introduction...

[TKBowman@aol.com]

R.Walker at lse.ac.uk wrote:
>I may as well kick off with a query.  One of my favourite
>films is 'Maborosi' by Hirokazu Koreeda.  The IMDB says
>Koreeda has directed one other, 'Without Memory'.  I've
>never seen it.  Is this likely to be released in Europe at any
>point?  Is Koreeda working on any other films? Where can
>I go for info?  

Without Memory is a feature-length, shot-on-video documentary that I believe
was made for Japanese television. It's a about a man who suffers from
Wernicke's Encephalopathy, a disease that literally erases one's memory (and
keeps erasing it on a nearly daily basis). I was lucky to catch it at the
Rotterdam Film Festival a few months ago and it was one of the saddest films
I've ever seen. The film is also a serious attack on budget cuts in the
Japanese health care system. The video print I saw was subtitled in English so
there is a somewhat good chance of seeing it outside of Japan - though most
likely it will appear on television in some form.

Hirokazu Kore-Eda has a new film showing at the Toronto International Film
festival next month called AFTER LIFE. The press notes describe the film as a
"luminous new film from Festival discovery Hirokazu Kore-Eda (MABOROSI). In
it, the recently deceased are encouraged by guides to create a personal heaven
from a single memory of their choice. Their stories disclose moving personal
recollections that encompass the history of postwar Japan.

My notes also mention that Kore-Eda has written a novel called "But... A
Welfare Bureaucrat: A Trace of Death."

Hope this helps. 

Todd
tkbowman at aol.com