DHAHRAN: Japanese filmmaker Kaneko Masakazu — known for his cinematic exploration of nature, memory, and myth — captivated audiences at the 11th Saudi Film Festival (SFF) with an intimate and insightful conversation about the deep connections between culture and storytelling.

Masakazu was joined on stage by Abdulrahman Al-Qarzaee, a fluent Japanese speaker from Saudi Arabia who served as translator with cultural commentator Showg AlBarjas acting as moderator.

 

 

 

 

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The conversation delved into how landscapes, folklore and cultural identity shape cinematic storytelling, facilitating a thoughtful exchange of ideas that spanned cultural boundaries.

During this session, Masakazu shared his approach to filmmaking, particularly in “River Returns” (2024), his third feature film. It was shown just days earlier at the SFF, which is set to wrap up on April 23.

The film, a stunning blend of fantasy and drama, takes place in a rural Japanese village and tells the story of a young boy’s perilous journey to a seemingly haunted body of water. There, he hopes to calm the grief-stricken spirit responsible for devastating floods that have plagued the village. The story is set during the 1958 typhoon, which serves as a backdrop to the boy’s journey.

Masakazu revealed how his work has always been centered on the relationship between humans and nature.

“My work deals with the relationship between nature and humans as its central theme. It tells these stories in a poetic, almost mythical style,” he said.

In “River Returns,” the boy’s journey to the mountain pool is not just a physical one, but a spiritual and emotional quest, too.

The film captures how natural disasters can be viewed as manifestations of spiritual unrest, a concept in Japanese folklore that seemed to resonate with Saudi audiences.

The film’s breathtaking cinematography beautifully contrasts the serene landscapes with the looming, furiously violent storm, underscoring the dynamic between the gentle and the destructive forces of nature.

“The meaning of the narrative is ultimately left to the viewer — whether they experience sadness, love or the echo of an ancient tale,” Masakazu shared. “In the end, it becomes a transmission of culture, a passing down of folklore, all leading back to a shared emotional core. At the same time, I’m interested in how people respond — how a non-Japanese audience might engage with it.”

DHAHRAN: From Tokyo to Dhahran, audience members at the 11th Saudi Film Festival were treated to a rich cross-cultural exchange during a panel this week that explored the cinematic parallels and connections between Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Moderated by Zohra Ait El-Jamar, head of Hayy Jameel Cinema, the panel featured US-based Japanese director and photographer Ken Ochiai, Oscar-nominated Japanese animator Koji Yamamura, and Ithra’s Japanese-fluent Saudi film expert Majed Z. Samman.

Yamamura, who has had a career spanning 45 years and teaches at Tokyo University of the Arts, said: “What I make is more artistic films, not commercial ones.”

The globally acclaimed animator offered a masterclass earlier in the festival.

Ochiai, who viewed the Saudi film “Hobal” at the festival, noted striking similarities between Japanese and Saudi cultural expressions in cinema.

He praised “Hobal,” pointing to the strong emphasis on cinematography, concise dialogue, and captivating narrative.

“Less is good, if you can convey feelings through facial expressions,” he said.

The panel encouraged the audience to watch more foreign films “to broaden your perspective.”

Samman said that Saudi audiences have favored three main film categories for decades: “Hollywood, Bollywood, and anime.”

He said that his love of cinema began while studying in Tokyo.

“Saudis grew up on anime that was mostly dubbed into Arabic,” he said, adding that many popular films, such as “Inception,” were based on Japanese originals.

Japanese films often require a bit of homework beforehand, Samman said.

“If you’re not into it (Japanese storytelling style), or if you’re not going to research it, you might think it’s stupid or cheesy — or, what’s happening here? I think we need to bridge that gap between the culture and the visual language,” he said.

Ochiai explained the differing approaches to film editing, saying that in Hollywood, several takes are shot, and editing happens later. In contrast, Japanese filmmakers often prefer to edit in real time, based on a meticulously planned storyboard, in order to minimize extra work.

While Japanese films can sometimes feel lacking in context, every country has its own visual language, he said.

Japanese cinema’s minimalist sensibility resonates deeply within Japan, though it can sometimes feel mysterious or confusing to outside audiences. This is because Japan’s film industry has traditionally prioritized domestic viewers, without filling in background details that international audiences might need.

Ochiai said that audiences today who focus on trending aesthetics, especially on TikTok, may be looking in the wrong direction.

“What we really need to focus on is the message of the film. How you learn is not on YouTube, but how you learn is from the past, like the movies from the past, because everything is coming from the top.

“Art is a copy of something. So, if you copy the copy of the copy of the copy, it just gets watered down — the quality — so you should learn the history of the cinema so that you can also bring something new to the table,” he said.