| Director: | Erik Shirai |
|---|---|
| Production: | ESPN / Disney (Carolyn Hepburn), Rise Films (Teddy Leifer, Sam Stanley), Real Lava (Sigrid Dyekjaer), Generation 11 (Yusuke Kamata) |
| Running Time: | 99’ |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Country: | Japan, USA, Denmark, UK |
| Main Cast: | Terunofuji Haruo, Hiradoumi Yuki, Yonezawaryu Daiki, Kosei Motomura |
| Cinematographer: | Hiroshi Hara, Erik Shirai |
| Editor: | Frederick Shanahan |
| Music: | Rutger Hoedemaekers |
| Sound: | Takuya Kawakami, Yamato Kamei, Fusako Aratake, Yasuhiro Arihara, Yasuaki Kusachi, Andrew Tracy |
Cinema
Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing
Venice Spotlight
synopsis
Over a turbulent year of sacrifice and survival, sumo wrestlers at different stages of their career fight to endure within one of Japan’s most punishing traditions. Behind the curtain, true strength is measured – not in flesh, but in refining the spirit.
director's statement
As a Japanese-American, I have spent my life straddling two worlds, each with its own idea of strength. One believes strength should be seen. The other believes it should hardly be noticed at all. One celebrates the individual. The other quietly asks the individual to disappear. Living between these worlds has made me aware of how easily one form of strength can be mistaken for weakness by the other.
Few traditions embody that misunderstanding more than sumo. As sumo cautiously opens itself to the wider world, it faces the same question many traditions do: how can it evolve without losing the values that define it?
It took nearly five years to gain access and earn the trust needed to make this film, the harder I tried to define sumo, the more it withdrew from me. Only when I stopped looking with my eyes did it begin to reveal itself.
The moment the bout is over, both fighters bow. Not simply to one another, but to something greater than the victory or defeat between them. A quiet acknowledgement that to step onto that sacred ring requires the courage to sacrifice your body and wrestle with every doubt long before you ever step onto the dohyo.
Outside Japan, sumo is often reduced to its surface: a spectacle of giant bodies, “a sport for fat people”. But to many Japanese people, sumo is one of the last places where ritual is not preserved, but lived.
Growing up in America, I was surrounded by conversations about greatness. Strength was spoken about as though it could always be measured.
The Japanese side of me kept whispering a different question.
What if strength isn’t something we measure at all? What if we only recognise it in the spirit of those willing to carry a weight no one else can see?
Production/Distribution
PRODUCTION 1:
ESPN – Maria Delgado
7 Hudson Square
10013 New York, United States of America
Tel: +1 6464686103
E-mail: maria.delgado@espn.com
PRODUCTION 2:
RISE FILMS (UK) - Teddy Leifer, Sam Stanley
35 Endell Street
WC2H 9BA London, United Kingdom
Tel: +1 6464686103
E-mail: maria.delgado@espn.com
PRODUCTION 3:
Real Lava - Sigrid Dyekjaer
Peblinge Dossering 14, 3. th.
2200 København N, Denmark
Tel: +1 6464686103
E-mail: maria.delgado@espn.com
PRODUCTION 4:
Generation 11 - Yusuke Kamata
77 West 66th Street
10023 New York, United States of America
Tel: +1 6464686103
E-mail: maria.delgado@espn.com
WORLD SALES:
The Walt Disney Company Italia - Simone Raineri
Via Ferrante Aporti 6/8
20125 Milan, Italy
E-mail: simone.raineri@disney.com
Web: www.disney.it
PRESS OFFICE:
Beatrix Panitz - ESPN
Tel: +1 6464686103
E-mail: Beatrix.Panitz@espn.com
Claudia Tomassini - claudiatomassini & associates
International Film Publicity
Tel: +49 173 2055794
E-mail: press@claudiatomassini.com
Additional press officers:
Paola Schettino Nobile - paola@claudiatomassini.com
Lorenzo Ormando - lorenzo@claudiatomassini.com
