The director, Naomi Mizoguchi, started visiting Biratori, Japan, where many people with Ainu roots still live, in 2008 simply to get to know more about the Ainu. In 2015, she decided to start recording because she felt the urgency of capturing the Ainu language and culture on film before they disappeared. Four Ainu elders tell the story of how Ainu people were forced to assimilate and hide all aspects of their Ainu identity. Now, thanks to their efforts, Ainu cultural traditions are thriving today. Viewers can see the Ainu collecting tree bark for clothes, rituals for natural deities, and songs and dances from hundreds of years ago. On top of carrying on Ainu traditions, they also do community outreach by visiting schools and teaching students traditional farming methods. This is one of the only films in existence that captures modern-day Ainu life.
Mother Tongue Film Festival at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution | Joshua A. Bell, Curator of Globalization & Co-Director
“An intimate portrait of four Ainu female and male elders, this film uses the life stories and experiences of these elders to shed light on the remarkable endurance of the Ainu and their ongoing efforts to sustain and promote their language and cultural tradition. Within the context of the Mother Tongue Film Festival, it was a real honor to share this story of persistence with our audience at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C in 2020."
Brown University | Naemi McPherson, Professor of East Asian Studies
"This film depicts the Ainu people’s lives and culture by knitting together personal stories and the seasonal beauty of the town. It is not just a narrative of the history and hardships of the Ainu people, but a record of their daily activities which serve as a bridge between the present and future Ainu community."
Sapporo University | Yuko Honda, Professor
"I lived in the Nibutani area for 11 years [where many Ainu people live], and I still visit there frequently. This film captures the true life of Ainu people, along with the smiles and kindness of the elders that I know so well.”
National Museum of Ethnology | Reiko Saito, Associate Professor
"The screening we held, which aimed to convey not only the traditional culture but also the contemporary life of the Ainu people, was very well-received; we highly recommend the film along with the director’s talk and group discussion.”
Nibutani Ainu Culture Museum | Yoshihiro Osada, Director
"This documentary crystallizes the life stories of four Ainu people in their homeland, the Saru River Valley. The film depicts their struggle to survive, their complex feelings about Ainu identity , and their passionate commitment to passing on Ainu tradition. I want viewers to learn about the modern Ainu through this film that captures the beauty of the Valley and conveys many important messages that we, as humans, need to understand."
Canadian High School Student
"It was interesting to see how other places and cultures have their own indigenous people and how they were treated similarly [to North American indigenous people]: They were forced to assimilate and because of that they lost their language and culture. Now they are trying to build it back again.”
Japanese High School Student
“If I were Ainu, I would hate the people who discriminated against me, but one Ainu in the film said he was not angry. Instead, he said that he was grateful because the past made him the person that he is today. We should learn from the mistakes of the past instead of repeating them.”
