Lunch Bee House

28/02/2024

Enjoy a free screening of 'Ainu Neno An Ainu', a documentary on the lives and personal history of the Ainu community of Biratori today

06/02/2024

Save the date! Super happy to announce that our film will be screened in London this March at Japan House London . I will be attending the first screening, hope to see you there!
Link in bio

Sunday 17 and Wednesday 27 March 2024 – Ainu neno an Ainu, 2021
An interwoven set of stories narrated by Maya, a young Ainu woman who grew up in Nibutani, Hokkaidō, form an extended family album of a tight-knit community working to keep their culture and language alive. The screening on 17 March is introduced by photographer and film director Laura Liverani. Bookings opening from 1 March 2024

Coinciding with the exhibition Ainu Stories: Contemporary Lives by the Saru River, Japan House London is showing a series of free, public film screenings aimed at encouraging understanding of several aspects of Ainu culture, from historical and archival footage of ritual traditions to contemporary stories from the resident communities who actively work to preserve and maintain their heritage. A specific focus is given each month to different titles

09/10/2023

New screening coming soon in Berlin!

Ainu Neno An Ainu
JP 2021 | Dokumentarfilm | R: Neo Sora und Laura Liverani
73 min | Japanisch mit englischen Untertiteln
Mi 25.10 - ab 19:00 Uhr - screening 20:00 Uhr
@ Zimmer für Zeiterweiterung | Essen und Trinken im Museum
Hufelandstr 35, 10407 BERLIN

Synopsis

A cinematic family photo album of a remote village in Hokkaido, where the Ainu, the indigenous population of northern Japan, have kept their culture and language alive despite a history of Japanese colonization.

Ainu Neno An Ainu collects the stories of the Ainu, the indigenous population of northern Japan. The film is an interwoven set of stories narrated by Maya, a young Ainu who grew up in the remote Hokkaido village of Nibutani. As a college student Maya's goal is to revitalize the Ainu language and culture, making it more accessible to future generations of both Ainu and Japanese.

Maya's voice guides the audience as other villagers tell their stories and portray the histories of their community, from their individual and collective journey of forced assimilation and discrimination to the revitalization of their own language and culture. The cast is comprised of the people who live in the village of Nibutani, which hosts a population that is over 70 percent of Ainu descent.

The stories of Nibutani form an extended family album, revealing a tight-knit community deeply involved in both recovering and reinventing their Ainu heritage after a history of Japanese colonization, including their orally passed down language, one which is woven deeply into the Ainu way of life.

Credits

Created by Lunch Bee House (Laura Liverani, Neo Sora, Valý Þórsteinsdóttir)
Directed by Neo Sora and Laura Liverani
Producer: Valý Þórsteinsdóttir
Consulting Producer: Eric Nyari
Director of Photography: Neo Sora
2nd Camera Operator: Laura Liverani
Editor: Takuya Kawakami
Co-editor: Neo Sora
Colorist: Fumiro Sato
Post-Production Support by Cineric Creative

About the Creators

Lunch Bee House (Laura Liverani, Neo Sora, Valý Þórsteinsdóttir) is a collective of international creators with eclectic backgrounds and interests, from still and moving image to music, art and anthropology. Questioning the idea of individual authorship and hierarchy in film and art production, Lunch Bee House shares a passion for experimentation and collaborative modes of self production. The name Lunch Bee House is an homage to an Ainu restaurant in Nibutani run by Yukiko Kaizawa, one of the protagonists of the film.

Ainu Neno An Ainu アイヌネノアンアイヌDirectors: Laura Liverani, Neo SORA (ラウラ・リヴェラーニ、空音央)Japan 2019, 72 min.Section: NIPPON DOCSNippon Connection Film FestivalJune 1 ...

09/10/2023

03/06/2021

Film critic Marina Richter talks about Ainu Neno An Ainu for AMP - Asian Movie Pulse

A story as global as any other that stands witness to the identity-robbing process of assimilation, painfully universal.

01/06/2021

We've been interviewed by Nippon Connection - Japanese Film Festival about our documentary film Ainu Neno An Ainu, from today screening at the the festival

In the 2021 edition of the Nippon Connection Film Festival’s NIPPON DOCS section, we are presenting Laura Liverani (right) and Neo SORA’s (middle) documentary film AINU NENO AN AINU as …

24/05/2021

Coming soon!

07/05/2021

We are back! A lot happened since we went radio silent. Our film Ainu Neno An Ainu was finally edited, and it will be released very soon! Stay tuned for more