OSFF 2026 Focus | Image & Memory: Early Works of Hirokazu Kore-eda

Objectifs Short Film Festival presents: Focus | Image & Memory: Early Works of Hirokazu Kore-eda Focus presents the early short films of a key international filmmaker. The showcase will consist of rarely seen short films, with a post-screening Q&A with the filmmaker. Objectifs is proud to be able to feature two of film auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda's earlier documentaries, Lessons from a Calf and Where Has All The Pollution Gone? for the inaugural edition of the Objectifs Short Film Festival. Known for his seminal works like Maborosi, Nobody Knows and Shoplifters, Kore-eda’s inception as a director came about through television documentaries that he directed and conceptualised in 1987 for NONFIX, a late-night documentary series that was broadcasted on Fuji Television. The opportunity and experimentation afforded through work for NONFIX, which included Lessons from a Calf and Where Has All The Pollution Gone? led to Kore-eda’s perennial fascination with an image’s potential to communicate intention, as well as elicit emotion. As observed through his later fictional films, Kore-eda’s hallmark ability to harness an ironically steely eye in order to garner empathy for issues pertaining to social realism has evident roots in his earlier television work. Witness the beginnings of Hirokazu Kore-eda's journey as a filmmaker in this rare chance to watch his early films, as well as trace his directing methodology from the initial craft of documentary, all with the filmmaker himself in attendance. Lessons From A Calf / 47 min / Japan / 1991 In 1988, Ina Elementary School adopted a cow named Laura from a ranch as a part of the school’s integrated learning program. Students learn from building the cow’s barn, calculating the feed cost and debating in class for making decisions. Capturing the kids’ lively expressions, the documentary witnesses their growth through the care of Laura. Kore-eda’s first project, mostly rolling a video camera by himself. Where Has All The Pollution Gone? / 47 min / Japan / 1992 In early 1960s Chiba, pollution from a steel factory left locals with asthma. Ministry of Environment bureaucrat Hashimoto Michio became a hero after drafting Japan's first pollution control law in 1967. But as certified patients multiplied and compensation costs strained the economy, the government deregulated the law, declaring the pollution resolved. Because of this, Hashimoto was recast as a traitor by victims who knew otherwise. Supported by Filmhouse Ticket price: $25 Buy Tickets: https://osff-25oct.peatix.com/