Dozens of Norths

The animated film Dozens of Norths explores a world defined by profound isolation, where the concept of "North" permeates every landscape. Serving as a record of the people encountered across these desolate regions, the narrative unfolds through fragmented memories that resist coherence or clear meaning. As the journey progresses, there is a growing sense that all efforts may have been in vain, leaving only a dull, shifting pain as an occasional reminder that the world still exists. Director Koji Yamamura conceived the project based on a series of cover illustrations and short texts he created for thirty-two issues of the monthly literary magazine Bungaku-Kai, published by Bungeishunju from April 2012 to December 2014. By envisioning a fictional film, Yamamura treated each independent cover illustration as a scene within one overarching story, writing accompanying text for every image he produced. The resulting work is a joint production between Japan's Yamamura Animation and France's Miyu Productions. It held its world premiere at the 8th New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival on November 6, 2021.