2025

film made by art director and producer

C& : Chitose Ohchi

in collaboration with director

Willemiek Kluijfhout

director of photography

Remko Schnorr

montage

Kylian Weijers
Bram de Goeij
Willemiek Kluijfhout

sound recording

Bram Boers

composer

Umitaro Abe

with many thanks to

Mr. Noritsugu Matsuda
Mr. Michio Matsuda
Matsuda Cultivated Pearl Farm 

The Birth of Acoya

A short branded documentary (10 min) set in Nagasaki Omura Bay about the way the miraculous Akoya pearls come into existence by the humans and ocean cultivating them. The Akoya pearls are given the name 'acoya', with a dotted letter 'C', to indicate that each pearl is unique and imperfect.

'Acoya' is an exclusive brand that promotes the 1300-year-old Akoya pearl oyster in Nagasaki's Omura Bay. This is what its director, Chitose Ohchi, writes about the pearl:

"I see life in a single pearl. It is an archetype of life itself: embracing pain, internalising the wound, and recreating oneself in silence until it finally shines from within. Acoya captures the essence of the Akoya pearl oyster, within Japan's ancient traditions, and shares it with the world"

Navigating the oyster's life and pain through Umitaro Abe's music.

The film features an original soundtrack composed by Japanese composer Umitaro Abe. The soundtrack contains a variety of soundscapes that sounded just like the various phases in the cultivation process. The soundscape and its emotional tone and rhythm on turn reflected the imagined emotional state of the oyster and pearl.