That Shogun basking in the glory of his record 18 wins at the Emmy Awards ceremony at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles in September, Japanese director Takeshi Fukunaga was covered in mud and sweat in a small village in Hokkaido. He was there with a small crew to shoot a bear ritual of the indigenous Ainu people of Japanits northernmost islands, which has been interpreted for the first time in decades.

Fukunaga plans to use the footage for a short film as a follow-up to his documentary Ainu Puri (The Ainu Ways) which is projected in Tokyo from this year International The film festival. Both the doc and the short are a far cry from the huge budgets and large-scale productions he experienced at FX. Shogun and Max’s Tokyo Vice as the only Japanese-born director to direct episodes of both acclaimed series. Fukunaga seems to move largely frictionlessly between the two worlds, appreciating each for what they bring.

“Independent filmmaking always feels like home for me,” Fukunaga said The Hollywood Reporter in an interview during Tokyo Film Festival. “It’s freer and I’m much closer to the cast and crew.”

But he admits that his experience in tentpole projects “improved my skills as a director” and that the financial rewards allow him to pursue his passion projects and return to his roots. The new documentary is one such labor of love.

“I was born and raised in Hokkaido, but I never had the opportunity to learn about the Ainu. Even when there were Ainu children in the class, we didn’t know how to talk about it,” Fukunaga explained.

While studying the film in the US, Fukunaga realized that almost everyone there understood what happened to Native Americans, while Japanese awareness of the plight of the Ainu people, the indigenous ethnic group living in northern Japan, was much lower. Feeling a “sense of shame,” Fukunaga decided to address it the best way he knew how, through film.

The story of the Ainu strongly resembles that of Aboriginal people elsewhere: lost land, language, culture and rights. “Indigenous people around the world are probably the biggest victims of the capitalist system,” Fukunaga said.

Ainu Puri it doesn’t shy away from these realities, but it’s full of humanity and humor, thanks in large part to the engaging presence of Shigeki Amanai, his family, and the local community. Amanai revived traditional Ainu salmon fishing over a decade ago, a practice almost lost to modernity, as part of his efforts to do all he can to preserve and pass on the ways of his people. But he and his friends aren’t afraid to poke fun at themselves when they use plastic instead of handmade materials for fishing. Amanai’s standard offering to the sacred Ainu god of fire is a lit cigarette.

There are inevitably more serious moments in Ainu Puri. Amanai questions why he has to get a special permit from the authorities to fish, a centuries-old practice on land taken from his people by Japan when it annexed the island in 1869. He also points out that in a dispute territorial dispute that has continued since World War II between Japan and Russia over the Kuril Islands in northern Hokkaido, the Ainu, the original inhabitants, “are not even part of the conversation.”

Fukunaga’s cinematic journey with Ainu began with his second feature, Ainu Mosir (2020), for which he used locals rather than professional actors.

The Ainu cultural touchpoint for many Japanese is popular manga and anime Golden Kamuy (a kamuy is an Ainu spirit, similar to a Japanese kami). A live-action version released this year had Japanese actors playing the Ainu roles. “It is unacceptable by international standards,” Fukunaga said.

Determined not to romanticize or fetishize his subjects, Fukunaga admits he struggled during the editing process and didn’t always get the calls right.

After filming Amanai and his son performing a sword dance dressed in traditional Ainu clothing, usually reserved for special rituals and ceremonies, he decided to cut the scene, worried that it felt staged. But when Fukunaga showed them the edit, Amanai wanted to know what happened to the dance sequence, which he particularly liked.

“It was a moment that reminded me that it’s not all about stereotypes or authenticity,” Fukunaga reflected. “Sometimes it’s just because it looks cool.”

Amanai and his son brought some of that cool to the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Film Festival, where they walked the red carpet in Ainu kimonos, in what Fukunaga believes is a first for the festival.

“It was a very special moment,” he added with a proud smile.