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# 50 Years of Films About Japan's Downtrodden
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/cinema-as-struggle-kazuo-hara-sachiko-kobayashi-japan-society/
- Published: 2021-06-15T19:38:36.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:38:12.000Z
- Description: Japan Society's online retrospective Cinema of Struggle features eight movies from director Kazuo Hara and producer Sachiko Kobayashi.
- Author: Dan Schindel
- Tags: Film, Documentary, Events, Japan, Japan Society, Kazuo Hara, Streaming, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 09:11 (2021, 2022, part 1)

In 1971, director Kazuo Hara and producer Sachiko Kobayashi founded Shisso Productions. For decades, the independent film company has been the home for the married collaborators' various documentaries about the downtrodden and outcasts of Japanese society. In honor of its 50th anniversary, Japan Society has put together an online retrospective of their work. [*Cinema as Struggle: The Films of Kazuo Hara & Sachiko Kobayashi*](https://japansociety.org/arts-and-culture/films/cinema-as-struggle-the-films-of-kazuo-hara-and-sachiko-kobayashi?ref=hyperallergic.com) features eight of the director/producer pair's films, from their debut feature *Goodbye CP* (1972), about the lives of people with cerebral palsy, to their latest, the epic-length *MINAMATA Mandala* (2020), about the victims of a long-running industrial poisoning disaster.

The titles can be purchased individually to stream for $10 each ($8 for Japan Society members), or in variably priced bundles.

**When:** Through July 2  
**Where:** Online

*More info available via* [*Japan Society*](https://japansociety.org/arts-and-culture/films/cinema-as-struggle-the-films-of-kazuo-hara-and-sachiko-kobayashi?ref=hyperallergic.com)