In UMINCHU, Academy Award Nominee John Junkerman (HELLFIRE) follows the travails of 82 year old fisherman Shigeru Itokazu, who daily rises before the sun to continue his solitary quest of marlin.

Through Junkerman's camera, Itokazu and the residents of tiny Yonakuni Island, a volcanic rock near Okinawa, tell stories of their battles with the sea, and of their traditional way of life. Itokazu fishes with a hand held fishing line and spear, without benefit of sonar or drift nets. Although he is a skilled fisherman, Junkerman filmed two years before Itokazu took a marlin, demonstrating a pride and resolve characteristic of his community. Soon after filming ended, however, Itokazu was found drowned, attached to his boat by a fishing line wrapped around his hand. He had been fishing for marlin.

Beautifully wrought, UMINCHU is a time capsule of a quickly disappearing way of life.

"[Junkerman] succeeds in capturing the essence of not only the old man, but of his world. After seeing this film, I felt as though I had lived in a different life."—Mark Schilling, Japan Times

"There is no denying the grace and grandeur of UMINCHU."—Matthew Gilbert, Boston Globe