Hasami (Scissors)
Japanese, Digital, 22:29 min, 2024experimental hybrid-documentary film
Following her younger sister's passing, Eiko embarks on a journey to honor her final wishes, seeking a resting place for her ashes outside their family's burial plot in Hasami.
Hasami (Scissors) unfolds through a rich tapestry of dreamlike reenactments and intimate interviews, capturing a daughter’s quest to understand their mother and support her journey toward healing from an abusive past.
Shot on location in Hasami, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, I presented this experimental documentary short film as a culmination of my graduate MFA thesis work in Social Documentation at UCSC. The doc explores heavy topics like domestic abuse and the transfer of intergenerational trauma that is tended to emotionally, visually, and sonically with great care.
Soundtrack
LINK TO BANDCAMP PAGE
Credits
Director, Editor, Co-Producer: TOYOKO MATSUO SAINDON
Co-Producer: EIKO MATSUO
Cast: EIKO MATSUO, AKIKO MATSUO, HIROCHIKA TOKI, SUMIKO TOKI, SHINO MINE, SAE MINE, EMIKO IKEDA
Butoh Dancers: NAOKA UEMURA, ASAMI HIROKA
Additional Camera: SYD HALIBURTON
Music: SYD HALIBURTON
Title Design: CASEY JARGO
Sound: LIEN DO & MATTHEW PEREIRA