My Shimokita + The Pirates of Bubuan + Outlaw-Matsu Returns Home

A triple bill of Shōhei Imamura's mid-length TV documentaries on rural Japan, the Sulu Archipelago and a returned soldier, screening at the ICA.

Part of the ICA's season The Lower Depths: The Cinema of Shohei Imamura, this programme screens three of the director's mid-length television documentaries. My Shimokita (1972) follows Imamura to his mentor Yūzō Kawashima's hometown in the Shimokita Peninsula; The Pirates of Bubuan (1972) explores tensions between Muslim Tausug and indigenous Badjao communities in the Philippines' Sulu Archipelago; and Outlaw-Matsu Returns Home (1973) revisits Fujita Matsukichi, a former soldier still loyal to Japan's wartime empire. The films share Imamura's frank interviewing style and critique of the nation-state, with a total runtime of 124 minutes. The screening is 18+ and preceded by a 10-minute curated selection of trailers.