ARTicle Films
Double Layered Town / Making a Song to Replace Our Positions
Niju no machi / Kotaichi no uta o amu
Komori Haruka + Seo Natsumi
About
After the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in 2011, Komori Haruka and Seo Natsumi chose to live and film in Rikuzentakata. This work is a visual record of four people who applied for a workshop Komori and Seo devised, showing them visiting the town and getting to know its people and landscape. The opportunity to hear personal experiences of the disaster decreases with time, but this film provides a bridge to new encounters and communication, in addition to including a story written by Seo entitled “Double Layered Town.”
Directors: Komori Haruka + Seo Natsumi
Photography, Editing: Komori Haruka, Fukuhara Yusuke
Sound, Sound Editor: Fukuhara Yusuke
Cast: Koda Haruka, Yonekawa Ko Leon, Sakai Haruka, Miura Aoshi Text: Seo Natsumi
JAPAN / 2019 / Japanese / Color / Digital File / 79 min
Story
Set in Rikuzentakata, Iwate, Japan, in the year 2031, “Double layered town” is a story by Seo Natsumi, planting seeds for new folktales born in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. The town that once stood and the one built after the completion of land elevation work─four travelers who know neither head for Rikuzentakata in 2018, listen to what the local people have to say, hold repeated dialogues and recite stories. The travelers find their own speaking voice through cycles of listening, reporting, and retelling. This is a record of a site where a small “succession” is initiated, captured with a delicate touch by filmmaker Komori Haruka.
