawn mostly from the festival’s International Competition and New Asian Currents sections. For these two closely curated festival sections, only a small number of Japanese films have been invited over the 17 editions of the biennial festival, a sign of the significance of those featured.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">Together, Made in Japan, Yamagata 1989 - 2021 gives a true sense of the depth of Yamagata’s curatorial vision, ranging from crucial early works by now celebrated auteurs —including The Weald by Kawase Naomi, in the year she completes her epic film about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and Storytellers co-directed by Hamaguchi Ryusuke, in a moment where his work has received truly boundless acclaim by critics, festival programmers, and audiences alike — to lesser known or older titles that as an ensemble suggest a richness of tone and subject that few documentary festivals can boast.</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">Program Coordinator and YIDFF board member Fujioka Asako says, “This is the first time Yamagata is presenting any online film program on a world-wide scale. Audiences are in for a treat as important rediscoveries (A Movie Capital and Living on the River Agano) have been digitized with renewed English subtitles. This will give documentary fans around the world a real flavor of what Yamagata is all about.” </div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">“Few festivals in the world carry with them the sheer cinephile prestige of an institution like YIDFF,” says Christopher Small, head curator of <a class="esr5mh6w nhd2j8a9 kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 p7hjln8o r7d6kgcz rq0escxv f1sip0of e9989ue4 oygrvhab qu0x051f i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr py34i1dx gpro0wi8 a8nywdso lzcic4wl nc684nl6 jb3vyjys hcukyx3x oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FDAFilms.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1T4ORj_S6G6-1tc4jpoDghNfJdgVpBKrkOjcaJ05S3vSUl0u2QGxS_gJ4&h=AT0leex7flDxRkt0yu9zT50Pc0qPibb0SOO9S5A31_6MI3Wn-3ERI0juaie8nqSu3nrMIfvu3SswsK1Yk5wao0TZcP0yGKELMCLl4doxDae8lVndjyR9Gj6UEcz0s6JcfTzzdLY&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT155zJqPq4V0yKqVPt8Ii5w6YV_HuCWANFeWWSt1pxIqF3IRbGSrlD6Winvfdm1wrFI7f4bLsLCtQysRAfEdhMnLzYEFQSzUuwxWkpDlAJmGMOXsJIDvmY0GSsb4rUNVot7Y9A90BiCT8gNw3886NrM43HdxybBjn23d7AXgjX4vYg" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0" target="_blank">DAFilms.com.</a> “We are delighted to collaborate with Yamagata’s team on a program that spans the length and breadth of their three-decade history, synthesising so many of the most crucial themes and forms of experimentation into a unified selection of truly remarkable Japanese documentary cinema."</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">Made in Japan, Yamagata 1989 - 2021</div><div dir="auto" class="">Available on <a class="esr5mh6w nhd2j8a9 kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 p7hjln8o r7d6kgcz rq0escxv f1sip0of e9989ue4 oygrvhab qu0x051f i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr py34i1dx gpro0wi8 a8nywdso lzcic4wl nc684nl6 jb3vyjys hcukyx3x oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdafilms.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1OnRkMdkY6bP73W7T7mrxZkYb970bda3spPy4owpShv80mSTUscniDEh0&h=AT203otgXTOxbqLrS4NcC602fERXX8MHuSZkKhZoBngYn2c6LHW68z1lHse3UZUUmGV0tvj3Pmc0m7ezerk2bRLL6dZpoXbx4ezwqt3_gyr7tjouKaoZW_J6eFKlN_FsncJn4EM&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT155zJqPq4V0yKqVPt8Ii5w6YV_HuCWANFeWWSt1pxIqF3IRbGSrlD6Winvfdm1wrFI7f4bLsLCtQysRAfEdhMnLzYEFQSzUuwxWkpDlAJmGMOXsJIDvmY0GSsb4rUNVot7Y9A90BiCT8gNw3886NrM43HdxybBjn23d7AXgjX4vYg" rel="nofollow noopener" role="link" tabindex="0" target="_blank">dafilms.com</a> from January 17 - February 6</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class="">Free for registered users for the first week</div><div dir="auto" class="">● A Movie Capital // IIZUKA Toshio // 1991</div><div dir="auto" class="">● Living on the River Agano // SATO Makoto // 1992 // Award of Excellence YIDFF '93</div><div dir="auto" class="">● The Weald // KAWASE Naomi // 1997 </div><div dir="auto" class="">● The New God // TSUCHIYA Yutaka // 1999 </div><div dir="auto" class="">● A2 // MORI Tatsuya // 2001 // Special Prize, Citizens’ Prize YIDFF 2001</div><div dir="auto" class="">● The Cheese and the Worms // KATO Haruyo // 2005 // Ogawa Shinsuke Prize, FIPRESCI Prize YIDFF2005</div><div dir="auto" class="">● Dear Pyongyang // YANG Yonghee // 2005 // Special Prize, YIDFF 2005</div><div dir="auto" class="">● Storytellers // SAKAI Ko, HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke // 2013 // SkyPerfectTV IDEHA Prize, YIDFF 2013</div><div dir="auto" class="">● Cenote // ODA Kaori // 2019</div><div dir="auto" class="">● Komian and Pickles // SATO Koichi // 2021</div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab ii04i59q o9v6fnle c1et5uql hcukyx3x"><div dir="auto" class=""> Commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan </div></div></span></div></body></html>