MIFF 2022 Short Film Review - Nowhere to Go but Everywhere

Images courtesy of the Melbourne International Film Festival.

In 2016, the New York Times published an article about Yasuo Takamatsu, a widower who dedicates his life to diving to find the remains of his wife who went missing in the Tohoku tsunami of March 2011. Nowhere To Go But Everywhere is a more personal take on this story.

This is a story about loss, but more than that, it is a story about ritual. In the Shinto beliefs of Tohoku, deer are said to be messengers to the gods, and the film’s shishi-odori dancers are a cultural representation of this. 

Award-winning Director/Cinematographer Erik Shirai’s team brings a particular focus to the presence of nature. Colourist Nat Jencks dictates tonal shifts, from washed landscapes to vibrant shrines, throughout the entire 15-minute running time. The sound design and audio provided by studio One Thousand Birds rumbles with the totality of moving earth. Nowhere to Go... asks us to dive in and look closer.

Check out Belanco’s Blog and Letterboxd.

Nowhere to Go but Everywhere is screening as part of the Documentary Shorts program at the Melbourne International Film Festival, running in cinemas August 4-21 and online August 11-28. For tickets and more info, click here.