THE WORKS AND DAYS
A film by C.W. Winter and Anders Edström
2020, 480 (4 parts) minutes
2020, 480 (4 parts) minutes
No. 294
Narrative
Narrative
Description
The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) is an extraordinary eight-hour fiction feature shot for a total of 27 weeks, over a period of 14 months, in a village of 47 inhabitants in the mountains of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is a geographic description of the work and non-work of a farmer.
A portrait, over five seasons, of a family, of a terrain, of a soundscape, and of duration itself. It is a film that takes the time to spend time and hear people out, with a performance by Tayoko Shiojiri that binds fiction and actual bereavement into a heartbreaking indeterminability.
Festivals
Winner, Golden Bear, Berlin International Film Festival
Official Selection, IDFA
Official Selection, Viennale
Official Selection, Beijing International Film Festival
Official Selection, IDFA
Official Selection, Viennale
Official Selection, Beijing International Film Festival
Reviews
“C.W. Winter & Anders Edström’s eight-hour The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) premiered in the initial Encounters competition at the Berlinale, where it was the deserved winner…[A] brief introduction does no justice to the experience of watching The Works and Days, an utterly confident, magisterial effort that will stand the test of time.” - Mark Peranson, Cinema Scope
“A day spent in darkness, a 480-minute wager that the long take is not the only path to duration. A sustained look at a family and the land that it works, at once intimate and expansive. More than a film to watch, The Works and Days is a film that engulfs you.” - Erika Balsom, Artforum
“A verdant epic of agrarian labor and intimate moments, the film’s intimidating runtime is wholly justified, with the slow passage of time generating a form of detached immersion, allowing for a deeper connection with Tayoko and her surrounding environment…Certain films, like certain landscapes, stay with you long after you leave them, and The Works and Days is one such film — a tender and unforgettable portrait of a community on the brink of extinction.” - Patrick Gamble, Kinoscope
