CJS Film Series - Sanrizuka—Heta Village

Directed by Shinsuke Ogawa | 146min | 16mm

Heta Village is an extraordinary documentary about time and place, the first of two masterpieces by Ogawa Productions. As their relationships with farmers deepened, the violence of the police escalated. People were being killed and arbitrarily imprisoned. However, Ogawa pushed this to the far background to concentrate on the village of Heta itself – its history, its customs and its people – as one of its youth commits suicide and others are detained by police. The film is quiet, patient, and its 11 scenes are mostly rendered in single takes. This astonishing film is their attempt to render the “time of the village.”