Winner: Best International Music Documentary was the award won by Discovery Firm, Inc. for its film Same Old Story: A Trip Back 20 Years at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. 

It was already an official win, but since we couldn't make the award ceremonies, the festival had to mail us our certificate which I just received the other day.  So anyway here it is. 

More than some "big win" it is something to keep as a memory of our accomplishment.

For all of my readers who follow Japanese music, Discovery has just released a new album paying tribute to one of Japan's most famous song writer and composer, Hayashi Tetsuji (Last name first).

The album is called 4 Tears produced by Cheep Hiroishi and it features 4 cover songs sung by 4 different female artists living on the northern island of Japan, Hokkaido.

The first song is called "September" originally sung by Takeuchi Mariya and cover by CARIN.
The second title is "Mayonaka no Doa" (Midnight Door) originally by Matsubara Miki and cover by Kakimoto Nanae.
The third song is "Senaka" (Back) originally by Misora Hibari, cover by ERINA.
The fourth and final song is "Kanashii Iro Yane" (Sad Color Right?) by Ueda Masaki, cover by JUNCO.

You can listen to the samples at the 4Tears MySpace Music page. Though the songs are kinda old now the new singers bring life back into the words.

Junco's promotion video "Kanashii Iro Yane" meaning "Sad Color, don't you think" is not a brand new PV, but new to this blog. Just thought I would post it here to save everyone time from clicking to a different site. Anyway here is an excerpt from Junco's promotion video "Kanashii Iro Yane"  If you like the video please leave your comment below.  I know it is in Japanese, but even if you don't understand the language you will definitely feel the "spirit".

The soundtrack for the documentary film, "Same Old Story" is now available for purchase online from Discovery Sound at http://www.discoverysound.com/en/DMJ-004/

This single includes two tracks, the cover song, "Same Old Story" and the ending theme song "Overlook".  Both songs were written and preformed by Cheep Hiroishi who the documentary was actually about.  These songs have been used for background music on various Japanese television commercials.

An absolutely amazing accomplishment for the artist and a big boost for the film itself. 

It's final.  The Japanese Documentary "Same Old Story" has won Best International Music Documentary at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival September 2008.

This was a very unexpected surprise as this was a first time film and of course independently produced and directed.  Since the news of our film winning an award from such a large film festival, it has opened the doors to future festivals.  2009 is going to be a very big year for our movie as it is going to be shown at 6 more festivals throughout the world. 
I really hope this film will touch peoples hearts and give them insight on their own life and history.
I know this poster is in Japanese and I am working the English translation hoping to get it online by the end of the week.  I just couldn't wait to share it will all of my readers.

 If you are in the area and have a chance to see the film please do.  You can check our movie page here for festival updates.