ニヨンで「宗教を超えた審査員賞」受賞！ Inter-religious Jury Prize in Nyon!

ニヨン国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭（Visions du Reel)で、『精神』が、「宗教を超えた審査員賞」をいただきました。 カトリック、プロテスタント、ユダヤ、そしてムスリムの審査員が集まり、受賞作品を決定したそうです。

受賞理由は次の通りです。

「日本で製作された本作は、精神疾患と診断された人々を描いている。彼らは自身の内なる世界を洞察し、正常と狂気の境界線が揺らぐさまを見せている。この映画は人間のありのままの姿を尊重している映像を届けている。」

大学で宗教学を専攻した者としては、こういう賞をいただくのはちょっと感慨深いものがあります…。

http://www.visionsdureel.ch/en/agendanews/presentation-of-prizes-2009.html

At Visions du Reel in Nyon, MENTAL just won the Inter-religious Jury Prize (Prix du jury interreligieux)! The jury was composed of Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, and Jewish members.

Here's the comment from the jury: The focus of this film set in Japan are people who have been diagnosed as mentally ill. They give us insight into their inner world and show us that there is no clear-cut dividing line between healthy and sick. The film conveys a respectful image of human integrity.

Since I studied religions at Tokyo University, this is all the more honorable and special for me... Thank you!!

ニヨンにて In Nyon

スイスのニヨン国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭（Visions du Reel）に来ています。昨晩８時から、『精神』の上映があり、質疑応答をしました。お客さんが３００人くらい詰めかけてくださって、大盛況でした！

ニヨンはレマン湖のほとりにある美しい街です。到着してからというもの、あいにく曇り空か小雨が続いていますが、一瞬晴れ間が見えたとき、雪に覆われたアルプス山脈が目の前に広がっていて、その神々しさに思わず涙腺が…。街には草花の香りが漂っています。思わず深呼吸します。いい空気です。

「クロワッサン」に記事掲載

雑誌「クロワッサン」の５月１０日号に、僕のインタビュー記事が載りました。「女の新聞」という硬派なページです。ぜひご一読下さい。

どっと疲れが…

気のゆるみとはこのことか。

数日前にニューヨークに帰ってきてから、どっと疲れが出た。全身を疲労物質？が占拠している感じ。あれもこれもと、やることを考えていたのに、身体がいうことを聞かないので全然できない。

考えてみれば、この３か月間弱、移動だけでもかなりハードな日程だった。

NY
ベルリン
パリ（撮影）
NY
東京
夕張
NY
マイアミ
パリ（上映と撮影）
NY
香港
東京
岡山
NY

あれ？なんか抜けてるかな？抜けてるような、抜けてないような…。よく分からなくなっている。そして今晩からはスイスのニヨン国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭。さすがに詰め込み過ぎか。

「超人的」とか「人間離れ」っていう言葉があるけど、それは言外に、「人間には限界がある」ということを示唆している。そのことをちゃんと認識しないといけないなあと思う。

MENTAL in Nyon ニヨンで『精神』上映

I'm visiting Nyon, Switzerland to present MENTAL at Visions du Reel Festival. The screening schedule is as follows. See you there!

April 27th at 8pm
April 29th at 2pm

http://www.visionsdureel.ch/en/programme/2009/april-27.html

『精神』のスイス・プレミア上映が、ニヨン国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭で行われます。僕も参ります。スケージュールは次の通り！

４月２７日午後８時
４月２９日午後２時

http://www.visionsdureel.ch/en/programme/2009/april-27.html

NYで小休止 A Brief Pause in New York

香港と日本への合計１か月の旅を終え、久々にNYに戻りました。怒濤のような駆け足の日々だったので、一種の放心状態。

日曜日から今度はスイスのニヨンへ行くので、時差ぼけも積極的に直そうという気が起きない。ということで、日本時間のまま、生活しようと目論んでいます。

飛行機の中で読み始めた村上春樹『海辺のカフカ』に夢中。面白い。

I'm back in New York after turing Hong Kong and Japan for a month. It was a non-stop busy trip, so I'm now just dead and silent.

On Sunday, I'm going to Nyon, Switzerland, so I don't feel like adjusting my time zone. I'm planning to spend in Tokyo time.

I'm reading "Kafka on the Shore" by Haruki Murakami. It's so good.

逆取材in東京を追加！

Mixiフォトアルバムに、東京での逆取材、追加しました〜。

追加分は、BRUTUS、JANJAN、共同通信、毎日.jp、朝日新聞、フジテレビ、サイゾー、CDジャーナル、STUDIO VOICE、ぴあ、Tokyo FM、Nature、エココロの皆さんです。

http://mixi.jp/view_album.pl?page=5&mode=photo&id=30572721&owner_id=2074478

TOKYO FMに生出演予定！

明日（２０日、月曜）の１７時頃、TOKYO FM （80.0MHz)のWonderful Worldという番組に生出演いたします。渋谷のスペイン坂にあるガラス張りのスタジオで、通行人から覗き見されながら、『精神』について取り上げていただきます。関東にお住まいの方、ぜひチェックしてみてください！

イメージエフにインタビュー記事

「イメージエフ」に僕のインタビュー記事（Part１）が載りました！聞き手は、批評家の村山匡一郎さんです。

http://www.imagef.jp/interview/library/023/index.html

CAMPAIGN won the best film award! 『選挙』がグランプリ獲得！

セルビアのベオグラードで開かれた「BELDOCS　ドキュメンタリー映画祭」で、『選挙』がグランプリを獲得しました！

審査員の講評： 約束、挑戦、そして民主主義の限界についての、人の心を動かさざるを得ない映画体験。シネマ・ヴェリテの伝統を受け継ぐ最良の作品であるだけでなく、我々の代表を選ぶための「最良で最悪のシステム」と呼ばれる民主主義というシステムについて、全ての人間に教訓を与えてくれる。

CAMPAIGN won the best film award at BELDOCS Documentary Festival in Belgrade, Serbia!

Here's the comment from the jury: In the end and after much discussion, our vote went to a film that offered a compelling cinematic experience about the promises, the challenges and the limits of democracy. It contained lessons for us all, not just in the best traditions of cinema verite, but of the need to sustain what has been described as the 'best worst system' we have to elect our political leaders, democracy. The award goes to Kazuhiro Soda's CAMPAIGN.

Treeless Mountain

I saw this film TREELESS MOUNTAIN by So Yong Kim at Dubai Film Festival where she won the best feature. It was just so beautiful and poignant that I thought it was worth visiting Dubai just to see this film. And it's coming to Film Forum in NYC starting from April 22nd! You've got to check it out.

http://www.filmforum.org/films/treeless.html

MENTAL in Pusan 『精神』が再び釜山で上映

MENTAL will be screened at Busan Cinematheque in South Korea on April 25th at 19:00.
http://cinema.piff.org/main/theater/month_list.asp

韓国の釜山シネマテークで、『精神』が上映されます。
４月２５日の１９時からのようです。
http://cinema.piff.org/main/theater/month_list.asp

MENTAL at Visions du Reel, Nyon 『精神』スイス・プレミア

MENTAL will be premiered in Switzerland at Visions du Reel Festival.

April 27th at 8pm
April 29th at 2pm

http://www.visionsdureel.ch/en/programme/2009/april-27.html

『精神』のスイス・プレミア上映が、ニヨン国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭で行われます。

４月２７日午後８時
４月２９日午後２時

http://www.visionsdureel.ch/en/programme/2009/april-27.html

CAMPAIGN in Paris 『選挙』パリで再上映

CAMPAIGN will be screened in Paris, again.
April 16 at 21:00
April 18 at 14:30
Please check the details below.
http://www.doc-grandecran.fr/cycle_de_programmation_.php3?id_article=455

パリで『選挙』を上映するようですので、お知らせします。
４月１６日２１時
４月１８日１４時３０分
パリの皆さん、詳しくは下記をご覧下さい。
http://www.doc-grandecran.fr/cycle_de_programmation_.php3?id_article=455

逆取材・岡山版を追加

『精神』逆取材・岡山版を追加しました。Mixiフォトアルバムです。
http://mixi.jp/view_album.pl?page=4&mode=photo&id=30572721&owner_id=2074478

『精神』逆取材 in Japan

『精神』の日本公開に向け、この間からバシバシ取材をしていただいています。
その成果？を、Mixiフォトアルバムとしてアップしました。
アップされる取材者の「お顔」は、今後どんどん増えていく予定。
取材してくださった皆さん、ありがとうございました！

http://mixi.jp/view_album.pl?id=30572721&owner_id=2074478

めざましテレビに出演

明日（４月１０日、金曜）の早朝６時１０分頃、フジテレビの「めざましテレビ」で『選挙』のピーボディ賞受賞に関連して、僕のインタビューが放映されます。朝早く起きる方はチェックして下さいませ！

アクティオ・ネットワークにレビュー掲載

「アクティオ・ネットワーク」（４月１０日）に『精神』に関する大きなレビューが載りました。評者は、なんとこらーる診療所の職員で映画にも出て下さった山本真也さん。熱いです。

http://www.actio.gr.jp/010/

「Movieぴあ」に記事掲載

「Movieぴあ」（２００９年春／夏号）に僕と『精神』の紹介が載りました。

１２人の映画ライターに「この人の仕事は見逃してはいけない」というアンケートを撮った結果、１２人中お二人が僕を選んで下さいました。一番多かったクリント・イーストウッド（三名が選出）に続いて、なんと第２位（笑）。

良かったら書店でチェックしてくださいね〜。

http://www.7andy.jp/magazine/detail/-/accd/T0307706

Interview on Chopsticks NY

A new interview came out on "Chopsticks NY." Here's its web version. Enjoy!

http://www.chopsticksny.com/contents/entertainment/2009/04/01/

An Outsider Eye Inside a Mental Institution

— Interview by Ruth Berdah-Canet

Kazuhiro Soda, Japan born and NY based filmmaker, could very well be the symbol of this daring and talented new generation of filmmakers the documentary industry desperately needs. For his second observational work, his independent spirit brought him behind the closed door of a mental institution in Japan.

- Did the little Kazuhiro Soda always dream about becoming a filmmaker?

No, I wanted to become so many different things. I first wanted to become a baseball player but I grew up and got bored. I then turned my interest on the stars and planets and I even built a telescope. Yet again, I got bored and moved to computers. I programmed video games when I was 12 or 13 years old and sold them to magazines to make a little pocket-money. But, I got bored again! After that, I was really interested in the English language and wanted to become an interpreter, but guess what happened… I got bored! It wasn’t until I was 21 years old that I wanted to become a filmmaker.

- How did you come to the idea of making Mental?

When I entered Tokyo University, I became the editor in chief for the university’s newspaper. It was a left-wing paper and I thought I could change the world by using my pen. I had a lot of responsibilities for the newspaper and worked, worked, and worked. I came to the point where I did not sleep for days, and I found myself unable to do anything. When I tried to write an article, I felt like throwing up. I immediately thought I had a mental problem, so I went to see a psychiatrist on campus who told me “you have the burn-out syndrome,” which made sense to me. I quit the job on the spot and took the first train back to my hometown in Tochigi-ken, and slept for days. I recovered in one week, but I never returned to the paper. This experience really changed my perception on mental illness. I used to think mental patients were like aliens from other planets, and I had nothing to do with them. But in fact, anybody can be mentally ill.

- This inside look into a mental institution takes us behind the stage and excites our curiosity. What did you want to unveil by doing this documentary?

I always felt like there is an invisible curtain which divides “the healthy” and “the ill.” The world of the mentally ill is right there, but people pretend that there’s not such a thing. It’s a big taboo. So, I wanted to get rid of the curtain and see what is going on behind it. Basically, I visited the clinic as an outsider, met with all these people, then left. And what I tried to do was to recreate my experience in the cinematic reality so that the audience could feel as if they visited the clinic themselves. People can have this virtual experience and freely interpret it in their own way. This is the concept of my “observational documentary.” But it doesn’t mean my film is objective. Actually, because I created my film through my own point of view, it’s very subjective. However, because I don’t use any narration, music, or super-imposed titles, the viewers are not forced to see the film in a certain way. My film is open to many different interpretations.

- Recently, documentary films’ popularity has increased. Michael Moore produces almost one documentary per year. Yet they fall into a different category than your work. You seem to make a specific point working harder to avoid giving too much info…

That is true. Moore is a very skillful filmmaker but his documentaries are flat because they are made to convey his message. It is almost like a thesis. He comes up his message first, and then he collects the evidence to prove he’s right. But I am not a teacher or a crusader. I start from the opposite end of the process. I see and observe what is going on and I gradually find my theme, I don’t find my theme until 3-4 months into editing. I want to return to the original idea of documentary filmmaking. My main influence is Frederick Wiseman, who is a champion of “Direct Cinema” documentary. The world is too complex to be described only in black and white. There are no absolute good guys and bad guys. We are all very complicated and this is what fascinates me. I try to depict the world as it is through my point of view.

- These people in Mental are very engaging, and you have to feel compassionate for them and the social challenges they face. How did you detach and go back to a “normal” life?

When I operate the camera, even if I am listening to everything my subjects say, I am also wondering if I have a good angle, a good light… So, I don’t get too absorbed in the conversations. I was also trying to keep a little distance at all times; even if I was really tempted to become like best friends with them. But it was tougher to do so than when I was making Campaign, my previous documentary, where I was successful at being invisible or “a fly on the wall.” Nobody cared about me. But at the mental clinic, the patients kept talking to me while my camera was rolling. They would not allow me to be invisible. I was puzzled and did not know how to handle it, and if I should include this interaction or not in the movie. But, the essence of the documentary is the relationship between the camera and the subject, so I decided to include my presence in the film.

- You are always on the fringe in the movie between healthy and non-healthy people. The cross-over is so easy.

Yes, and it was OK for me operating the camera, but for my wife who listened to the patients beside me without a camera, it wasn’t. She’s not a filmmaker but she was there to help me out. She was very affected by the experience during the 30 days we shot at the clinic. She became sick and even made an appointment with Dr. Yamamoto (the doctor in Mental)! I was worried as a husband, but a bit excited as a filmmaker. What a bad husband. I tried to shoot her consultation with the doctor, but she refused! I missed possibly the best scene. She’s totally recovered now, though.

- What is your next curiosity?

I am shooting my next movie Theater (working title) which is about a playwright Hirata Oriza and his company Seinendan. I’ve already shot over 300 hours of footage. I don’t know yet what kind of movie it’s going to be, but I will find out during the editing process. When completed, Campaign, Mental, and Theater could be a trilogy. Campaign depicted the core of the Japanese society and the people who represent the social values. Mental is the opposite, it’s about the people at the fringe of the society, the ones who cannot accept the mainstream values. But in Theater, the artists are the subjects. They’re not at the core or the fringe of the society. They’re somewhere in the middle. It will be very interesting to see the three films together side by side.

バナーの誤り訂正

『精神』のバナーの年度の誤りが訂正されました。よかったら使って下さいませ！

http://ameblo.jp/mentaljp/entry-10226888435.html

Peabody Award for CAMPAIGN! 『選挙』にピーボディ賞！

It's a strange timing, but on April 1, CAMPAIGN (52 minute, PBS version) won the Peabody Award!

This is a very old, prestigious award for electronic media which started in 1940.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody_Award
http://www.peabody.uga.edu/overview_history/index.php

I first thought it was a April Fool's day joke since I received an e-mail from the executive producer of POV on April 1st, but it seems to be true!

The 36 award recipients were selected from radio, televisions, and web broadcast in 2008. Other recipients include NBC Coverage of 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony and Zhang Yimou (NBC), Coverage of 2008 Presidential Primary Campaigns and Debates (CNN), The Gates (HBO) by Albert Maysles, CBS News 60 Minutes: Lifeline (CBS), and so on. I can't believe CAMPAIGN is among them!
http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/event.php?id=59

The comment on CAMPAIGN from the award organizer:
Soda Kazuhiro's revealing, sometimes painfully funny documentary observed the ragged political campaign of a naif handpicked and backed by Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

An awards ceremony will be held on May 18 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ifcc0b6f995bc397472e11f8e2475fcfd

香港とタイミングが重なってしまいましたが、４月１日、『選挙』（PBS放送の短縮版）がアメリカで、放送界のピューリッツア賞と呼ばれるピーボディ賞を受賞しました！

これはラジオやテレビ放送に贈られる権威ある賞で、１９４０年から続いています。メディア関連の賞としては世界でも最古の部類に属します。
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody_Award
http://www.peabody.uga.edu/overview_history/index.php

PBSのプロデューサーから１日、興奮したメールが届いたので、もしやエイプリル・フールでは？と疑いましたが、そうではないようです（笑）。

２００８年に放送されたラジオやテレビ番組、ウェッブサイトから３６作品が選ばれました。他の受賞作品／受賞者は、北京オリンピック開会式のNBC中継とそれを演出した張芸某監督、CNNによるアメリカ大統領選挙のディベート、巨匠アルバート・メイスルズ監督の『ザ・ゲーツ』、CBSの「６０ミニッツ」など、蒼々たる顔ぶれです。なんでそこにいきなり『選挙』なのかって感じですが（笑）。
http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/event.php?id=59

受賞理由は次の通り。

赤裸々な、時に苦痛なほど滑稽な、想田和弘による本作は、日本を牛耳る自由民主党に担がれた新人候補によるドタバタな選挙運動を観察したドキュメンタリーである。

授賞式は、５月１８日にニューヨークのウォルドルフ・アストリア・ホテルで行われます。
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ifcc0b6f995bc397472e11f8e2475fcfd