The Kamagasaki Cauldron War

A boisterous comedy produced in beautiful color 16mm following the hard-knock characters stirred up by the theft of a cauldron used in yakuza ceremonial rites. Set in Kamagasaki - home to the working poor of Osaka under constant threat of erasure by local government - Leo Sato’s dramatic debut follows his documentary Nagai Park Elegy (2009) on local people’s struggle against forced displacement. Magnetic character actor Yota Kawase centers this delightful ensemble of professionals and amateurs, a timeless scrappy vision of radical humanism, rendering the neighborhood’s day laborers, sex workers, union activists and street performers with empathy and respect. (Japan Cuts)