Numakage Public Pool
Synopsis
For over 50 years, Numakage, a public swimming pool complex called the “ocean” within a landlocked city in the suburbs of Tokyo, has served as a much-loved place for the elderly to improve their health, as a leisure facility for children and families, and as a meeting place for gay men. However, the urban development plan forces the pool to be demolished, ignoring the opposition of many residents and generating a sense of loss in the community. In this film, Shingo Ota explores the nature of grief by using five psychological processes of denial, anger, negotiation, depression and acceptance, as examined by the psychiatrist Kübler-Ross, and questions the importance of loss that is usually only associated with human death.
Schedule
21 November 2025, 15:00 WIB
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Credits
Shingo Ota
Shingo Ota was born in Nagano, Japan, and studied philosophy and narratology at Waseda University. His graduation film, Graduation (2010), won an award at the Image Forum Festival. His first feature documentary, The End of the Special Time We Were Allowed (2013), was invited to numerous festivals including Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival, and was released in 12 countries worldwide. His feature fiction debut, Fragile (2014), was invited to the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. He also directed the feature documentary Rockin’ ‘n’ Rollin’ on Welfare (2017), and with his short film At Kinosaki (2021) won the Excellence Award at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival.
Kyoko Takenaka
Kyoko moved to France in 2011 and became the first Japanese actor to be accepted into the acting section of the French National Academy of Dramatic Arts. In 2016, she obtained her French national actor certification. Based in Paris, she has performed in numerous productions, primarily in France’s national and public theaters. Since 2017, she has also resumed her activities in Japan. Beyond acting, she conducts lectures and workshops addressing harassment issues in creative environments. In 2021, she earned France’s national theater educator certification. Her notable performances include The Questions of Fairy and Madama Butterfly, written and directed by Satoko Ichihara. She co-produced, co-wrote, and starred in the film At Kinosaki (Shingo Ota, 2021), which won the Excellence in Art Award at the 2022 Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. In 2024, she wrote her first play, Care and Acting, which was staged at YAU CENTER. Her co-directed work, The Last Geishas with Shingo Ota is set to be performed in Paris as part of Festival d’Automne à Paris 2024.
Details
2025 Doc Edge IFF | In Competition | Tides of Change
2025 Busan IFF | Official Selection | Wild Angle
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Read articleIn the land-locked city of Saitama was a public pool affectionately named “the ocean” by the locals. The public pool stood for 52 years until it was doomed to demolition…
