Red Persimmons

It's hard to imagine that a film about something so esoteric as how permissions are dried in a remote Japanese village could have much relevance beyond it's narrowly defined subject, but that's just what makes this exquisitely beautiful documentary so remarkable. Subtitled "A Record of People Living with Persimmons," the film does indeed chronicle the journey that begins in November, when the astringent fruit is plucked from the leafless branches, and ends in early spring when, now dried and braided into lengths of rope, the pricey delicacies are bundled in cellophane and readied for export. The process is oddly fascinating in its own right — and the sight of th...