On Sunday February 19th, 2023, C.W. Winter and Anders Edström’s 2020 film, The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) screened for the full 8 hour run time at Dakota.
We followed the directors’ intended itinerary for screening, starting at 11am and ending around 8:30pm, with intermissions mirroring the balance between labor and rest of a traditional work day. Winter has described the film as a ‘topological reworking of the real into the fictional’. With this in mind, we were curious to see what it would feel like to watch it here, to introduce a new layer of the real, situating the film into a space of both domesticity and daily labor.
Beverages and light meals were provided throughout the course of the screening, with bagels and miso soup prepared by Sakura Smith.
Floor seating was provided by Myles Gouveia.
Synopsis of the film below:
“’The first rule in farming is that you are never to hope for an easy way. The land demands your effort.’ The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin), the second dramatic feature from directors C.W. Winter & Anders Edström, is an eight-hour fiction shot for a total of twenty-seven weeks, over a period of fourteen months, in a village population forty-seven in the mountains of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is a geographic look at the work and non-work of a farmer. A counterfactual description, over five seasons, of a family, of a terrain, of a sound space, and of a passage of time. A georgic in five books.”
Our friend Myles Gouveia a.k.a. Zabu provided handmade seating for our screening.
He makes each one by hand, and they’re the perfect cushion to sit around the table or watch a film… especially The Works and Days as they have ties to farming, healing, and domesticity, and are featured frequently in the film.
See some words from Myles below:
“Growing up, my family always sat on handmade Zabuton(s); a Japanese floor cushion. It was a normal thing. And for my ancestors sitting close to the floor was the way they relaxed. To eat, converse, share and sit on the floor is what’s most natural. As someone of mixed race, this practice of sitting on the floor was one connection to my Japanese heritage. Those Zabutons were a host to many of my childhood memories, and bonding with my family and friends.
I decided to fill the Zabu’s with Soba (buckwheat), as it is a very accessible, common and multi-use resource in Japan. Soba (buckwheat) has many healing properties and its farming and production is honored in Japanese culture. Often used for Soba noodles, the hulls or shells that incase buckwheat are also commonly used to fill cushions. The hulls create a natural firmness that molds to one’s body, and supports the head, neck and spine alignment. They allow one to sit comfortably for a long period of time.
The idea was to create stackable cushions that add to interior spaces, but also create comfort & community through this unique Japanese tradition.”
At 11am, to start our screening of “The Works and Days,” our friend Sakura Smith a.k.a. Bagel Bunny prepared very special bagels for those in attendance. Originating from a starter created in 1974 by a Japanese monk, and kept alive by Sakura’s family and friends ever since, her bagels are made in collaboration and conversation with their own history; 50 years of practice, care, and daily feeding present in each one.
We served a selection of black sesame, cheddar, garlic, and plain, with a variety of appropriate toppings.
As portrayed often in the film, as well as experienced in daily life, we enjoyed sharing a meal with our guests.