Share our pain...

Due to be released in autumn 2024

Director / Screenplay / Starring / Photograph / Editor : Tomomi Yokoo

Due to be released in autumn 2024


Due to be released in autumn 2024


Cast: Fumiko Kataoka, Nanami Bansyo, Tomomi Yokoo, Shinji Murakami, DAKEI


Camera assistant: Sayaka Katayama Photos by Kazuho Kurita Title design by Arisa SasakiWeb design by Hitomi Fujiwara DTF design by Aya Okamoto

In cooperation with: Kyoto Media Support Center, Keifuku Electric Railroad Co., Ltd., Urban Renaissance Agency, Notre Dame Jogakuin Junior & Senior High School, Kyoto City Keihoku Hospital, ​Myoren-ji Temple, Oarahiko Shrine, Nishijin Textile Center, All Japan Deaf Students Association , Ohara Tourism and Conservation Association


Supported by: Japan National Center of Sign Language Education, Nagasaki Association of the Deaf

2024 / 60 min / Japan / Color / Sound only in parts

Advertising: “Please bless us” Film Production Committee ⒸTomomi Yokoo


STORY

An elderly woman who has lost her husband and is now shuttling ​back and forth between the past and the present. A daughter who ​looks at her mother, who was forbidden to use sign language and ​could never learn Japanese. A woman who longs to have a ​child...What lies beyond the recurring pain of these three women?

MESSAGE

Forced sterilization under the old Eugenic Protection Act, the ​period when sign language was banned, reduced compensation ​payouts due to being disabled and a woman... An artistic film ​that delicately and intensely portrays the difficulties deaf women ​face in their everyday lives.

When I learned the news of a compensation payout being reduced in a court case due to the awardee being a ​woman and disabled, I was shocked to learn that discrimination still exists today. Growing up, I had heard a lot ​about forced sterilization in the deaf community, and I had come to take it for granted that sign language was ​forbidden in schools for the deaf and that times were hard for many deaf people. But now that I am an adult, I ​know it is not the norm, and as a woman and a mother, I felt it was okay to be angry. This anger led me to rush ​into filmmaking. This story is filled with the pain and love of us deaf women. I hope you can experience and ​empathize with the past, present and future through these three stories. (Director: Tomomi Yokoo)

Director/Screenplay/Starring/Photograph/Editor :

Profile Artist (Photography, video, physical expression)

PDeaf. Born in Nagasaki Prefecture and currently residing in Kyoto City. She was ​awakened to physical expression after appearing in the film “LISTEN.” She has been ​involved in physical expression activities that connect with her sensitivity and identity ​as a deaf person through video, photography, and stage performances. Themes covered ​include love, deaf elderly, music, boundaries, emotions, liberation, body lines, and ​women.


CAREER: Collaborator and performer in the film “LISTEN” (2016), co-directed by ​Eri Makihara and DAKEI. Collaborator and performer in Yuske Taninaka’s stage ​production “Kuki kimagure” (Air Whimsy) (2023). Directed, produced, and performed ​in the short film “Watashitachi ni tsuite” (About Us) (2023). Winner of the Grand ​Prize at the 20th Sagano Deaf Movie Festival.


CAST

She is an indispensable presence in the film, brimming ​with the charm of sign language expression. I ​instinctively sensed that she was a dancer, and my ​instincts were proved right when I saw her dancing ​naturally between takes. A movie that strives to give the ​viewer a sense of her appearance through the images. ​Long active in the Women's Club (Women's Division) of ​Deaf activities in Kyoto Prefecture, she received the ​“Kyoto Citizen's Commendation” from Kyoto City as a ​contributor to the community. Widely loved by sign ​language learners.


A trusting relationship with the mother was important, ​and we wanted a child actor with wonderful eyes, so we ​asked the daughter of Rie Bansyo, a senior at my alma ​mater (Special Needs Education School for the Deaf, ​University of Tsukuba). She is very expressive, as she ​does karate! She sometimes mischievously peeked at the ​camera or played tricks on us, but when it came time for ​the real work to begin, she switched gears and really ​worked hard. Please pay attention to her eyes and facial ​expressions.


We have been working with him since the movie ​“LISTEN” and were able to shoot a good scene this ​time after consulting with him on various aspects of the ​scene around the fire. The process of capturing DAKEI's ​physical movement in the angles was mind-blowing. A ​Butoh artist active not only in Japan but also all over the ​world. He has also appeared in a wide range of films, ​including “Watashi no Namae wa...” (My Name is ...), ​the first film directed by Agnès B.


I saw him playing an active role in NPO Comekko and ​asked him to perform. The resourceful and flexible way ​he tackled his role inspired me time after time. He made a ​good addition to the film. He is also an anchor for “Me ​de Kiku Terebi,” (TV Listening with the Eyes) a sign ​language performer for “NHK Sign Language for ​Everyone TV,” and a lecturer for local sign language ​classes.


COMMENT

Yutaka Osugi (Professor, Tsukuba University of Technology)

This is a film in which one woman was able to sublimate her anger!

Hidehiko Kado (Illustrator)

It is as if the entire work is a one lyric poem. A work of art.

Jo Matsuzaki (Professor, Miyagi University of Education)

The inner “words” of a deaf woman, deprived of human dignity and blessings,

are captured with a sharp but soft focus.

Eri Makihara (Auteur)

I saw an extraordinary movie.

A generational anthem that tells us that we are worth living.

Manami Moriyama (Photographer, interviewer)

“My enemy was myself”

THEATER

coming soon...

LINKS

@tomomiphoto_10

@moridemita

@tomomi.yokoo.50

CAMPFIRE

©“Please bless us” Film Production Committee