Kawasaki Keirin

Directed by Sayaka Mizuno

In the industrial city of Kawasaki, on the corner of the street where my grandparents used to live, bettors of keirin — a cycling race developed in post-war — gather in a tiny bar busy drinking, chatting and gambling at the velodrome nearby. Most are old men who struggle to make a living for themselves; most have lived in this town their whole lives. This film frankly captured with a fixed camera, gives voice to the lives of the elderly men who have been left behind by Japan's economy.