2015 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

"Ikigai" is a japanese term that people in Okinawa, a small group of islands just north of Japan, use to live by, and roughly translated it means “the reason you wake up for in the morning”. This short documentary, shot in Okinawa, features the personal stories of people from the islands, known to live longer and happier lives than the average person in the rest of the world. The film takes us through snippets of a day in the life of six different characters from Okinawa: a lamp maker, a horse trainer, a traditional dance teacher, an old family woman, a fisherman and a boxeur. Each of them, while the day and the documentary unfold, explains what it is that they wake up for: the perfection of the craft, the love for the animals and the sense of responsibility, reaching the top or just the warmth of the family's love. The film ends with a super that explains that in Okinawa people live happier and longer lives because they know their reason for waking up in the morning. Another super appears asking the viewer this simple, but at the same time very important question: “What do you wake up for?”.