A very promising trailer for a documentary about a 250-year-old farmhouse in Japan that was restored by an American journalist and his adopted Japanese son.

“In Fall 2007, Princeton Architectural Press published ‘Minka: My Farmhouse in Japan,” the memoir of retired AP foreign correspondent John Roderick. Moved by the story of this remarkable house and the memories it contained, and with seed funding from the Graham Foundation, we began work on a documentary film about John, his adopted son architect Yoshihiro Takishita, and the 250-year old house they shared. John died in March 2008 at the age of 93. ‘Minka’ is a meditation on place, architecture, memory and the meanings of home.”

The movie, a production by two friends of mine at Birdling Films, is only available as a trailer right now here on Vimeo. But the filmmakers have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to complete it — as of this writing they’re just shy of halfway to their goal of US$10,000. You can donate here and help get this done.

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