Die Katzen vom Gokogu-Schrein – with guest

A film by Kazuhiro Soda. In Japanese with German subtitles.

[Credits] [Tickets & Termine] [Trailer]

Steep steps lead up to the Gokogu Shinto shri­ne in Ushimado. The local child­ren play on them and the older resi­dents attend to their upkeep, even plan­ting mint on eit­her side. Kazuhiro Soda pres­ents the­se steps as a site of tran­si­ti­on that also forms a key ele­ment of this tiny set-up. For this ele­va­ted shri­ne isn’t just some­whe­re to visit for spi­ri­tu­al pur­po­ses – Ushimado’s feline com­mu­ni­ty has also set up home here, an occa­sio­nal­ly dyna­mic coll­ec­ti­ve con­sis­ting of cats aban­do­ned by their owners and their sub­se­quent off­spring. They need to be cared for, even as their popu­la­ti­on must be kept in check. Kazuhiro Soda’s docu­men­ta­ries – many of them which have alre­a­dy scree­ned at the Forum – always fol­low his own set of rules and show the see­mingly inno­cuous, yet still weigh­ty requi­re­ments of co-exis­tence. Slowly, yet per­sis­t­ent­ly, The Cats of Gokogu Shrine expands his gaze; the focus on details, ever­y­day ten­der­nes­ses and disci­pli­ne gives this chro­nic­le of a year a dimen­si­on that is at once down-to-earth and uni­ver­sal. And the pre­sence of Kazuhiro Soda hims­elf, who has lived in Ushimado for seve­ral years, can also be expe­ri­en­ced first-hand in a res­trai­ned, honest manner.

Gokogu no Neko
Credits:

Gokogu no Neko
JP 2024, 119 Min., japa­ni­sche OmU
Regie, Kamera, Schnitt: Kazuhiro Soda 

Trailer:
The Cats of Gokogu Shrine Trailer

Im Kino mit deut­schen Untertiteln

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