DIRECTOR

Kore-eda Hirokazu "Shoplifters"

CREW

Cinematographer: Suzuki Katsuhiko

#koreeda

Duration/Release

47min. / Broadcast in Japan: January 28, 1992

Synopsis

Early 1960s in Chiba prefecture, the pollution from a steel factory caused asthma to the locals. Hashimoto Michio, a bureaucrat of Ministry of the Environment, became a hero creating a law in 1967 which was the starting point of pollution control in Japan. But with the certified patients growing in number and their compensation becoming a burden to the economic world, the government deregulated the restriction claiming the pollution is resolved and Hashimoto became considered as a traitor from the victims who felt the situation otherwise.

Introduction

Kore-eda started his career as a TV director in 1987.　The introducing three programs were directed for TV documentary series NONFIX in 1991 and 1992, works at the age of 29 and 30. Kore-eda himself speaks that these documentaries had been his starting point of his creatives. “However…” and “Where Has All the Pollution Gone?” show his keen sense of observation over societal issues. In “Lessons from a Calf”, we see children through the eyes of Kore-eda, showing the influence to his later filmography well-known for the style of filming child actors.　Available only for theatrical rights.