Kohki Hasei: Serb at Heart

Jan 23rd, 2009 | By De-Construct.net | In Weekend

Japanese director Kohki Hasei after being baptized in the Serbian Orthodox Chuch

“I Now Belong to Serbian Nation with All My Heart…”

- Emir told me: Come to Serbia and observe everything with eyes wide open. When I came up to the doors of one church, deep and powerful emotions have awakened in me… I’ve never experienced anything similar, – said Kohki Hasei, a young director from Tokyo whose film Godog won Kustendorf Film and Music Festival’s Golden Egg in a competition of over 30 student films from 16 countries around the world.

Hasei’s film that lasts only 17 minutes, according to the reporter of Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti, “speaks thousand languages” and has riveted both the Kustendorf Festival jury and the audience.

- Godog is uncensored footage of the daily life of children who work and play at garbage depots in the slums of Philippines. They are working in a sea of trash, bitterly struggling to survive and they call the dump yard “paradise”, – Hasei, who was given the name Stefan by his godfather Emir Kusturica, as he was baptized in Drvengrad’s St. Sava church during the Kustendorf 2009 Festival, told Belgrade reporter.

Until recently, Hasei’s life was no different than the life of most young Japanese men, living in the massive beehive of Tokyo. And he wasn’t religious until he arrived to Serbia. But then…

- I could suddenly sense how the people in Serbia breathe… all of your kindness and sincere friendship poured over me, – Hasei said.

He revealed landscapes around Kusturica’s village built in the Serbian heartland have captivated him, and called the spellbinding mountains Tara, Zlatibor and hills of Mokra Gora “the mountains which speak”.

Godog, film by Kohki Hasei was awarded the first prize, Golden Egg, at Kustendorf Festival

- That is why I’m staying another two months in Serbia, because I want to learn as much as possible about the nation I now belong to with all my heart, – Kohki said.

- I won’t waste time, I’m now making a documentary about Emir and the No Smoking Orchestra, a band that is very famous in Japan. I respect Kusturica immensely, I have seen all his films and I am fascinated with his life philosophy, – Hasei said.

And when he goes back…

- I believe we have one big Orthodox church in Tokyo, – he said, smiling.

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Kohki Hasei: Serb at Heart

“I Now Belong to Serbian Nation with All My Heart…”