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Ayukawa: The Weight of a Life (2021) [N/A]

Written by:
Tu Neill
Jim Speers
Kentarô Yamada

Directed by:
Tu Neill, Jim Speers


Release Date:
October 3, 2021

Original Title:
Ayukawa: The Weight of a Life

Genres:
Documentary

Production Companies:
Ordinary Films

Production Countries:
Japan | New Zealand | United Kingdom

Ratings / Certifications:
 N/A

Runtime: 92

Overview from TheMovieDB

At once tranquil and bracing, Tu Neill and Jim Speers’ film is a portrait of a seaside town and its vanishing way of life. Though it is now slowly emptying, Ayukawa was once a thriving coastal community, its success based on a practice rooted in tradition, custom, and ceremony: whaling. Through the voices of local elders, the film conveys how that form of hunting developed into the lifeblood of the town before cultural changes, international condemnation, and strict regulation brought it to the brink of non-existence.

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Overview from Open Movies

How does a small Japanese whaling town adapt to a post-whaling world? In this sensitive study, local inhabitants reflect on the decline of local industry and the devastating tsunami that hit Ayukawa in 2011.

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Rankings and Honors

Ayukawa: The Weight of a Life (2021) on IMDb

Production

Director:
Tu Neill
Jim Speers

Director of Photography:
Tu Neill
Jim Speers

Editor:
Jenna Bowden

Executive Producer:
Kath Akuhata-Brown
Sue Thompson
Adrian Grey

Original Music Composer:
Finn Andrews

Producer:
Tu Neill
Kentarô Yamada
Jim Speers

Writer:
Jim Speers
Tu Neill
Kentarô Yamada

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