Peace

2010, Kazuhiro Soda, 75 minutes

What is peace? What is coexistence? And what are their roots? Peace is a visual essay-like observational documentary which contemplates these questions by observing the daily lives of people and cats in Okayama City, Japan, where life and death, acceptance and rejection intermingle.

Toshio Kashiwagi runs an affordable taxi service for the disabled and the elderly, having retired as a principal at a special school. Every day he feeds a group of stray cats. However, there is a growing tension in the group as a male “thief cat,” an outsider, is trying to invade the community. Toshio’s wife, Hiroko Kashiwagi, runs a non-profit organization that sends helpers to houses of the elderly and the disabled. However, her organization is facing financial difficulties because of government budget cuts. As a professional caregiver herself, Hiroko regularly visits 91-year-old Shiro Hashimoto. Living in a small, mice- and tick-infected apartment, Hashimoto is spending his final days thinking about his own death. Peace won Best Documentary at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, 2011 and the Audience Award at Tokyo FILMeX, 2010.