Winner of the Special Jury Prize in the "Asian Current" section at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival

Following a troupe of sideshow performers, Director Yoichiro Okutani, who gained sudden acclaim with last year’s theatrical release “Japan’s Sideshow Performers,” presents his new film, “Children of the Sun.” This film, which won the Special Jury Prize in the Asian Current section at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 2011, has been refined with sound mixing and new audio effects, and its completed version is finally set for release.

Director Yoichiro Okutani was born in Gifu Prefecture and raised in Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University’s Faculty of Letters, he completed the Documentary Course at The Film School of Tokyo, studying under the late documentary filmmakers Makoto Sato and Takafumi Tsutsui. “Children of the Sun” was conceived and produced as one segment of the documentary film project “Tokyo,” left behind by Mr. Sato.

To film a work inspired by “Tokyo,” Director Okutani searched for stray dogs, which are no longer commonly seen in Tokyo today. The camera then focuses on an old man living in the city’s crevices with these stray dogs.

An Old Man Living on a Shipwreck with “Soleil”

At the mouth of the Tama River in Tokyo, there lived an old man who resided in a discarded boat while repairing motorboats. Always with a dog by his side, he would chat with neighbors on the riverbank. He called his dog “Soleil,” which means “sun” in French.

The camera captures the old man cherishing Soleil like family. Before long, he begins to speak to the camera occasionally. And his gaze, fixed on the old man and dogs living in a forgotten corner of Tokyo, begins to overlap with the memories of the city of “Tokyo” itself.

A Tokyo documentary newly spun by Director Yoichiro Okutani. Landscapes, people, and creatures disappearing alongside the metropolis are quietly brought to light.