Release Date

February, 14th, 2007

Running Time

120 min

Genre

Comedy , Drama , Documentary

Color

Color

Screening Format

HDCAM

Screen Size

-

Sound Processing

Stereo

[ Directed by ]

• SODA Kazuhiro

[ Produced by ]

• SODA Kazuhiro

[ Cast ]

• YAMAUCHI Kazuhiko
• YAMAUCHI Sayuri
• KOIZUMI Junichiro

[ Staff ]

• SODA Kazuhiro ── Cinematography
• SODA Kazuhiro ── Recording
• SODA Kazuhiro ── Editor

[ Production Company ]

Laboratory X

[ Story ]

A documentary that closely follows the Kawasaki city assembly by-election in 2005. Yamauchi Kazuhiko, a local stamp and coin merchant, ends up standing in the city assembly election as the official candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The LDP and the Democratic Party are in a head-to-head competition in Kawasaki City. The LDP will no longer be the ruling party of the city assembly should they lose this seat. The Party pumps in LDP congressmen who have been elected from the area as well as experienced election staff in the campaign to ensure Yamauchi is elected. Heavyweight politicians including the then Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro rush to the campaign to lend their support, and the campaign is quickly blown up to be a large-scale organizational battle. Yamauchi, in the meantime, launches a "Bow, even to an electric pole" campaign. He visits fetes at shrines, nursery's sports days, and even stations and bus stops to shake hands with the electorate. Yamauchi's struggle sheds light on the backstage of elections. This is a directorial debut of Soda Kazuhiro, that has been entered into a number of film festivals, including the official invitation from the Berlin International Film Festival in 2007. A shortened version was broadcast on TV in approximately 200 countries around the world.

[ Official Site ]

http://www.laboratoryx.us/campaign/

[ Premiere ]

World Premiere: Berlin International Film Festival 2007

[ Film Festivals, Awards ]

Rencontres Cinema de Manosque 2008
Punto de Vista 2008
Festival of Tetouan 2008
Tunis Medina Festival 2008
New Horizons of Visual Anthropology and Documentary Film in Japan 2008
SXSW Film Festival 2007 Competition
Hot Docs Film Festival 2007
Barcelona Asian Film Festival 2007
Sydney Film Festival 2007
Asian American Film Festival 2007
Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival 2007
Cinemanila Film Festival 2007
Rome Asian Film Festival2007
Kaohsiung Film Festival 2007
Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival 2007
Leeds Film Festival 2007
Nantes 3 Continents Film Festival 2007
Nippon Koma Film Festival 2007
Festival Film Dokumenter(Indonesia) 2007
Watch Docs Human Rights in Film 2007
Cinema du Reel 2007 Competition
Fribourg International Film Festival 2007
Hong Kong International Film Festival 2007
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2007
Golden Tamademy Award 2007 Best Comedy

[ Contact (International) ]

For further contact details, please contact UNIJAPAN -> [ Contact ]