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Sanrizuka – Peasants of the Second Fortress
(Sanrizuka – Daini toride no hitobito)

Screening on Film
Directed by Shinsuke Ogawa.
Japan, 1971, 16mm, black & white, 143 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.

As collectives across America and Europe swapped film prints, Ogawa enjoyed his first international success with Peasants of the Second Fortress. The violence had escalated in Sanrizuka and farmers turned to a new tactic: they built large fortresses, and burrowed underground – under their ground. Ogawa follows the course of the protests, as police invade one after the other. Between the action scenes Ogawa pauses to chat with farmers, both above and below ground. One palpably senses the strong relationship the collective had nurtured with the farmers and the deep respect with which Ogawa approached his subjects.

Part of film series

Read more

Songs of Struggle:
The Radical Documentaries of Shinsuke Ogawa