Legendary American lesbian feminist filmmaker Barbara Hammer (Nitrate Kisses, MIFF 1993; Sanctus, MIFF 1992) turns her always-illuminating lens to the inner workings of Japanese filmmaking collective Ogawa Productions.

Probing into the lives of the Ogawa Productions collective (Sanrizuka – Peasants of the Second Fortress, MIFF 2021), many of whom by then had dedicated up to three decades of work, Hammer observes and asks frank questions about the hierarchical struggles under director Shinsuke Ogawa, and the complexity of giving up one’s autonomy. The collective members offer honest thoughts – some sweet, some heartbreaking – about both Ogawa and the realities of working so closely with their documentary subjects.

Featuring rare archival material, Devotion: A Film About Ogawa Productions (2000) is a rare insight into what’s under the surface of so-called utopian art-making.