The name BOTA comes from the Chikuho Coalfield "BOTA Mountain" that rises in my hometown of Iizuka City (formerly Honami Town) in Fukuoka Prefecture. BOTA is the waste rock that comes out of the coal and lignite mining process, which is called "waste" or "scrap".
In English "wine cask", in Spanish and Portuguese "boot", and in Albanian "world".
It can be taken as negative or positive.
BOTA as a being who can be anything, without being confined to a single meaning.
I hope this company would be such a place.
Hiroki KUMAMOTO
- Company name
- BOTA Inc.
- Establishment
- Sept. 8th 2020
- Representative
- Hiroki Kumamoto
- Location
- #1 Terrace-Shimouma-Strata,
5-28-15 Shimouma, Setagaya-Ku, Tokyo, Japan
154-0002
- info@bota-film.com
- Film/Video
- Planning, filming, editing, production, distribution, publicity, screening and sales of films and video works
- Publishing
- Planning, design, editing, advertising, sales and production of books and printed materials
- Other
- Planning and production of various events
Dispatch and transportation services incidental to the film archive business
Planning, manufacturing and sales of movie-related goods and apparel
Sales and import/export of music products and music equipment
Planning and management of workshops and seminars
Photo by Takeshi Yamagata
Hiroki Kumamoto
Born in 1987 in Fukuoka Prefecture. Completed the master's degree in Urban Innovation at Yokohama National University. He has directed films such as "Sugar Baby" (2011), "Women are Born Twice" (2013) and "The Afterimage" (2014). He has also co-written "Nagyon and Kinukawa" (2017, directed by Takahiro Horie). He has written numerous articles for the film magazines "NOBODY", "Eiga Geijutsu", "Time Out Tokyo", and "CINRA.NET", among others. He co-authored "35 Words That Made Movies" (Film Art Pub.) and published an interview in "Throbbing: Young Expressionists in Yokohama" (Shunpu Pub.) In 2020, he established the production "BOTA Inc".
Participation history in the workshop
・2016.09.19-20/2017.07.31-08.04 "Focus on Asia - Fukuoka International Film Festival Workshop" at Fukuoka Film Forum
Pitching of a new short film and participation as a writer and assistant director in "Nagyon and Kinukawa",
which was produced at the same workshop.
・2016.11.08-16 "Autumn Meeting 2016", at Da Nang, Vietnam
Participates in the annual Young Asian Writers Development Program held in Da Nang,
Vietnam under the guidance of directors Phan Dang Di and Tran Anh Hung.
Azuki Beans and Raindrops
While a drought in mainland China has caused the import of azuki beans to plummet, Yuki, who works for a real estate company, continues to live with Nobu, with whom she is supposed to have broken up. One morning, Yuki urges Nobu to move out of the house because of an incident. He tells her, "I'll leave when it rains," with his favorite azuki ice cream in hand. Meanwhile, Yuki visits Rico at her place of work to help her find a house, but she is unable to find one that meets the conditions she offers. On the contrary, Rico is revealed to be a runaway girl from the countryside......
The Afterimage
Nami, who works at a junkyard, is assigned to tour the city's garbage collection points with Uchida, an old rookie. One day, she receives an 8mm camera and film from Uchida, but the camera and film contain a secret that Uchida has hidden from her.
・Nippon Connection 2016 in Frankfurt
・SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL 2015 short program
・CINEDRIVE 2015 in Osaka
・Hamamatsu Film Festival 2015
・10th Fukui Film Festival short program, Special Jury Prize
Women are Born Twice
The scene is Daikanyama in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo. Yumi currently works at a clothing shop, but will soon quit her job and leave Japan. She is also the singer, "YUMI", and will be leaving for New York in search of a new environment. After her last live performance in Japan, she reunites with her former boyfriend and novel writer, Toshiki Tagawa. They enjoy chatting with each other, but soon, unforgettable memories come rushing back. Still, on the way home at a park that's starting to glimmer from the morning dawn, there was the new Yumi, with tears in her eyes but smiling at Toshiki.
・LOAD SHOW COMPETION #1
・Linkage Film Festival 2018
Sugar Baby
Independent film director and actor Shohei gets a call from his mother during a shooting. She asks him to come to his hometown for the 3rd anniversary of his grandfather's death. Being irritated by what has become of the former coal mine city he starts exploring it through its cinemas.
・Nippon Connection 2012 in Frankfurt
・Made in Busan Independent Film Festival 2012
・CINEDRIVE 2012 in Osaka
・Fukuoka Independent Film Festival 2012 First prize
・16th Mito Shorts Film Festival Jury Award
Eyelids will naturally close
Producer：Fumika Kuwabara
Director&Editor：Hiroki Kumamoto
Camera：Ryotaro Saito, Shun Sato, Yusuke Hino
Photo：Hideto Maezawa
Music：Kousuke Matsunobu
Cast：Fumika Kuwabara, Takarako Hasegawa, Kiyoko Fujino, Saori Yoneda