Double Layered Town / Making a Song to Replace Our Positions
『二重のまち／交代地のうたを編む』
Following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe of March 11, 2011, filmmaker Haruka Komori and painter and writer Natsumi Seo moved to live and work in the devastated city of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture. Collaborating with workshop participants, this beautiful and utterly unique film presents four young travelers—all children a decade earlier at the time of 3/11—listening to local peoples’ stories and reciting what they learned in staged dialogues. This practice is braided together with a story written by Seo set another 10 years in the future in 2031, “Double Layered Town,” following the completion of land elevation work—creating a reflexive experimental documentary sensitive to the complexity of peoples’ lives while planting the seeds for new folktales.
- Official Selection, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2019
- Special Mention, International Competition, Sheffield DocFest 2021
“The opportunity to hear personal experiences of the disaster decreases with time, but this film provides a bridge to new encounters and communication.” — Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
Streaming in the U.S. from August 20-September 2 as part of JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film 2021