An Ant Strikes Back

After years of toiling for a large moving company under dehumanizing and illegal labor conditions—including enforced unpaid overtime, unregulated salary reductions, and restricted socializing with other employees—Yu Nishimura was on the brink of literally working himself to death, a phenomenon in Japan (known as karoshi) that officially killed 5,233 people between 2005 and 2017. Tokachi Tsuchiya’s fascinating documentary offers a thrilling first-hand account of Nishimura’s fight to take on the company that exploits him as he agitates for change with a tireless labor union to insist on his right to work and live with dignity on behalf of all “ants.”

Winner, 2020 Japan Documentary Film Award, University of Pittsburgh