The Witches of the Orient

Faraut and McEnroe editor Andrei Bogdanov once again unearth and showcase wonderful archival materials, chiefly newsreel reports and documentaries shot during the team’s 1960-64 heyday.

Screendaily

Archive - Festival 37
Director: Julien Faraut
France 2021
100 minutes
Japanese
Subtitles in Hebrew, English

They are known as the ‘The Witches of the Orient’: the Japanese women’s volleyball team who won Olympic gold at the 1964 Games in Tokyo. Now in their 70s, the women reunite to eat, talk, and share their memories from the squad’s beginnings - founded in the late 1950s as a workers’ team at a textile factory - to their great triumph.

Julian Faraut charts the Witches meteoric rise without losing their overwhelmingly vital spirit and their persistence. The film combines archival footage, testimony and liberal usage of a popular anime inspired by their exploits.

Filmography: John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection (2018), Un regard neuf sur Olympia 52 (2013).

The Haifa IFF is screening Julien Faraut’s previous film, John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection, alongside this film.