Ikuta no kita

‘North is solitary everywhere. Here, all is North. This is a record of the people I met in the North. However, my memory is fragmented and does not get the point at all. Now I’m starting to wonder my efforts have come to nothing. I’m just getting the occasional recognition of the existence of the world through the dull perception that changes shape little by little,‘ Koji Yamamura, a legend in world animation, says this about his film. For the first time in his career, Yamamura didn’t opt to make a short film, but instead used his demanding, visually and artistically fascinating style in a feature film. He managed to tackle this uneasy task without compromising his approach. The fragility of his animated drawings perfectly reflects the ideas the film explores. In addition to visually mesmerising images, Yamamura also uses captions to outline his themes. Otherwise, his filmic poem with music by Willem Breuker has no dialogue. The film uses Yamamura’s drawings and texts created in response to the catastrophic earthquake that decimated Japan in 2011. Despite the film’s nostalgic atmosphere with elements of a magical nightmare, Dozens of Norths also includes Yamamura’s delicate humour. (Anifilm)