top of page

A screening of AINU NENO AN AINU

  • Writer: i-comcul
    i-comcul
  • Oct 5
  • 2 min read

(JAPAN, 2019/72 min./in Japanese with English subtitles)  


Directed by Neo Sora and Laura Liverani 


Date: December 5th, 2025 (Fri) 

Venue: Room 911, 9F, Sophia Library 

Time: 18:00 – 20:30  

  • Introduction (18:00 – 18:10)  

  • Screening of Ainu Neno An Ainu (18:10 – 19:30) 

  • Discussion with Laura Liverani (19:30 - 20:30)  

In person only / No registration necessary 


ree

Ainu Neno An Ainu collects the stories of the Ainu, the indigenous population of northern Japan. The film is an interwoven set of stories narrated mainly by Maya, a young Ainu activist who grew up in the Hokkaido village of Nibutani. 


Her voice guides the audience as other villagers tell their stories and portray the histories of their community, from their individual and collective journey of forced assimilation and discrimination to the revitalization of their own language and culture. 


The cast is comprised of the people who live in the village of Nibutani, which hosts a population that is over 80 percent of Ainu descent. The stories of Nibutani form an extended family album, revealing a tight-knit community deeply involved in both recovering and reinventing their indigenous heritage after a history of Japanization.  


Directors’ Bio 

Neo Sora is a filmmaker based in Tokyo and New York, studied Philosophy and Film at Wesleyan University. Co-director of Ainu Neno An Ainu, member of Zakkubalan collective, his works span film, installation, and video art. Happy end, his debut fiction feature, premiered at Venice 2024. 

Laura Liverani is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and visual storyteller working across photography, film, and collaborative research. She collaborates with institutions, media, and academia between Europe and Japan. Her work has been published internationally and shown at festivals, museums, and broadcast platforms worldwide. 

  

This event is organized by Megha Wadhwa (Assistant Professor, Department of English Studies, Sophia University) and David H. Slater (Professor, FLA/ ICC Collaborative Research Unit “Refugees and Migrants in Tokyo” Unit Leader)

 
 
bottom of page