Devotion

“Devotion: a story about Ogawa Productions” is an 82-minute documentary of an important Japanese post-war documentary collective that made significant films of social struggle and village life. This investigative documentary situates the revolutionary lifestyle and films of Ogawa Productions within the framework of the global student movement of the New Left in the mid-’60s and the emerging documentary movement in Japan. In-depth stories from the collective members who contributed to this unique film making process are examined from a variety of perspectives and understandings. OSHIMA Nagisa, HARA Kazuo and HANEDA Sumiko, well-known film directors, present their personal recollections of this unique group. Memory, history, national culture, gender, and identity all figure in the stories as the evolution, development, and finally, disintegration, of this seminal film collective unfold.