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 Japan - USA | 2024 | Color | Observational Film | 119 min 

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Observational Film #10
五香宮の猫 / Gokōgu no Neko

DCP | Japanese | 24fps | 16:9 | Stereo

 SYNOPSIS 

Gokogu is a small, ancient Shinto shrine in Ushimado, Japan. Home to dozens of street cats, it is also known as Cat Shrine. Many people visit the shrine for various reasons: some to worship gods, others to enjoy gardening. Some people come to clean the shrine as volunteers while others just stop by on their way to fish Japanese sardinella –– and it is the perfect place for kids to play after school. It is a heaven for cat-loving residents and visitors too. Some people visit Gokogu to feed the freely roaming stray cats. Others just come to see these cats or to take pictures of them. But some residents complain about the waste the cats leave around the neighborhood. Gokogu looks peaceful on the surface, but it is also the epicenter of a sensitive issue that divides the local community. Master Soda started rolling his camera to observe and depict the aging, traditional community and its spiritual center Gokogu. 

 FESTIVALS 

- Berlinale Forum 2024

- East Asia Film Festival Ireland

          Opening Film

- Hong Kong International Film Festival

- San Francisco International Film Festival

- JeonJu International Film Festival

 CAST & CREDITS 

DoP            

Editor   

Producer

Production

International Sales

SODA Kazuhiro

SODA Kazuhiro

SODA Kazuhiro

KASHIWAGI Kiyoko

Laboratory X, Inc.

ASIAN SHADOWS

 DOWNLOAD 

Press kit

 PRESS REVIEWS 

That's exactly the point of The Cats of Gokogu Shrine: that people come together, engage together, talk, discuss, sometimes agreeing in their disagreement.

- K. Doerksen, Culture Mag

 

“The Cats of Gogoku Shrine” defend supposedly old-fashioned virtues that our divisive society so desperately needs. - C. Peitz, Tagesspiegel

Kazuhiro Soda's documentary shows tangible biopolitical measures and exemplary community building - with a lot of humor, a good eye and a feel for small and large gestures.

- L. Krähmer, critic.de

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