The Cat that Lived a Million Times

2012, Kotani Tadasuke, 91 minutes, Japanese

At 70, picture book writer and essayist Yoko Sano was diagnosed with cancer and told she was not long for this world. Now she spends her life cherishing the days she has left. Sano’s most well-known work The Cat that Lived a Million Time was published 33 years ago, and it has since become a children’s literature classic. In his film, Japanese director Kotani Tadasuke documents the impact of this monumental picture book through its readers and through the final days of its author. The director traces Sano’s life story, from her upbringing in Beijing to her final days in Tokyo, mirroring the book’s themes of life, love, and death.

Kotani Tadasuke was born in 1977 in Osaka. Kotani was a filmmaking professor at the Visual Arts College Osaka, of which he is also a graduate. Kotani now works as a freelance director. His film Lullaby (2002) was a runner-up at the Kyoto International Student Film & Video Festival. Good Girl (2006) was invited to be screened at the 28th Pia Film Festival. His first documentary, Line (2008), was shown at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, the Punto de Vista International Documentary Film Festival, the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, the Torino Film Festival, and the Nippon Koma Film Festival.