“Fusion of the Hearts: Ishizue”, a 20 minute documentary filmed in Japan, is about what happens when two different cultures with shared roots meet and interact.
One is from a multicultural North American society, and the other from a very traditional and homogeneous background. And they meet through their music with many challenges to face.
Thirteen young Canadian taiko drum players travel from Vancouver, Canada to Onomichi, Japan to play music with a traditional Japanese taiko group. The young Nikkei Canadians (part of a group called Chibi Taiko) were aged 6-23 years old. All are of mixed race with some ancestral ties to Japan. This was the first trip to Japan for many of these third, fourth and fifth generation Canadians.
The Onomichi group (Betchar Daiko) is from a very small traditional town near Hiroshima. They are a popular community based group that includes players ranging from youth to seniors. The Canadians and Japanese discover that their cultural and musical roots are very different, yet closely tied. They work through language barriers and and extreme humidity and heat together. After 10 days of playing taiko, they give a public performance in Onomichi. It is a powerful moment when we witness the fusion of two very different groups as they suddenly become one. “…Having deep roots doesn’t mean one is cut off from the many possibilities of life. On the contrary, they can provide nourishment and sustenance throughout one’s life. And really, strong and healthy roots below ground ultimately lead to strong and healthy branches reaching towards the sky.” (John Endo Greenaway, Editor of JCCA Bulletin) What did they learn? As one of the taiko players says: “Reconnecting with your roots is important because it gives you a chance to see what makes me ME?” Available in dvd format, all regions, in English & Japanese Cost: 2,000 yen /$20 Cdn plus shipping For purchase or inquiries contact: Osamu Otani wafflecommon@gmail.com Linda Ohamacindyohama@gmail.com
"The Perfection of the Morning"
A script has been written for a feature length film based on the Canadian bestseller, "The Perfection of the Morning, an apprenticeship in nature"(Harper Perennial, Harper/Collins Publishers Ltd.) written by Sharon Butala.
The story takes place in the extreme southwest corner of Saskatchewan, near the Montana and Alberta borders, on 13,000 vast acres of spectacular wild, native grassland. part of the Great Plains of North America.
"Perfection" is a simple, moving story of love and loss, and the struggle to find a way to belong in a place and in oneself.
An attractive, thirtysomething career woman from Saskatoon (Sharon) meets a traditional cowboy-rancher (Peter) and accepts an invitation to visit his remote cattle ranch one weekend. Soon after this first visit, she is drawn into Peter's world and leaves behind a brilliant career, a family and her busy urban lifestyle. It is only after moving out to the remote Butala Ranch, that she discovers something very different about Peter, the place and the people who live in the middle of 'nothing'. She struggles to survive by reading books, writing books, dreaming, researching, painting, running away, you name it. But it haunts her until she decides to end her struggle or find a way to belong. This leads her to the perfection of the morning.
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"Summerhouse Dreams"
This is a feature length film that will be shot on location in Onomichi, Japan based on complex interweaving of lives caught in tradition, memories, dreams, and reality.
Every August in the unbearable heat of summer and the consant rattling of the cicadas, spirits from the 'other world' return to their earthly families for 3 days and 3 nights, during a period the Japanese call 'obon'. It is a time of happy celebration, song, special foods and dance as people meet for this annual gathering.
There is a house that sits high on the mountainside that overlooks the town of Onomichi, the sea, and temple gravesites. You get to it by climbing a narrow winding mountain path, past a small shrine, then up the steep private stone steps leading to the black iron gate. The ground level is designed like a Western home and the upper level is more taditional with its huge tatami room and shoji screen windows.
The house remains closed for most of the year and is known as 'the summerhouse'. A foreigner who does not understand obon, comes to stay at the summerhouse and she witnesses a mysterious labyrith of past and present, triggered by obon on the two levels of this house.
