johatsu - into thin air

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2024

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feature length documentary film

by Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori 

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Every year, thousands of people vanish without a trace in Japan. Known as the Johatsu, or “the evaporated,” they abandon their lives for various reasons, a troublesome relationship, mounting debts or threats from the mafia. Some get support from so-called “night moving” companies, which help people to disappear and start a new life somewhere else. Taking an intimate look into the phenomenon of “evaporating people,” JOHATSU – INTO THIN AIR depicts the inner conflicts and attempts at reconciliation of those who have disappeared and those who have been left behind.

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Germany / Japan 2024 (86 / 52 min)

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Directors: Andreas Hartmann & Arata Mori

Editor: Kai Eiermann (BFS)

Composers: Jana Irmert & Mika Takehara

Additional Music: Fabrizio Tentoni

Sound Design: Nils Vogel

Re-recording Mixer: Linus Nickl

Commissioning Editors: Petra Felber, Martin Kowalczyk (BR), Monika Lobkowicz (BR/ARTE)

Broadcasters: Bayerischer Rundfunk, ARTE, SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen & yesDocu

Sponsors: Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien & Film- und Medienstiftung NRW

German Distributor: Real Fiction

International Sales: CAT&Docs

 

 

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Film Festivals

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• 26th Thessaloniki iDF 2024 – NOMINATION: “Golden Alexander” (World premiere)

• 21st CPH:DOX 2024 – “Highlights”

• 20th ZagrebDox 2024 – “Controversial Dox”

• 39th DOK.fest München 2024 – WINNER: “VIKTOR DOK.international Main Competition”

• 27th DocsBarcelona 2024 – “International Competition Docs&Pearls”

• 11th dokKa Film Festival Karlsruhe 2024 – “Competition”

• 64th Krakow Film Festival 2024 – NOMINATION: “Golden Horn”

• 24th Nippon Connection Frankfurt – “Nippon Docs”

• 26th Shanghai IFF 2024 – “International Panorama”

• 26th Encounters South African IDF 2024 – “Official Selection”

• 3rd EU-Asia Documentary Festival Hong Kong 2024 – “Official Selection”

• 8th Macao IDF 2024 – “Official Selection”

• 37th Der Neue Heimatfilm Freistadt 2024 Austria – “Documentary Competition”

• 23rd Filmfestival Radstadt 2024 Austria – “Competition”

• 21st EBS IDF (EIDF) 2024 South Korea – “Festival Choice Competition”

• 26th Rio de Janeiro IFF 2024 – “Expectations”

• 5th Sofia DocuMental IDF 2024 – WINNER: “Audience Award”

• 41th Kasseler Dokfest 2024 – “Official Selection”

• 17th Kinotayo Festival du Cinema Japonais Contemporain Paris 2024 – “Competition”

• 15th TRT International Documentary Awards Istanbul 2024 – NOMINATION: “Finalist”

• 18th Japanische Filmtage Düsseldorf: EYES ON JAPAN 2025 – “Official Selection”

• 11th Budapest IDF 2025 – “International Competition”

• 24th DocPoint Helsinki 2025 – “Official Selection”

• 13th Antenna IDF Sydney 2025 – “Panorama”

• 22nd Big Sky IDF Montana 2025 – “Feature Competition”

• 20th Osaka Asian Film Festival 2025 – NOMINATION: “JAPAN CUTS Award”

• 17th Millenium Festival Brussels 2025 – “Best of Fest”

• 17th Nonfiktionale Bad Aibling 2025 Germany – “Competition”

• 3rd Un petit air du japon Paris 2025 – “Official Selection”

• 11th Japanese-Serbian Film Festival Belgrade 2025 – “Official Selection”

• 10th Melbourne Documentary Film Festival 2025 – “Official Selection”

• 1st What the Doc! Festival Bangkok 2025 – “Festival Curated”

• 20th Camera Japan Festival 2025 Netherlands – “Official Selection”

• 10th International Film Festival KINENOVA 2025 North Macedonia – “Main Competition”

• 11th PelDocFest Peloponnisos IDF 2025 Greece – “International Competition”

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Grants and Awards

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• VIKTOR Main Competition DOK.international" WINNER at 39th DOK.fest Munich 

• Development supported by the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW “Gerd Ruge Grant”

• Selected for the “Masters Pitch” at the DOK.fest Munich 2019

• Nominated for the “German Composition Funding Award” at the DOK.fest Munich 2019

• “Sunny Side of the Doc Pitch Prize” at the DOK.fest Munich 2019

• Participant at the Sunny Side of the Doc international marketplace, La Rochelle – France 2019

• Selected for the DOK Leipzig Co-Pro Market 2019

• Production grants by BKM – Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien and Film- und Medienstiftung NRW

• “D-Facto Motion Works-in-Progress Prize” at DOK Preview Germany – DOK Leipzig 2023