I'm happy to announce that my second film is now available via Amazon and CreateSpace:
A Japanese Funeral
A young man dies unexpectedly at the age of 39. Over the next three days, we witness Japanese funeral rites with a twist - the man and his family are Christian. This short (14 minute) ethnographic film chronicles the events from the moment his body is brought back from the hospital to after it is cremated.
Amazon link: A Japanese Funeral
Unfortunately it's only available as a DVD and not streaming. For some inexplicable reason, Amazon won't stream films that are less than 20 minutes long and my film is 14 minutes. Strange, as I'd think shorts are a natural for streaming?!
I have a website for the film as well: http://www.videoethnography.com/funeral
Juzo Itami's Funeral is a series of joyous contradictions. Here's a robust comedy whose subject is death, a film that is quintessentially Japanese though it recalls (without in any way imitating) the work of the quintessentially French Jean Renoir, and a tough-minded satire that is almost always sweet. Cultural revolutions aren't easy, especially in Japan, whose film makers tend to regard such changes with measured, tightly controlled emotions. Mr. Itami gives the impression of being as thoroughly, heartily amused as he is astonished.