Q&A with Kazuhiro Soda

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Q&A with Kazuhiro Soda

POSTED: Thursday, January 6, 2011, 5:00 PM

Filed Under: Events | Interview | Movies screening

Kazuhiro Soda

Still from Mental

As mentioned in this week's Agenda section, Japanese documentary filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda will be at the International House (3701 Chestnut St.) to screen his documentaries Campaign on Mon., Jan. 10 at 7 p.m., and Mental on Tues., Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m. You can also catch him at Scribe Video Center (4212 Chestnut St.) on Tue., Jan. 11 at 5 p.m. leading a "Master Class" workshop. But first, we caught up with him for a little Q&A action. Critical Mass: The first film you're going to screen in Philly will be Campaign. What can you tell us about it? Kazuhiro Soda: It's an observational style feature documentary I made in 2007 about an election campaign, which won the Peabody award in 2008. A friend of mine ran for office in Kawasaki city, a suburb of Tokyo. He didn't have any experience in politics, and he didn't have much money. He was a merchant who made a living selling stamps and coins. He was backed by the powerful LDP (the Liberal Democratic Party) in Japan. How can he win the race without any experiences? He had no money and didn't know anybody in the town, but we'll see how he fared. CM: What can you tell us about Mental?

Kazuhiro Soda

KS: It's a similarly styled observational feature length documentary, about small mental clinic in Okayama Japan. I observed patients and caregivers, staff and doctors in the clinic. I tried to observe the microcosm. It questions the boundary between the mentally ill and healthy people. If you closely look at them, the more you observe, it becomes more questionable the differences between the healthy and the ill. CM: How did you get interested in that topic? KS: I got interested in the subject because, I have experience in visiting a mental clinic at age 20. I was working too hard, I was diagnosed with burnout syndrome. It's very common among Japanese businessmen. You work too hard, you get burned out. I recovered quickly, but the doc told me I could get ill at any time. I was working on this project for a long time in Japan, a lot of colleagues of mine were ill or going to the mental clinic regularly. Some people committed suicide. I felt like this whole country was in this mentally ill state, like an epidemic. CM: What kind of reaction did Mental get? KS: A lot of people came up to me and said things like, "I used to have the same kind of issue" or "my mother is ill" or "my best friend is ill". Everybody is somehow touched by this, but it's kind of taboo. I wanted to lift the taboo. The world of mental illness is kind of covered by this invisible curtain. I wanted to lift the invisible curtain by aiming the camera. This film won many awards, one of which was the Best Documentary Award (PIFF Mecenat Award) at the Pusan International Film festival in South Korea. This is the biggest film festival in Asia. It also won best documentary at the Dubai film festival, and the Hong Kong film festival. At the Miami International Film Festival, it received Special Jury Mention (for the courage of subject matter). CM: How did you end up planning a screening in Philly. KS: I live in New York, and I met the director of the Scribe Media center at the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar. I was one of the filmmakers who was on that seminar previously. He saw my work over there and he wanted to invite me. CM: What can we expect at your lecture? KS: During the class, I'll talk about my observational method of documentary film-making. This style is directly inspired by direct cinema tradition--a style in documentary filmmaking from the 60's--as well as masters like Frederick Wiseman. When the portable 16mm cameras became available, film-makers took them too the street and started making documentaries. I developed my observational film-making method by watching these films. It's not so popular now, especially in America. Michael More style documentaries are much more popular. They have graphics, music and interviews. Direct cinema doesn't use any music, graphics or interviews; it quietly observes what's going on in front of the camera. It's like what people might call the fly on the wall type of approach.

Kazuhiro Soda

Still from Campaign

One of the things I practice is I don't do any research before making films, I don't even write any synopsis before I shoot. Because, if I do any research or meetings beforehand, I'm kind of locked in to my preconception. I usually just go to the scene with my camera and start shooting spontaneously, and I shoot whatever interests me. At that point I don't have any scene in my mind. I try to observe what's going on in front of me. I try to discover something new. Michael Moore always has a script, they always know what they want to say. They know what they want to accomplish before they make the film. For me, it's too boring because if you know what the film is all about before you film, then you don't discover anything--or, it's harder to discover anything. For me this observation method is a way to make myself open to many different accidents and possibilities. Life is full of accidents and full of possibilities, if you're open. Rather than being locked up to my original idea, I want myself to be open to the world and learn something. That's the key point to my style. I'll talk about my method and philosophy, and why I took particular choices. I'll also explain in detail how I made the films, and discuss the behind the scenes. CM: In regards to burnout syndrome, which you mentioned as being common in Japan, do you feel there is a vast philosophical difference between the work ethic of the West and the work ethic of the East? KS: What you are expected at the work place is different between Japanese society and American society. In Japan, no matter what you have, you have to do certain work in a certain way. For example, you have to make a 2 hour documentary and you have one million dollars budget. And you are supposed to make this documentary, but your budget gets cut to ten thousand dollars. In Japan you are still expected to deliver the same kind of film. I'm exaggerating but there is some sense like that. In America, it's more like everybody works according to the budget, nobody expects you to deliver the same things with different budget. *laughs* I don't think it's genetics, because Japanese Americans who grow up here, they don't share the same work ethic as Japanese living in Japan, I think it's cultural, just part of the tradition...

Harold A. Maio

Posted 2011-01-07 08:31:23

the boundary between the mentally ill and healthy people. If you closely look at them, the more you observe, it becomes more questionable the differences between the healthy and the ill.
The appearance of this "the" ought be a red flag to anyone, sadly it is not. "The" Jews, "the" Blacks, over time many groups have been subjected to it, and a great many of us accepted it. I am not sure why it is such a popular metaphor, but reducing groups to an abstraction seem to entertain us.

The reality behind each is the same. Mental illnesses do not discriminate, people with them are as likely highly successful as not, earn in the millions, hold high office, professional, blue and white collar jobs. We are first people, and then ill, Black, Jewish, whatever. 

Harold A. Maio, retired Mental Health Editor
khmaio@earthlink.net

Ryan Carey

Posted 2011-01-07 12:31:21

Harold, Kazuhiro Soda used "the mentally ill" the same way he would have used "the young" or "the wealthy" or "the syntax sticklers". It should be clear from reading the complete article (or even the rest of the sentence) that he does not descriminate against the ill (i.e. he refers to healthy people as "the healthy").

However, I can appreciate your empathy towards mentally ill people, and if you attend the screening, I think you'll find that Kazuhiro Soda does as well.

Harold A. Maio

Posted 2011-01-07 22:09:14

"The" healthy and "the" young differ from "the" mentally ill, as they differ from "the" Blacks. It is an interesting form, it can be employed  poetically, "the" gifted, and can be entirely the opposite. 

We are presently fascinated with the form, "the" mentally ill, and a few others, "the" homeless, "the" disabled among them.  They delimit our understanding.  

In my youth I fully appreciated "the" Blacks, their limits were carefully desribed for me. I believed those limits, only to discover culture had lied to me. 

I have not seen the film, will likely not get the opportunity, but I hope it includes a professor teaching German. Illness intrudes on our lives to various degrees, from little to consuming. It does not consume most of us. I hope the film shows that range.

Harold

Marce L.

Posted 2011-01-10 07:45:14

I had the opportunity to watch K. Soda's documentary and read some interviews about it.
In my opinion this kind of exchange is an interesting starting point to discuss about "the conception of mental illness" in the context of "the concept of culture ."

Harold refers to the concept of "sub-cultures" when he talks about "the black culture", "the youth culture" ... on his words: "as a way to discover how culture (or these cultural categories) had lied " to him .
From his point of view these categorizations are a risky way to divide, discriminate and control different expressions of the culture... and he adds "They delimit our understanding. "

The concept of "subculture" is an operational concept in the field of Anthropology for the purposes of the study of "inter cultural exchange" (in Spanish language "interculturalismo " ).
This concept allows to analyze how these subcultures relate one to the other to confront or negotiate their interests.

Other examples of these categorizations are: "gender culture", "original cultures ", "the culture of cybernauts" ... etc.
To be part of a subculture, members of the same should be aware of it, have a sense of belonging.

From this theoretical starting point... can we consider that " THE mentally ill " is a sub culture ? are there any previous studies in this regard? I don't consider this category as possible.

As Harold writes "Mental illness" does not discriminate social classes or ethnic groups.
From the psychopathology field, psychic structures are universal, that means, cultures do not discriminate pathologies.

As social anthropologist I would like to add that the treatment of these diseases or their denial are culturally determined.
From this point of view mental illness are "ALSO" culturally defined not only psychologically determined.

we have to admit that we are "locked" by our cultural point of view.

Kazuhiro Soda describes in his documentary how mental illnesses are treated at an mental institution in Japan.
His view is extremely respectful in relation to the mentally ill as well as mental illness, and he complains about the economic insecurity faced by mental institutions, which depends on government subsidies, (allowing to discuss about a "sort of institutionalized discrimination")

I am sure that if Harold has the opportunity to watch this documentary he will be fascinated by Soda 's work.

Marcela L.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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