JOHATSU – INTO THIN AIR

Germany, Japan / 2024 / 86 min

Synopsis

Every year, thousands of people vanish without a trace in Japan. Known as the Johatsu,

or “the evaporated,” they abandon their lives for various reasons, a troublesome relationship, mounting debts or threats from the mafia. Some get support from so-called

“night moving” companies, which help people to disappear and start a new life somewhere

else. Taking an intimate look at the phenomenon of “evaporating people,” this movie depicts the inner conflicts and attempts at reconciliation of those who have

disappeared and those who have been left behind.

Festivals and AWARDS

Krakow film festival 2024, Thessaloniki documentary film festival 2024, Osaka Asian film festival 2025

Film Director: Andreas Hartmann, Arata Mori

Andreas HARTMANN (born in 1983) is a Berlin-based documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, photographer and radio producer. He graduated from the Film and Television Academy (HFF) “Konrad Wolf” Potsdam-Babelsberg in 2011. His work was screened and exhibited at many international film festivals and museums, e.g. Warsaw, São Paulo, Berlinale, Cinéma du Réel Centre Pompidou Paris, Festival dei Popoli Florence, Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam, Danish Film Institute, Musée national des arts asiatiques Guimet Paris, Tokyo Arts and Space. His third feature-length documentary A FREE MAN (2017) received the “Busan Cinephile Award” for the Best World Documentary at the 22nd BUSAN International Film Festival and was screened at the 60th DOK Leipzig Film Festival. His latest work is JOHATSU - INTO THIN AIR (2024) co-directed with Arata Mori, the film was selected at the Thessaloniki International Documentary FF 2024. Arata MORI is a Japanese film director, editor and artist, based in Berlin and Tokyo. His creative practice crosses over the fields of documentary film, TV documentary, corporate video, experimental film, dance-theatre and architecture. In 2021, Mori made his creative documentary film “A Million”, a fake travelogue about an imaginary city on the real urban cities along the new silk road, revived by China. The film was premiered at the 64th Dok Leipzig. In 2024, he directed a documentary feature “Johatsu - Into Thin Air” together with Andreas Hartmann, portraying the so-called “Night Moving Companies” in Japan, which help people to disappear. The film has had the world premiere in the international competition of Thessaloniki IDF.