As a pre-event for the 28th Kyoto International Student Film Festival, we held “Life and Death: Film and Religion: A Moment to Reflect Life and Question Life” on Saturday, January 17, 2026. It was a valuable time to watch a movie at Kiyomizu-dera Kyodo (a non-public important cultural property) and think about life and death in a special space where monks from all over the country have gathered since the Heian period.
First of all, the executive committee chairman gave a greeting and introduced the screened films. Saturday, January 17, is also the 31st anniversary of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, and before the screening of the movie, Master Kiyoaki Mori (Deacon of Kiyomizu-dera Temple) gave a sutra and offered prayers with all the visitors, and provided a place to face “life”.
Next, the following three films were screened that were selected for last year’s “27th Kyoto International Student Film Festival”.
1. “The hills of the birds” (Korea / 2024 / 27 min / fiction) Director: Lee Euntaek
(Synopsis)
No one could surpass the “Bird Mountain”, a mountain that was said to be crossed only by birds. My father, who was the only one who was able to surpass it decades ago, is now a cancer patient who can’t even climb a few meters of hills. On the way home from the hospital with his father in a wheelchair, his son Zion tries to climb over a steep hill to get home.
2. “Vortex” (Korea / 2024 / 19 min / Fiction) Director: JANG Jae-Woo
(Synopsis)
The boy takes care of his sick mother while his father works at sea. He is haunted by his worst imaginations about his mother and father and suffers from terrible nightmares. One day he sees a girl dragging a large rock on the beach, follows her and discovers how she managed to escape her worst imagination.
3. “Niwatori Hatsu Toya Nitsu” (Japan / 2024 / 16 min. / Anime) Director: Yuri Kurihara
(Synopsis)
In the year 200X, the world was hit by an unknown disaster that “all living things will not be born or die.” A man and a girl meet in a world where life is sentenced to life imprisonment. Why do people live, and does this life have meaning? A short anime film work that approaches the meaning of human life.
After the screening of the film, guests were Kiyoaki Mori (Deacon of Kiyomizu-dera) and Keiko Takagi (Honorary Director, Grief Care Research Institute, Sophia University / Chairman, Institute for Improving Human Resources), and a talk session on “living” and “dying” was moderated by Hiroshi Yamaguchi (Professor, Ritsumeikan University, Promotion of Common Education), Director of the Student Support Division of the University Consortium Kyoto.
With questions from the participants and a conversation with Yuri Kurihara, the director of “Niwatori First Toya Nitsuki”, I thought about “what is it to survive?”
From the participants, “I had a special experience by showing the movie in a place I wouldn’t normally enter.” “Each movie made me think about life and death, and the thought-provoking guest talks all left a deep impression on me. The way to Kiyomizu-dera Temple at night and the wonderful night view were also impressive, and combined with the atmosphere of the place where the event was held, it was an unforgettable night.” “It was an opportunity to reconsider what death is like in living life.”
This event is also posted on the KYOTO CMEX portal site, so please take a look.
The festival will be held at the Kyoto Museum of Culture Film Theater from February 20 (Fri) ~ February 23 (Mon, holiday), 2026.
In addition to the selected works, the final jury project and special project will also be screened. Come and visit us!
Please check here for details.
The Final Judge, Ken Ninomiya Award
