On Friday, 26 October 2018, we held the 14th Creative Café “Discovering Yamadera with AIR directors”.

Starting from this year, our new creative project “Yamagata Artists-in-Residence” is launched. Filmmakers from Indonesia and Malaysia are staying at Zao resort, Yamagata City to concentrate on their development for their film work.

This event was organized for integration between citizens and filmmakers while discovering the spiritual mountain “Yamadera”.

《Stairs to Yamadera Senjuin Temple》

《Tarumizu Remains》

👉 More photos on our official Instagram!

We asked Asian filmmakers to answer three questions:

Q. Would you please describe the most fun part of this event?

“It made me more fit! Looks like preparing the stamina before the kong workshop and shooting. “（Greg / Indonesia / Film Editor）

“Hiking and discovering beautiful Yamadera with good friends, and listening to each other stories while traveling.”（Dian / Indonesia / Producer）

Q. What inspired you the most in Yamadera？

“The beautiful scenery and relax / peaceful environment, and it gives time to think about my life, what I want to do in my life and makes me want to create poems or painting or video art work.”（Heni / Indonesia / Director）

“For me, its the preservation of the sacred Yamadera. I noticed that the people in Yamadera really respect the surroundings. Yamadera is so well preserved that I felt the path we walked and the surroundings we saw are not much difference from few hundred years ago. The people and the nature coexist well in Yamadera.”（Ryan / Malaysia / Scriptwriter）

Q.  Would you please write a short comment to express your goal or wish for Yamagata Artists-in-Residence “Yamagata Documentary Dojo 2018”?

“My goals are we can finish our film in here, got advice from mentor and much
discussion about it. The other one, I can make a film here, about Yamagata
from my sight. I hope this program can continuously and give another chance
to other filmmaker to show their project and perspective about Yamagata.”（Greg）

“I want to finish Ona project during Yamagata Documentary Dojo 2018, use all
good energy and good vibrant from all people who involved in it, and
transfer it to our Ona project to be a timeless documentary that can be
proud of Yamagata City, because Yamagata Documentary Dojo 2018 help us to
make it happen.”（Dian）

“I wish I can reflect my work/ what I have done in my documentary film work.
I also want to get inspiration for my new film project, that I want to
finish editing during the residency. I hope I can get suggestion / enlightenment from other participant and mentors. I hope the residency will be fruitful for our work.” (Heni）

“It is a honor to be part of the Yamagata Artist-In-Residence and the Yamagata
Documentary Dojo 2018 program, as this is my first trip to Japan and
Yamagata, I would like to take the opportunity to explore Yamagata as much
as possible, hoping that it would inspire me in someway that is helpful to
our project as well as my personal growth. “（Ryan）

 

Let me introduce some voices from Yamagata participants.

“It mede me happy to integrate and share this atmosphere with filmmakers.”

“I’m very interested in what they have filmed and get interested in through discovering Yamadera.”

“Regardless of countries we were from, we could share this experience so I believe that their films would be borderless work which anyone would love to watch.”

Thank you for your participation!

At next Creative Café, we will screen short videos about Yamagata made by AIR filmmakers!

We look forward to seeing you at the next event 😆

NEXT EVENT

The 15th Creative Café “Local attractions through TV commercials”