Sweeping Awards at International Documentary Film Festivals

'Living on the Agawa' is considered a pioneer of documentary cinema and was the debut feature of director Makoto Sato, who passed away in 2007. For three years starting in 1989, the director and his seven-person crew lived in the Agawa River basin in Niigata Prefecture, capturing the vibrant lives of local residents. The film focuses on three elderly couples who, despite suffering from Minamata disease, continued to live in harmony with the river, portraying their rich lives with an abundance of joy.



While grounded in the social issue of Niigata Minamata disease, the film is a hymn to human life that refuses to be defeated by pollution, moving audiences worldwide. In 1992, a time when documentaries rarely screened in cinemas, it achieved a remarkable roadshow release. Furthermore, it swept numerous awards at film festivals, including the 24th Nyon International Documentary Film Festival and the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, creating a major sensation.



Twenty years have passed since this acclaimed film's premiere. The passage of time has taken its toll, with visible damage appearing on the film. Thanks to the strong support from many who wished to preserve this film for the future, it has been revived as a new 16mm print through donations. It has returned to the 21st century, transcending time.

Filming Everyday Life with Richness

The film's protagonists are three elderly couples who contracted Minamata disease in the Agawa River basin in Niigata Prefecture in 1965. There are Yoshio and Miyai Hasegawa, once masters of salmon fishing and keepers of ancestral rice paddies. Take and Miki Endo, boat builders who have crafted over 200 riverboats. Sakuji and Kiso Kato, who specialized in making mochi. These three couples, along with many others who were victims despite benefiting from nature's bounty, continued to live alongside the river.



The film crew, who lived in the basin, helped with rice planting, shared drinks, and lived alongside the people of Agawa for three years. The camera, becoming part of their daily lives, captured the rich nature of the Agawa River, their work in the mountains, mochi making, drying persimmons, drinking and singing together, and even marital quarrels.—The film portrays the lives of the people of Agawa with humor, capturing their everyday existence as it is.



These elderly couples, victims of Niigata Minamata disease, carried their pride in their work and lives as they aged. Especially now, in an era marked by nuclear accidents and unprecedented disasters, we hope viewers will once again feel the resilience of humanity in coexistence with nature and a sense of hope for the future.





Living on the Agawa

Opening November 24 (Sat) at Eurospace and other theaters nationwide

Director: Makoto Sato

1992 / Japan / 115 min




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