(Ayukawa: The Weight of a Life)

Content: 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.

Countries:

Japan,

New Zealand,

United Kingdom

Genres:

Documentary

Runtime:

92 minutes

Year:

2021

Directors:

Tu Neill

Production companies:

Ordinary Films

Actors:

Crews:

Director

Director

Writer

Writer

Writer