Sunrise at midnight

Sunrise at midnight is both a documentary portrait of Yumi Umiumare, a contemporary Japanese/Australian butoh dancer, and a Japanese Ghost story set in the Australian Desert. The film is inspired by an historic photograph of a troupe of Japanese female performers who toured outback towns at the turn of the century, and the tale of one such performer, Noriko, who wandered into the desert and never came back. Filmmaker Sean O’Brien and butoh Dancer Yumi Umiumare make an expedition into the desert to experience and exorcise Noriko’s lost soul. Performed by Yumi Umiumare and Tony Yap; original music by Satsuki Odamura and Anne Norman. An elegiac and graceful work, filmed on location in Far Western New South Wales.