The Elder

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PRODUCITON
Camp 4 Collective

The Elder

The first in a series of four films about the modern day Ainu, indigenous people of Hokkaido, Japan, The Elder shares an intimate glimpse into the lives of the 120 indigenous people that reside in the Ainu Kotan on Lake Akan. Through the singing and daily routine of Kikuko Hikawa, we follow ‘Kiku-san’ though her village as we learn that she is the oldest and one of the last traditional Ainu singers in this community. For centuries the Ainu traditions have been shared through storytelling singers like her — and even in The Winter of her life — Kiku-san sees it as her duty to share the ancient stories of Ainu culture.