Director Yoshimasa Jimbo was invited to Busan, South Korea, and collaborated with local actors to create “Here and Here.” The movie is one of the films submitted by municipalities that are members of the “Film” field of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. (Provided by the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival)

YAMAGATA--The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2023 will be held on-site in October, marking the first time in four years for it to have a live audience.

The last 2021 edition of the biennial festival was held online for the first time because of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which around 50 films were streamed.

The 18th installment of the festival, which was launched in 1989, will be held Oct. 5-12 at the Yamagata Central Public Hall and elsewhere across the city.

The event will screen films in two main categories.

The International Competition category showcases documentary films from around the world, while the New Asian Currents category introduces emerging talent from across Asia.

There will also be eight screening programs, one of which will focus on films related to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Competition titles will be announced this summer.

“The charm (of the festival) is that everyone can watch a film on the same screen and get together to talk about it,” said Ayumi Hata, director of the secretariat for the festival. “We want to make the festival a fruitful event.”