A Fateful Picture 運命の１枚

　2005年10月２日、この写真を大学時代の友人であるKが僕にメールしてくれたときに、すべては始まった。町中で偶然このポスターを見かけたKは驚きつつも冷静にブツを写真に収め、「山さんに一体何が起こっているのか誰か知らないか？」と、僕ら数名の旧友にメールしたのである。
　普段川崎になど行かないKがこの写真を見かけたのもある種の奇跡だが、そのときカメラを持っていて、しかも写真を撮り、ニューヨークに住む僕のところにまでメールをしてくれた、などというのは奇跡を超えている。この写真が僕のところに届かなかったら、僕は山さんの出馬をへたすると何年も知らずにいただろうし、「選挙」を撮ることもなかったのだから、表題のように「運命の１枚」と呼んでも決して大仰ではあるまい。
　この写真を見た瞬間、僕は「これは映画になる」と直感した。そしてその５日後には、もうカメラを回していた。そんな出会いは、なかなかあるものではない。K、ありがとよ。

It all started when K, an old friend of mine, e-mailed me this picture on October 2, 2005. K was so surprised to see Yama-san's posters in the streets of Kawasaki, which made him snap a picture. Then, he sent it to a few friends (including me) to find out what this all means.

It is kind of like a miracle that K coincidentally saw this poster in Kawasaki because he lives in Tokyo and usually does not go to Kawasaki at all. It is even more miraculous that he happened to have a camera when he saw it, took a picture, and e-mailed it to me in New York. If K had not done what he did, I probably didn't know Yama-san was running for office for years, thus I would never have made my little documentary CAMPAIGN (SENKYO). So, this picture is pretty fateful.

The moment I saw this picture, my intuition told me that I could make a movie. And 5 days later, I was already rolling my camera. This kind of encounter does not occur so often. Thank you, K.

Forum Films Announced フォーラム部門ラインナップ発表

２００７年ベルリン映画祭フォーラム部門のラインナップが、正式に公表されました。もちろん、「選挙」も入っております。
また、ベルリンでの「選挙」の上映日程も決まりました。

２月１２日　１７時４５分（映画館：CinemaxX5　プレス用試写）
２月１４日　１７時１５分（映画館：CineStar 8)
２月１６日　１４時４５分（映画館：Cubix 7)
２月１７日　２０時００分（映画館：Arsenal）

The full line-up of the Forum section of Berlin Film Festival has been released. CAMPAIGN (SENKYO) is amoung the films, of course.
Also, the dates/times/places of the screenings of CAMPAIGN in Berlin have been determined.

Feb 12, 17:45, CinemaxX5 (press screening)
Feb 14, 17:15, CineStar 8
Feb 16, 14:45, Cubix 7
Feb 17, 20:00, Arsenal

-----

http://www.berlinale.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/alle/Alle-Detail_3334.html

Jan 17, 2007:
World cinematography of sharp contrasts and astonishing parallels: (EXCERPT)

this year’s programme of the Berlinale Forum comprises films from 29 countries including 25 world premieres and 15 debut films

The Berlinale Forum is regarded as a laboratory for the mainstream cinema of the future. This is how one would wish mainstream cinema to be:.....

The 37th Forum shows a world cinematography of sharp contrasts and astonishing parallels, ...... The selection does not seek balance, but emphases and contrasts. Thus, in his three-and-a-half-hour State Legislature, renowned documentary director Frederick Wiseman examines democracy in practice in the state of Idaho, while Japanese filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda observes in Campaign the election bid of a young candidate on the long leash of an all-powerful party machinery.

Films in the Forum 2007

...a bude hur (It Gonna Get Worse) by Petr Nikolaev, Czech Republic (IP)
A Walk into the Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory by Esther B. Robinson, USA (WP)
a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee by Nikki S. Lee, USA/Republic of Korea (IP)
Ad Lib Night (Aju teukbyeolhan sonnim) by Lee Yoon-ki, Republic of Korea (IP)
Armin by Ognjen Svili?i?, Croatia/Germany/Bosnia and Herzegowina (WP)
Campaign (Senkyo) by Kazuhiro Soda, USA/Japan (WP)
Le cercle des noyés (Drowned by Oblivion) by Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd, Belgium/France (IP)
Chrigu by Jan Gassmann, Christian Ziörjen, Switzerland (IP)
Dans les villes (In the Cities) by Catherine Martin, Canada (IP)
Dol by Hiner Saleem,Iraqi Kurdistan Region/France/Germany (IP)
Elvis Pelvis by Kevin Aduaka, Great Britain/France (WP)
L’esprit des lieux (The Spirit of Places) by Catherine Martin, Canada (IP)
Extranjera (Foreigner) by Inès de Oliveira Cézar, Argentina/Greece/Poland (WP)
Eye in the Sky (Gen zong) by Yau Nai Hoi, Hongkong, China (WP)
Faro, la reine des eaux by Salif Traoré, Mali/France/Canada/Germany (WP)
The Halfmoon Files by Philip Scheffner, Germany (WP)
Heimatklänge by Stefan Schwietert, Switzerland/Germany (WP)
I Was a Swiss Banker by Thomas Imbach, Switzerland (WP)
Ichijiku no kao (Faces of a Fig Tree) by Momoi Kaori, Japan (IP)
Jagdhunde (Hounds) by Ann-Kristin Reyels, Germany (WP)
Kain no matsuei (Cain’s Descendant) by Oku Shutaro, Japan
Klopka (The Trap) by Srdan Golubovi?, Serbia/Germany/Hungary (WP)
Kurz davor ist es passiert (It Happened Just Before) by Anja Salomonowitz, Austria (IP)
Madonnen (Madonnas) by Maria Speth, Germany/Switzerland/Belgium (WP)
Mona Lisa (Meng Na Li Sha) by Li Ying, People’s Republic of China/Japan (WP)
Nachmittag (Afternoon) by Angela Schanelec, Germany (WP)
Pas douce by Jeanne Waltz, France/Switzerland (WP)
Potosi, le temps du voyage (Potosi, the Journey) by Ron Havilio, Israel/France (WP)
Prater by Ulrike Ottinger, Austria/Germany (WP)
Riza by Tayfun Pirselimoglu, Turkey (WP)
Schindlers Häuser (Schindler’s Houses) by Heinz Emigholz, Austria (WP)
Shotgun Stories by Jeff Nichols, USA (WP)
Stone Time Touch by Gariné Torossian, Canada (WP)
Substitute by Fred Poulet, Vikash Dhorasoo, France (IP)
El telón de azúcar (The Sugar Curtain) by Camila Guzmán Urzúa, Cuba/Spain/France
Tout refleurit (All Blossoms Again) by Aurélien Gerbault, France (IP)
Tuli by Auraeus Solito, Philippines
Village People Radio Show (Apa khabar orang kampung) by Amir Muhammad, Malaysia (WP)
Wolfsbergen by Nanouk Leopold, Netherlands/Belgium (WP)

Special screenings:
Brand Upon the Brain! by Guy Maddin, Canada
Don by Farhan Akhtar, India
Killer of Sheep by Charles Burnett, USA 1977
State Legislature by Frederick Wiseman, USA (WP)


Press Office
January 17, 2007

CAMPAIGN stamps 「選挙」が切手に

主人公の山内和彦氏が自民党の公認候補に選ばれたとき、彼は切手コイン商を営んでいました。それにちなんで？、「選挙」の切手を発売することになりました！２月８日から始まるベルリン映画祭での公開を記念して、発売日は２月８日。１０００シート限定販売だそうです。発売元はスタンプマテリアル社です。想田や山内氏のサイン入りシートも数を限定して発売します。
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~cdr05370/index.html/


When Kazuhiko Yamauchi was picked by the LDP to be their official candidate, he was a stamp/coin dealer. Now, his face will be on real stamps issued by Japanese postal office! Commemorating the fact that CAMPAING will have its world-premiere at Berlin Film Festival which starts on Feb 8, 2007, the stamps will be on sale on the same day. It will be sold by Stamp Material (http://www2.odn.ne.jp/~cdr05370/index.html/). They are planning to sell only 1000 sheets, and some of them will have Soda and Yamauchi's autographs!

TV Broadcasts テレビ放映

「選挙」を下記のテレビシリーズで放送することが、ほぼ確実になっています。

・国際共同プロジェクト「デモクラシー」シリーズの一環としてBBC、ARTE、ZDF、CBC、TV２等、世界２５カ国で１時間バージョンを放送見込み。推定視聴者数１億５千万人の一大メディア・イベント。（2007年10月）

・公共放送PBS(POVシリーズ)で全米ゴールデンタイム放送見込み（2008年）。推定視聴者数２〜３００万人。

We now have basic agreements that CAMPAIGN (SENKYO) is to be broadcast on the following prestigious TV series.

- WHY DEMOCRACY series, an international television event jointly produced by broadcasters such as BBC, TV2 ,ARTE, ZDF, YLE, etc. To be aired simultaneously in 25 countries with at least 150 million viewers in October 2007. (60 minute version)
http://www.steps.co.za/democracy/

- POV series on PBS throughout the United States in 2008. The ratings indicate that 2-3 million people see its highest rated programs. (90 minute version)
http://www.pbs.org/pov/