In 1997, Naomi Kawase made headlines in Japan for being the youngest ever filmmaker to win the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival with her sensitive low-key opus Moe no Suzaku, only to make even bigger headlines later that year when she changed her name to Naomi Sento after marrying famous indie producer Takenori Sento. In this work, she returns to the rural berg in Nara prefecture where she shot Moe no Suzaku to make this lyrical documentary about nine elderly villagers. Trying to capture the plight of the elderly in remote corners of Japan, she talks to her subjects from behind the camera in an affectionate tone as the nine discuss their children -- living and dead -- reincarnation, and spirits that inhabit the old forest. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide