Masao Adachi Takes a Passport Photo

From Viennale

Famed dissident filmmaker Masao Adachi visits a small Tokyo studio to get a passport photo taken. Amid outdated machines and outmoded decorations, an elderly woman runs the shop with quiet dignity. Her commitment to an obsolete trade and Adachi’s resolve to obtain the document despite his associations with the Japanese Red Army are observed with equal attention—a business encounter becomes a moment where two forms of persistence come together. In this salute to a predecessor of his politically committed filmmaking, Kamal Aljafari crafts a film of radical empathy. (Salvador Amores)