“Zushi Coast Film Festival” is a presentation of the results of travelers that connects people and culture.

Aggregate local-to-local connections

--What is the role of the film festival and your activities throughout the year?

CINEMA AMIGO, a movie theater and cafe, is a base rooted in the local area, and Cinema Caravan is an activity that connects it with the outside world. The annual Zushi Coast Film Festival is a film festival where visitors can experience the various connections they have cultivated both inside and outside of Zushi through films, art works, workshops, and more. It's also a cultural experience event that's not just about movies.

Gen Nagashima, musician and founder of the Zushi Coastal Film Festival

All of our members love to travel, so the idea of ``travelers with a base'' was our concept from the beginning. When it comes to just traveling, even if interactions occur at the destination, it ends up being temporary, but if you go on a trip with a base that you can cultivate, you can bring back what you gained on your trip. I am able to reflect on people who come to me, I am able to invite them to my side next time instead of just doing it one-off, and because of this, the density of our interactions is different. I think that by doing that, the connection becomes stronger.

--How did regional exchanges with the Basque region of Spain begin?

A Japanese person who lived locally and had the desire to convey Basque culture to Japan came to Cinema Amigo to see if there was an opportunity to show the video work he had created with local filmmakers in Japan. , that was my first connection. So we held a movie screening event at Cinema Amigo and an event inviting Basque people, and this time Rai Shizuno from Cinema Caravan had an opportunity to go to San Sebastian for interviews, and from there we started going back and forth. started.

Since around 2010, I have been inviting Basque people, and I created a booklet, and when he, who lives in the Basque Country, showed it to the director of the San Sebastian International Film Festival, he said, ``If you want to come here... If you're going to come to the festival, why don't you hold a cinema caravan inside the film festival?'' So in 2013, a total of 25 or 6 people, including about 10 core members of Cinema Caravan, traveled from Japan to participate in the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

At that time, I became friends with even more local people, and every year artists and chefs from the Basque Country began to come to the Zushi Coast Film Festival in some form or another.

(c) ZUSHI BEACH FILM FESTIVAL

--What about Indonesia?

Takashi Kuribayashi, a contemporary artist and member of Cinema Caravan, has moved to Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The art scene in Yogyakarta is very active right now, and you can make many connections there, and the prices are low, so it's easy to create large-scale works.

In 2015, we were invited to Yogyakarta's ``ART JOG'' contemporary art festival with a cinema caravan, and now local people have started coming to the Zushi Coast Film Festival. . Aspiring artists, including Takashi's assistants and students, come to Japan to study and create works, as well as help set up the event.

The phrase we often use, "sister cities without permission," was actually started by everyone at Root Culture, an NPO in Kamakura, but for us, it's more about Zushi than Japan x Spain or Japan x Indonesia. We are conscious of local to local, such as × San Sebastian, Zushi × Yogyakarta. There are several areas within Japan that are connected, such as Shirakawa-go, Yubari, and Nozawa, and I hope that these connections will become like a web and that exchanges will progress, both domestically and internationally. and.

Unearthing the charm hidden deep within the region

--What kind of place do you create when you travel with Cinema Caravan?

There are two types of Cinema Caravan: one is a town revitalization type, and the other is when it is called as an artist group.It differs from time to time, but basically it is created together with local people, and it is created by creating something that is locally available. We place importance on making the most of it.

When I went to Shirakawa-go, I made the screen itself from Mino washi paper, a traditional craft, and the screen frame from materials used in Gassho-zukuri. In addition, when it comes to cooking, we use local ingredients, offer menus that local people would not have thought of, and propose new regional foods.

Screen made from Mino washi paper and Neso (witch hazel) (c) ZUSHI BEACH FILM FESTIVAL

At Niigata's Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, I was asked to create a work based on the motif of a local marginal village, and I created an installation, film screening, and performance that expressed this theme.

--How about the San Sebastian Film Festival?

Although it is called an introduction to Japanese culture, the venue is created in collaboration with local artists, with the concept of introducing the culture of the regions of Japan with which we have connections through a cinema caravan. Also, last year we were invited as a group of artists to an art event called ``SONSBEEK'' in the Netherlands, and the artists we connected with there were also invited to San Sebastian, resulting in an exchange between the three cities.

A festival-like space and a performance of “Oiran Dochu” (c) ZUSHI BEACH FILM FESTIVAL

--The Zushi Coast Film Festival venue has a very sophisticated atmosphere, and there are many visitors from Tokyo.

I think 80% of our customers come to enjoy a slightly unusual atmosphere that feels like they've been to an overseas amusement park. We are very particular about not creating a commercial atmosphere full of corporate logos, or making it feel like a school performance. doing.

I hope that at least a percentage of the people who come here will pick up on the culture and messages of other regions that we really want to convey and bring them back with them.

(c) ZUSHI BEACH FILM FESTIVAL

Turning cultivated human skills into the strength of the community

--What is your biggest message?

Cinema Caravan has always had the key concept of "playing with the earth." For example, at the Zushi Coast Film Festival, there are times when storms hit us directly, and by working together to overcome these problems one by one, we can strengthen the fundamental strength of the people involved, the strength of humanity. I think the most important thing is that if you move up, that will become a strength for the community.

In the future, we will not only introduce culture, but also expand and create a movement by introducing things that are being done in other regions that can be adopted in Zushi, as well as initiatives to improve the local living environment. It would be great if we could use this as an opportunity to make the city more attractive.