Do you know how your neighbors treat stray cats? An award-winning Japanese film director says it mirrors your community

This year's Sydney Film Festival opens on this Wednesday. One of the films selected for the festival is a Japanese documentary titled 'The Cats of Gokogu Shrine.' Let's ask the director of the film, an award-winning Japanese director Kazuhiro Soda, about the film and his unique filming style, utilizing the art of observation.

The Cats of Gokoku Shrine is the newest documentary film directed by an award-winning Japanese film director Kazuhiro Soda. The film will be screened at the Sydney Film Festival 2024. Credit: Sydney Film Festival

Kazuhiro Soda. Director head-shot for the Sydney Film Festival 2024 Credit: Sydney Film Festival

Mr Soda has journalistic backgrounds. He made a series of documentary films called "observational films." 

In the latest of the series, The Cats of Gokogu Shrine, Mr Soda filmed stray cats settled in the local shrine and the people surrounding them, in his local Ushimado area in Okayama, Japan.

Mr Soda is flying to Sydney to attend the screenings of his film and Q&A sessions.

In the audio, Mr Soda tells why he started filming stray cats, a local shrine and people in his local Ushimado and explains why he calls his films "observational films."

A scene from a Japanese documentary film 'The Cats of Gokogu Shrine'. Credit: Sydney Film Festival

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