J-Pitch, a support program that promotes international co-productions of Japanese films will present a series of seminars at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2009. Guest speakers will speak on contemporary themes relevant to documentary filmmaking and presentation that cross borders.

YIDFF2009 J-Pitch Seminars
"Traveling Cinema: Issues in International Documentary"

Dates: Oct. 9 & 11 & 13, 2009
Venue: Yamagata Citizens' Hall (Small Hall)
Admission: Free
Presented by: Ministry of Trade and Industry / UniJapan J-Pitch
With assistance of: Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
Inquiries: YIDFF Tokyo Office TEL 03-5362-0672 EMAIL fujioka@tokyo.yidff.jp

Seminars' Program

DAY1 Oct. 9, 2009 (Fri) 10:00-12:00
"Co-pros, Despite It All"
Kotani Ryota (Producer, NHK)
There was once a time when co-pros meant simple financial investment. But this year's Yamagata Film Festival program includes three films produced by Mr. Kotani, who travels around the world's documentary pitching forums developing projects to broadcast ten titles per year. Taking YIDFF International Competition title Japan: A Story of Love and Hate (Director: Sean Mcallister) as example, he will speak about the troubles he encountered in co-producing a Japanese project with a non-Japanese director, as well as of course the joys of collaborating internationally "despite it all."

DAY2 Oct. 11, 2009 (Sun) 10:00 - 12:00
"Translating Movies"
Abé Mark Nornes (Professor, University of Michigan)
Most filmmakers feel their film is unfinished until it has crossed national and linguistic borders. This crossing, as well as co-production itself, is only possible thanks to the translator. Through interpretation, subtitling and dubbing, the translator becomes an unacknowledged co-producer and co-author: a shadow director. Despite this decisively creative role, the translator's remarkable power over filmmaking is largely ignored (and thus poorly paid). Professor Nornes will share historical cases of co-production interpretation and post-production subtitling, including the vexing challenge of (abusively!) subtitling the heavy Niigata dialect for the Opening Film Memories of Agano (Dir: Sato Makoto).

DAY3 Oct. 13, 2009 (Tues) 10:00 - 12:00
"Legal Systems and Customs Regarding Film Subjects"
Carmen Cobos (Producer, Cobos Films) & Yamagami Tetsujiro (Producer, Siglo)
Recent years have seen a rise in Japanese filmmakers filming overseas, and vice versa. How do relations between filmmaker and subject, the importance of the right to one's portrait, and rules of obtaining shooting permission differ from culture to culture? What are the possible misunderstandings and disputes that may occur even by approaching subjects with a sincere attitude? Two producers from Europe and Japan, well experienced in co-pros, will speak from first-hand wisdom. YASUKUNI (Dir: Li Ying), whose production company and director were sued by a man who appears in it, will be a good case study to discuss.

Contact

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2009
Oct. 8 - 15, 2009
www.yidff.jp
Presented by: Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (NPO)
Co-Presented by: Yamagata City
Venues: Yamagata Central Public Hall, and 5 other theaters
Tel: 023-666-4480 (YIDFF Yamagata Office)