The Cats of Gokogu Shrine

A Wiseman-esque study of a Japanese village’s Shinto shrine whose feline residents bring the local humans joy, solace and sometimes consternation.

The seaside village of Ushimado in Okayama is the home of filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda and his wife and producer Kiyoko Kashiwagi – as well as dozens of street cats. Having found a haven in the ancient Shinto shrine of Gokogu, the animals live in harmony with their human neighbours (for the most part), but there is disagreement on how best to manage them. Some people feed them; some volunteer to catch them for a desexing program; others are indifferent, preferring instead to tend the temple’s gardens. Meanwhile, some forward-thinking locals see their potential as a tourism draw for the town. When Soda and Kashiwagi settled in Ushimado, they quickly discovered the area’s natural and communal beauty and decided to document it over the course of a year.

The Cats of Gokogu Shrine is Soda’s “Observational Film #10”, made according to his self-imposed “10 commandments” that include doing no prior research and having no pre-set themes or goals; using long takes with no scripts, narration or super-imposed titles; and shooting himself, for as long as possible. The result is a charming portrait of a community united, and divided, by its spiritual centre and the endearing critters who live there.

“Soda’s patient curiosity slowly reveals the fraught question of how to coexist with beings we can never fully understand … He models a wise, compassionate, and easily replicable way of looking at the world.” – Screen Slate