Matsubayashi Yoju's 'Okinawa Saudade' Screens at 39th Tokyo International Film Festival
The documentary, part of the Nippon Cinema Now selection, follows a Ryukyu Buyo dancer and a Brazilian Eisa teacher on an exchange trip to Okinawa.
Matsubayashi Yoju's documentary Okinawa Saudade is screening at the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival in the Nippon Cinema Now section, according to Variety. The film follows Yumi, a dancer of Ryukyu Buyo, and Everton, who teaches Eisa in Brazil, on an exchange trip to Okinawa.
The project grew out of Matsubayashi's earlier documentary Okinawa/Santos and his time with the Brazilian Okinawan community. In 2016, Matsubayashi lived in Brazil for one year and learned about the forced relocation of Japanese Brazilians in Santos. About 10 years ago, he spent a year with a Brazilian community of Okinawan immigrants, which led to this project.
Matsubayashi's 2020 documentary Okinawa/Santos focused on the wartime forced relocation, in which some 60% of the Japanese immigrants forced out were from Okinawa. In July 2024, Brazil's Amnesty Commission formally apologized for the state's post-World War II persecution of Japanese immigrants.
By 2024, Matsubayashi had heard that Okinawan Brazilians might receive scholarships for an exchange program, with training in September. Creative Eisa in Brazil began about 45 years ago.
Quick answers
Where is 'Okinawa Saudade' screening?
It is screening at the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival in the Nippon Cinema Now selection.
What is 'Okinawa Saudade' about?
The documentary follows Yumi, a dancer of Ryukyu Buyo, and Everton, who teaches Eisa in Brazil, on an exchange trip to Okinawa.
Who directed 'Okinawa Saudade'?
Matsubayashi Yoju directed the film, which grew out of his earlier documentary 'Okinawa/Santos' and his time with the Brazilian Okinawan community.