|
Tohoku: Hitchhiking Japan – DV – 7 min – by David Shuff
"In the great tradition of Jeff Krulik's contemporary classic pop-culture docs comes Tohoku. Shot entirely whilst hitchhiking through the largely rural region of Tohoku, the film is a strange mix of postcard impressions, cut-up observation and sheer chaos. In it, Shuff as passenger seems to have simply laid his camera on his lap and shot the drivers completely unaware. In so doing, the work captures some great every-day moments where nothing really actually happens (really) but which provides the audience with characters who have a past present and future; all in the space of seconds. Perhaps the beauty of works such as this is their innocence. There is no editorial, no structure and no end point. You'd be hard pressed also to try and find anything more low-fi. Rather, they are wholly enjoyable snapshots which capture nothing more than the purity of the moment."
- Richard Sowada (Conference Director, Australian International Documentary Conference)
Audience Responces from the Nomad Videofilm Festival
"Made me home sick for a place I've never been."
"First film I laughed out loud at in the festival."
"Captures the lazy freewheeling sense of the traveler, not the tourist."
"Warm, charming, culturally intimate, delightful."
"How come we can't see more stuff like this: completely, utterly, INTERESTING!"
"Incredibly well shot."
"This short made me happy to see that people are people no matter where you go."
"For some reason it made me hungry."
Related Site
The Tohoku movie is companion to a larger multimedia travelogue; visit the Tohoku Travelogue site.
Screenings
Seattle Video Shorts Festival (911 Media Arts Center) – winner
Nomad Videofilm Festival (San Francicso) – winner
Australian International Documentary Conference – official selection
Woodstock Film Festival – official selection
REVelation Independent Film Festival (Perth, Australia) – official selection
Crested Butte Reel Fest – finalist
Film Fest New Haven – official selection
Convergence Film/Video/Animation Festival (Providence, RI) – official selection
SoNo Film & Video Festival – official selection
Riverside Film Festival – Official Selection
Wandering Eye Film Festival (NYC) – official selection
Micro Film Fest (NYC) – official selection
Nuyorktricity Series (NYC)
Credits
Film by David Shuff
Featuring – Hideaki Machida
Translation assistance – Aki Shidara, Toshi Ishiguchi
|
