THE ALBINO’S TREES

INTRODUCTION

In a village that appears to be the vestige of pre-modern Japanese mores, a young hunter struggles over the choice of whether or not killing an animal stigmatized as detrimental to society. By portraying the internal conflict of a man loosing sight of his aim among the clashing realms of nature and mankind, the sacred and the mundane, reality and myth, The Albino’s Trees addresses the urgency of reconciliation in an age of escalating conflict, prejudice and violence.

SYNOPSIS

Yuku is a hunter who works for animal damage control programmes in the mountains of central Japan. In order to afford the medical bills for the treatment of his mother’s illness, he accepts a lucrative contract to kill a rare, white deer that lives in the forest by a remote village, and whose presence is thought to undermine tourism in the region by the neighbouring town’s bureaucrats. As he ventures into the village, however, he discovers that the animal is venerated as a god by the local community, which lives in a state of semi-isolation from the rest of society. While assessing his ethical responsibilities in undertaking such a task, he gets closer to inhabitants of the village, facing their conflicting emotions as to whether they should keep living as “outsiders”.

BIOGRAPHY

Masakazu Kaneko was born in Tokyo in 1978. In 2000, he graduated at Aoyama Gakuin University in International Politics, Economics and Communication. During university, he began making short films on 8mm and 16mm. After graduation, he studied at The Film School of Tokyo with Takahisa Zeze, director of Heaven’s Story (FIPRESCI Prize at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival). Kaneko’s debut film Sumire Ningyo (2008) was screened at the Japan-Filmfest Hamburg in Germany and in Japanese theatres. Since then, he has directed six short films. The Albino’s Trees is his second feature film.

FILMOGRAPHY

Sumire ningyo (2008, 63 min); Rapunzel (Kagami no musume, 2008, 18 min); Konagona (2009, 10 min); Lost Story (Ushinawareru monogatari, 2009, 34 min); The Man Who Restores (Fukugen-shi, 2010, 29 min); Camera Obscura (Mizu no Ashiato, 2013, 30 min); Secret Meeting (Ouse, 2013, 36 min); The Albino's Trees (Albino no ki, 2016, 86 min).

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Being human inevitably implies the killing of other living things. Yet we often lack the real sense of what killing means, and our awareness of it is usually limited to some numbers on a paper. Indeed, especially for those like me who have been growing up in a metropolis, there’s the tendency to overlook the fact that our everyday life entails the sacrifice of other lives, and we are too often driven by egoism in trying to protect ourselves and those close to us at the expense of others. In this movie, by focusing on the struggle of a man over the life and death of an animal, I tried to express not only the constantly problematic relationship between people and nature, but the importance of thinking about others as well.

AWARDS

FIGUEIRA FILM ART 2017 - Best Feature / Best Direction / Best Picture

Festival Cine Marbella 2018 - Best Film / Critic Award

Formosa Festival of International Filmmaker Awards 2017
- Best Asian Picture / Narrative Film Award of Jury Special Mention / Director Award of Jury Special Mention

VASTERAS FILM FESTIVAL 2017 - Best Photography

Festival CINEMISTICA 2018 - Best Film

Craft Film Fest BCN 2018 - Audience Award

FIC AUTOR 2018 - Best Low Budget Feature Film Under 50K USD

Inca Imperial International Film Festival 2018 - Best Feature Film / Best Photography

Ciudad de Mexico International Film Festival 2018 - Best Fiction Feature Film

SUNLIGHT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017 - Special Award

Chefchaouen Festival International of Environment 2018 - Special Mention

CALCUTTA INTERNATIONAL CULT FILM FESTIVAL 2016(December Selection) - Best Narrative Feature

Cinalfama Lisbon Interanational Film Awards 2017(November Selection) - Best Music

BEIJING INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016 - Forward Future Award - nominated

HIROSHIMA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016 - The Hiroshima Peace Film Award - nominatied

CAST & CREW

Ryohei Matsuoka as Yuku, Kanako Higashi as Nagi, Yusuke Fukuchi as Yoichi, Kinuo Yamada as Izumi, Hatsunori Hasegawa as Hiura, Shuichiro Masuda as Imamori, Ai Ozaki as Aya, Hiroyuki Matsukage as Nemoto, Manabu Hosoi as Murata, Mari Matsunaga as Yuko, Chie Yamaguchi as Chitose
Screenplay: Masakazu Kaneko / Miyuki Kaneko, DoP: Masakazu Kaneko, Assistant Camera: Tetsuya Azuma, Lighting Technician: Hiroaki Shiraishi, Sound Recording: Tsubasa Mano, Art Director / Costume Design: Miyuki Kaneko, Makeup: Kanako Chino / Keishiro Suzuki, Assistant Director: Hirohito Takino / Tomoshi Noboriyama , Director’s Assistant: Yuichiro Fukuda, Production Manager: Ai Nagura / Kurato Horiuchi, Sound Design: Yong-Chang Hwang, Visual Effects: Koya Takahashi / Aya Takahashi, Music: Eiko Ishibashi, Location Co-ordinator: Fumihiro Sakazume, Location Support: Suzaka City / Nagano Prefecture, Producer: Masakazu Kaneko / Miyuki Kaneko, Director / Film Editor: Masakazu Kaneko, Production: kinone, Distributed by Makotoya Co.,Ltd. ckinone