ヘレン・コヴァル様から応援コメントをいただきました。

I'm looking forward to the film "Irabu from Kudaka Island". This project is very important and valuable because it reminds us of our roots and shows life as a canvas in which different dimensions can coexist simultaneously. And although we are in a technological age, the way of life and rituals that are preserved in archaic cultures remind us of the impermanence and fluidity of life, and show how we leave a trace for our generations and establish connections with what goes beyond intellectual perception.

A film Isaiho made in 1978 it really struck me. It's probably the best film I've seen in a long time. Because it has showed life as a dance made up of many elements, sometimes so simple and repetitive, but at the same time having a profound basis. That's the skill of a filmmaker, after all, when a seemingly more narrative style of documentary films, managed to make it both artistic because conveyed the atmosphere, the lighting choices, the camera placement so gracefully. Especially when there has used that technique of capturing the action(movement) diagonally, at the same time, leaving a lot of detail in the field, and the camera positioning itself somewhat from above, it allows the viewer to directly become ours eyes, united with what is perceived. And close-ups with smooth movements and camera transitions, they also immerse us in the process in a concentrated way.

In the Isaiho ritual, the singing of the women creates a mystical pattern, it combines both fluidity and sharpness, like their movements in a dance, a step to one side, a step to the other, a cycle, repetition-this is what makes these actions systemic, this is the ritual, and through it we learn the characteristics and essence of communities or phenomena.

『沖縄久高島のイラブー』に期待する。この構想が重要であり、価値あるものと思うからだ。私たちの人生とは何かを問い、様々な生活様式が共存できるはずだと問題提起しているからだ。

一年前、日本に来てまもなく見た『沖縄久高島のイザイホー』は、衝撃的であった。
これまで自分の見てきた祭りの映像で最良の作品であったこと、非常に単純かつ繰り返しであるにもかかわらず洗練された沢山の要素の集積である舞踊を通じて、人生そのものを描いていると感じたからだ。それは、映像作家の力量によるもので、カメラの配置や画角の選択、光のあたり具合による雰囲気の醸成、周りの情景を絵の中に残しつつ動作の細部を切り取る技法に感銘させられた。

イザイホーの儀礼においては、女性たちの歌声が神秘的なパターンを生み出している。
滑らかさと鋭さが組み合わさった、一方への一歩、もう一方への一歩という、女性たちの舞踊の動きの繰返しとの組みわせによって、行為が体系的され、儀式となって、私たちにコミュニティや現象の特徴や本質を学ばせてくれる。