SILENT COLOR SILENT VOICE (SHIMANOIRO SHIZUKANAKOE)

Time goes by slowly on the Island of Iriomote. The waves lap against the shore. The sea is blue. This is where Akiko and Kinsei Ishigaki live. She spins white yarn while he talks, drinks sake and sings. The yarn is dyed in colours from plants and roots – pink, yellow, indigo. The songs are about the harvest and the quality of cigarettes. There are hymns to recycled toilet paper. There is laughter. Akiko weaves the colourful threads into fabric. When she knows for whom she is working the fabric becomes unique to them, she says. This is life in harmony with nature. Kinsei says he never needs to worry. Dresses flutter in the wind. The shuttle clatters. There was a hallowed place, the home of a goddess. A resort was built there. The place was ruined. This upsets Akiko. Spiritual fulfilment is only possible amidst pure, untainted nature. The children play on the beach, shouting and laughing. In the evening by the fire there is music, red flames and white smoke. The inhabitants of the island sing in unison. A poetic, sensual film.