7.24 (Thu) Competition
Record of a Summer Holiday
- Onsite
- 7.24 (Thu) 10:30 Audio Visual Hall
©2024 Jun Kawada
Director: Jun KAWADA
2025 / Japan / 95min.
Filmmaker Jun Kawada, who has documented themes such as war and Hansen’s disease while staying close to the individuals involved, has been visiting a neighboring Kurdish household to support their efforts to learn the Japanese language and build personal connections. This film documents one summer in the lives of young Kurdish siblings, whose family has ties with Kawada, as they work on their summer homework while their mother and her friends learn Japanese. They exchange casual conversation and spend time together while learning the language, across differences in culture and custom. Through these small, repeated moments, the film depicts the Kurdish people not as symbolic figures reported in the media but as neighbors living right beside us. Despite limiting the footage to close-ups of hands to respect the participants’ privacy, the vivid expressions of the children, their mother, and her friends still come through with striking clarity. Record of a Summer Holiday will have its world premiere at this festival.
Director: Jun KAWADA
Jun Kawada was born in Saitama Prefecture in 1983. He graduated from the Department of Painting, College of Art and Design, at Musashino Art University in 2007. His works include Endless Past (15), in which he assists a man who continues to unearth the remains of war dead in Okinawa, searching for the bereaved families in order to return the personal effects; Survive (17), which records the testimony of a former Japanese soldier who experienced the war in China and Okinawa; and Ishiyama-san (19), in which he accompanies a Hansen’s disease survivor on visits to his hometown, which the man was forced to leave, and to the sanatorium where he was once isolated.
Message
In recent years, coverage of the Kurds has intensified, leading to conflicts in the media and on social media. Friction has also begun to surface within local communities. I have been building personal connections with Kurdish residents in my neighborhood and supporting their efforts to learn the Japanese language. This film documents those interactions. There are no dramatic events. Exchanging casual conversation and spending time together while learning the language, across differences in culture and custom—through these small, repeated moments, I hope to find the potential for building community.
