My return to Japan is an anxious semi-excited occassion since I heard I was in competition at the Yamagata Documentary Festival. It was great to arrive here in luxury; I think the only way to do Japan is to make sure someone else is paying. I slipped through the curtain from my premium economy seat to the cocktail bar in upper class. The Japanese girl serving said “I recognise you”. “You made that film about Naoki! It was great but very negative on Japan.”

I wondered if this was how Naoki’s hometown was going to receive the film at the weekend. We have 2 big screenings a 650 seat cinema and a 1200 seat screening. The only Japanese film in the competition (and filmed entirely in Yamagata), ‘Japan: A Story of Love and Hate’ is getting massive media attention. My friend Mr Matsui gave me last night’s paper featuring an article on my film, and yesterday I was interview on NHK World TV about my time in Japan and the film.

It’s all a long way from the struggle of making the film and my own love hate relationship with this distant difficult island. ‘No matter how long you look into the eyes of the Japanese you will never know what they are thinking’. A great quote that stays with as I stare longingly into these eyes of a nation I thought I’d come to really understand through making my film here. But the truth is that I don’t feel I really know this place at all. After a couple of days here again I’m thinking I only scratched surface.

I can’t wait to look into the eyes of 1200 Japanese as they watch my film in Yamagata.  Shock outrage or calm considered thought. I wonder, will I know what the Japanese are really thinking?

[1] Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2009

October 8 - 15