Ryuichi Sakamoto: CODA

When diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Oscar-winning composer, pianist, writer, and actor Ryuichi Sakamoto reacted by saying “I want to make more music.”

Shot over a period of five years, the film opens with the humanitarian Sakamoto examining a nuclear contamination zone in Fukushima and proceeds to chronicle his cancer diagnosis, his beginnings in music, and his thoughts about the world – ultimately depicting Sakamoto as a visionary with a complex, caring, and creative mind.

Japanese-American filmmaker Schible’s superb film quietly and intuitively observes the composer, leading to rare moments of the composer at work, absorbed in the sensorial act of listening – an intrinsic aspect of Sakamoto’s art and creation. A thoughtful and elegantly observed examination of the creative process.