Friday, 26 December 2025, 7pm — Cinemateca Portuguesa

Sanrizuka – The Peasants of the Second Fortress 

Ogawa Productions | 1971 | Japan | 143’ | Japanese spoken, subtitles in English and Portuguese

Following Doc’s Kingdom 2025 seminar, held in November and focused on collective filmmaking, will be exhibited at Cinemateca Portuguesa Sanrizuka – The Peasants of the Second Fortress by Ogawa Productions, one of the collectives featured in the seminar.

Sanrizuka – The Peasants of the Second Fortress is the fourth in a series of seven films made between 1968 and 1977 by Ogawa Productions in the fields of Sanrizuka. Four years into the conflict, the authorities began the coercive expropriation of farmland, and violence escalated. Farmers and militant students responded with a renewed sense of resistance. They erected barricades and built fortresses for protection, digging underground tunnels in preparation for a prolonged confrontation. Women farmers, on the front line since the beginning of the conflict, chained themselves to trees.

The filmmakers of Ogawa Productions are inside the fortress, closely following the preparations, discussions, and ensuing battles. The struggle is documented through long takes filmed with boldness and proximity. Between moments of intense tension and confrontation, we listen at length to the farmers as they discuss the reasons for their resistance and express their anger, fears, and hopes.

>> Invitations available by email reservation: docskingdom@docskingdom.org

Co-organised in partnership with Cinemateca Portuguesa.