The monthly documentary series, Documental del Mes, will resume on 12 November at 19:00 at the Espai Plana de l'Om in Manresa, featuring the screening of 'Numakage Public Pool' by Shingo Ota. This documentary explores the closure of a public swimming pool in a Tokyo suburb, a space that has fostered social connections and lasting memories.
For over fifty years, Numakage has served as a gathering place for the elderly, families, and the gay cruising community. As the pool faces demolition, despite local opposition, the film delves into the collective grief experienced by the community, reflecting on the five stages of grief outlined by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, and questioning the nature of loss typically associated with human death.
Shingo Ota, born in 1985 in Nagano Prefecture, graduated from Waseda University, where he studied Philosophy and Narratology. His first feature documentary, 'The End of the Special Time We Were Allowed' (2013), premiered at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival and was distributed in twelve countries worldwide. Ota's subsequent work, 'At Kinosaki' (2022), won the Excellence Award at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in 2022. He also produced the stage production 'The Last Geishas', which combines performing arts and documentary, premiering at the Festival d’Automne, Europe’s largest performing arts festival, in 2024.
Documental del Mes aims to make documentary films accessible to a wide audience and increase their presence in cinemas. Each month, a high-quality documentary from diverse themes and origins is released in over 40 cities across Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, and the rest of Spain. Documentaries are screened in their original version with subtitles in Catalan in Catalonia, Alicante, and the Balearic Islands, and in Spanish in other parts of the country. The selection of films is curated by a committee from Paral·lel40.
