dir. Kaoru Ikeya
2012, Japan, 118 mins.
Naoshi, a stubborn old man, has a dream to rebuild his home where the entire community was affected by the once-in-a-millennium tsunami. It destroyed his house and killed his son who was a member of volunteer fire corps. Refusing a temporary housing, he continues to live in a barn on his land. He is a lumberman. He goes to woods nearby with his power-saw and cut the salt affected trees to prepare lumbers for his new house. He rents rice paddies from his friend for food. He sows buckwheat in the vast salted fields that the tsunami left behind. He can survive with the water, fire, and blessings from the nature. He believes one rebuilding effort calls for others, even if it would take ages. For him, hereditary land is the sacred place that the spirits of his ancestors and late son abide in. To build a new house is to call the scattered neighbors to come back, as well as to make a place to welcome the family spirits. His ultimate dream is to join them after the life and to watch rebirth of his home town. Roots follows his efforts for one year and a half.