CJS Film Series - Sanrizuka—Peasants of the Second Fortress

Directed by Shinsuke Ogawa | 143min | 16mm
-Includes a Q&A session with Toshio Iizuka, Ogawa’s assistant director

Peasants of the Second Fortress was Ogawa’s first international success, as prints were swapped with collectives in America and Europe. The violence had escalated in Sanrizuka and farmers turned to a new tactic: they built large fortresses, and burrowed underground – under their ground. Ogawa follows the course of the protests, as police invade one after the other. Between the action scenes Ogawa pauses to chat with farmers, both above and below ground. One palpably senses the strong relationship the collective had nurtured with the farmers, and the deep respect with which Ogawa approached his subjects.