Aichi International Women's Film Festival, ANimal Film Festival in Suncheon South Korea, National Feral Cat Day Show in Portland
                      DVD on Sale! Now showing all over Japan!           

Living with Feral Cats with English-subtitled (2014/91min/color/stereo)

While domestic cats are loved and protected as part of the family, feral cats live and die      neglected and unnoticed.  But why is there so much difference?  Feral, stray or tame, they are all cats.  They are all alive.           Trailer
                       

Feral cats are pet cats abandoned by their owners, or descendants of pet cats who are free to go around without being spayed or neutered.  They are cats forsaken by people. 

First, my daughter brought home Evi, a kitten her friend found abandoned in a parking lot.  Nine years on, I now have four cats at home, because I have taken in more and more feral cats that wandered into our garden.  In this documentary I tried to chronicle my days with those cats as they grew from kittens to adults; I also went visiting with a video camera in hand government facilities and workshops, volunteer groups, and vets—and my quest even took me to animal shelters in Germany and the U.S.A.  

With the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, more and more old buildings are being pulled down.  That means that feral cats that currently stay in those buildings will no longer be able to live there.  And so I had to make this film.  We should learn to live with cats.  We should find a way.

If you love cats or hate them, if you live in an area with an excessive and increasing population of cats, if you wish to learn more about the community cats movement or to know what exactly a “cat volunteer” does, then this film is for you.  It gives you the very basic information about feral cats and what we can do for them.  (Photo: Cats seen inside a cabin located in a cat colony in Portland, Oregon)

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DVD on Sale!  For detail, please click here.

Screening
coming soon

☆Hyougoken Sanda-City at Yurinokidai Kenmin Kouryu Park Soon
June 16 2018(Saturday)13:30-

Admission free
For details, please give us a phone 090-9695-6092 Yurinoki Rapan

☆Kanagawa Zama-City at harmony Hall Zama Done
March 25 2018 (Sunday)13:30-
Admission free
For details, please give us a phone 0090-3540-4660 090-3063-3522 映画上映実行委員会

☆Aichi Nissin-City at Nissin City Hall Done
March 25 2018 (Sunday)13:00-
Admission free
For details, please give us a phone 0561-73-2843日進市環境課

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About the director:  Etsuko Izumi

“Living with Feral Cats” is the latest documentary by the award-winning filmmaker Etsuko Izumi.  Izumi is most known for “Psychologist Tsuruko Haraguchi – Memories of Her Days at Columbia University in the Early 1900s,” winner of the 2008 Yamaji Fumiko Film Award, which brought back to life memories of Japan’s first ever woman psychologist Tsuruko Haraguchi who studied in Columbia University at the turn of the century and so prematurely died at age 29.

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About “Living With Feral Cats”    Etsuko Izumi

Before my daughter came home with a kitten her friend found abandoned in a parking lot, I had a dog, Toto.  He had also been brought home by the same daughter.  I held him in my arms when he left this life at 15 years and 8 months of age.  At that time, I was an extremely busy working mother, struggling under the responsibilities of bringing up three children singlehandedly.  So I hardly ever had time for Toto.  He was almost always alone in our garden.  After he passed, I had an overwhelming sense of remorse and guilt.  I had let him spend his entire life out in the cold and never let him inside.  And so when the kitten came to live with us, I was determined to keep him in the house and give him a warm shelter from elements.

Five years after we found Evi, we caught Shima, a feral female that wandered into our garden.  She egested all kinds of worms from roundworms to tapeworms.  As a feral, she must have been constrained to eat anything and everything.  What a will to survive!  I could not but be impressed by this frail-looking female.

Our fourth cat was a male cat and we named him Kuro (meaning “Black” in Japanese).  We were shocked when we found that he was infested with AIDS and leukemia.  The vet told us that the diseases had not been passed on to him by his mother, but the infestation must have been the result of fighting or mating. 

If Kuro had been neutered, he might not have fought or mated and might not have become infested.  When I made up my mind to keep Kuro as a member of my cat family, I also decided to make a film that would help the world know the fundamentals about feral cats.  I also wanted to record the efforts of volunteers, veterinarians, and government workers who are trying 24/7 in order to save and help cats.  I also wanted to collect information and meet people in the U.S.A. where as in Japan the government euthanizes cats and in Germany where euthanizing is banned by the government.  And the film just grew and grew.

While love of “kitties” is very much a part of our childhood, as we grow older, we learn to discriminate adorable pets from unwanted strays that present sanitary hazard.  Why can we no longer cherish them as we once did?  Are they really filthy creatures?  What are they really like?  The answers to these questions have not been readily available.   

It is not yet widely known that in Japan approximately 180,000 cats, including fit and healthy ones, are “humanely killed” before their time every year, by the government using carbon dioxide gas.  When you next see a feral cat in the street, I would like you to remember this film. 

illust Etsuko Izumi - Biography:Born in Tokyo, she majored in theater and drama at Waseda University and worked as an assistant director for a documentary company before going independent. To date she has written and/or directed more than 100 government and corporate videos, as well as many on such issues as women's independence, medicine and animals.  Funded by a corporate foundation at age 50, she enrolled in a diploma program at the New York University before making her first independent documentary feature, “Why We Japanese Women Live in New York” in 2006.
     In 2007, “Psychologist Tsuruko Haraguchi—Memories of Her Days at Columbia University in the 1900s” was completed.  The film was invited to take part in the official selection of Tokyo International Women’s Film Festival, Aichi International Women’s Film Festival, Takasaki Film Festival, and Cameroun International Women’s Film Festival among others.
     In 2009, “Psychologist Tsuruko Haraguchi” was awarded the Fumiko Yamaji Film Award. 
  
In 2011, Izumi wrote the drama film “Ekureru,” and in 2014, completed “Living With Feral Cats.
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About screenings
Thank you for your interest in the screening of “Living With Feral Cats.”  All films by Tess Planning are independently produced without any sponsorship.  The profits from ticket sales, film rental fees, and the DVD sales, etc. will go into the production of our upcoming film projects.  So your help could really make the difference!


How to organize a screening
1.     Tell us the target audience, purpose, and the budget for the screening you wish to organize; then pick   the date and time.
2.     Pick the venue.
3.     Apply for a private screening.
4.     Tell us whether it will be free of admission or not.
5.     Make your decisions about the poster, flyer, etc.
6.     Check the equipment necessary for the screening.
7.     Advertise the screening on your website, bulletin, newspapers, television, or free papers, etc.
8.     Once you receive the film, be sure to do the screening test at the venue.


How to apply for the screening
The fee is kept at a minimum so that a screening for a small group of people is also possible.  Please pick the time and date, etc., for your screening and let us know.  We will get back to you with the details and application form, etc. to make it happen!

Flyers and posters are available. (The flyer has a blank space at the back which can be used to include the information about the organizer, etc. 
These will be shipped at additional charge.

* Flyers (B5 in size) - ¥20 a sheet
* Poster (B2 in size) (Currently in production)
 ¥200 a sheet
* If you wish to make your own flyer or poster, we can send you for free the  visual data (jpg. files) which you can use for the purpose.

If you wish to have Director Izumi attend the screening, please let us know.  A talk event, etc. can be arranged with a minimal fee and cost of transportation.

Delivery & returning

The film and all necessary materials will be delivered to those in charge of the screening at least a week before the screening.
Please return the DVD (or Blu-ray), etc. to Tess Planning within a week of the screening.

For details and inquiries, please contact: Tess Planning
Phone: 03-5991-3486 
Email: e-izumi@tessplanning.com



End event
☆Saitama Kounosu-City at Kosumosu Fukiage-Kan Hall
September 24, 2017(Sunday)10:30-
Admission free
For details, please give us a phone 048-536-2465 Saitama Animal Training Center

☆Okinawa Naha-City at Makishi Ekimae Hoshizora Hall
September 24, 2017(Sunday) 13:45-
Admission is \300 (under elementry school kid is free)
For details, please give us a phone 080-6105-0516 Hatai



☆Tokyo Machida-City  at Machida Shimin fourm 3F
August 6 (Sunday) 13:30-
Admission \500

☆Saitama Kawaguchi-City at Media Seven Presentation Center
Augast 6(Sunday) 11:30- , 14:30-
Admission free

☆Fukuoka Ohonojyoshi-City   at Ohonojyoshi Madokapia Hall
April 2 (Sunday) 14:00-
Admission is \500 (under elementry school kid is free)
For details, please give us a phone 092-592-8300 (10:00--18:00


☆Shimane Masuda-City  at Shimane art Culture Center
March 19,2017(Sunday)14:00-
Admission free

For details, please give us a phone 090-1688-6045

☆Shizuoka Gotenba-City  at Gotenba Simin kouryu Center
July 24,2016(Sunday)14:00-
Admission free
For details, please give us a phone 0550-70-6820

☆Saitama Sayama-City   at Sayama Simin Kouryu Center
July 28 (Thursday) 19.00
Admission is \500
For details, please give us a phone 090-1505-0477

☆Chiba Chiba-City   at Chiba-City Life Study Center
August 24 (Wensday) 10:30
Admission free
For details, please give us a phone 0120-863-218 Pal-System Chiba Inage Center

☆Miyagi Sendai-City  at Sendai Mediatake 7F
September 30 (Friday) 18:00reading 18:25screening   We will start a discussion after screening
Admmision is \1800
For details, please give us a phone 022-271-3020,Fax022-271-3044, http://www.sendai-lit.jp


☆Osala Hgashiosaka-City
March 21, 2015 (Saturday) at Nakakounoike Reasion
13:15 (doors open at 13:00)
Admission free 
For details, please call 06ー6744-0281

☆Tokyo Chiyoda-Ku
March 26, 2015 (Thursday) at The Upper-House Hall
13:00-15:00 Screening, 15:15-19:30 Studay Session "How to protect Feral Cats ".
Admission free
On a first-come, first-served sign-up basis
For details, please call 029-851-5580, FAX029-851-5586, E-mail:fwin5678@nifty.com

☆Kanagawa Yokosuka-City
March 28, 2015 (Suturday) at Werk-Yokosuka
13:30 (Doors open at 13:00)
Admission 800Yen
For details, please call 090-6167-4575   minnaikiteiru328@yahoo.co.jp 

☆Tokyo Oume-City
March 29, 2015 (Sunday) at Oume City Hall
13:00-15:00
Admission Free
For dtails, please call 0428-428-22-1111 extension 2332

☆Tokyo Minato-Ku
April 17, 2015 (Friday) at Haiyu-Za Theater at Roppongi.
18:45-21:00
Admission Free
For dtails, please call 03-3710-1022

☆Higashi Osaka-City
August 15, 2015 (Saturday) at Higashi Osaka-City Gender Equality Center EKORAMU
13:30-1500
Admission Free
For details, please call on 06-6744-0281

☆Kanagawa Sagamihara-City
Oct.3rd 14:00 
at Welness Sagamihara 7F
For details, please call on 080-5544-5161

☆Tottori Yonago-City
September 23 (Wednesday, Japanese Holiday) at Yonago Library
14:00
Admission Free
For details, please call on 090-7977-8123

☆Nagasaki Nagasaki-City [Nagasaki Animal Welfare Festival 2015]
September 23 (Wednesday, Japanese Holiday) at Merca Tsukimachi City-Life Plaza Hall
12:00-16:00
Admission Free
For details, please call on 095-895-2364

☆Hokkido Asahikawa-City
September 23 (Wednesday, Japanese Holiday) at City Activity Communication Center Co Co De
13:00
Admission 300 Yen
0166-60-5877

☆Tokyo Musashino-City   Kichijoji Cat's Festival 2015
October (Sunday) 11 at Seikei University 6th building "Cafe teria"
13:00 Screening & Talking

For details, please contact to "info@necofes.com"