Kameari and the end of meigaza

[Abe' Mark Nornes]

Film/video: aside from the important issues of canon
production/reproduction and pedagogical questions about using one medium to
speak of qualitatively different, the picture is bigger than the theaters
themselves. At last year's Network Kaigi run by Ace Japan (a convention for
most of the public and independent theater owners and programmers in
Japan), I described the situation in the States vis a vis
production/distribution/exhibition of independent, foreign and old films.
People were particularly struck by two things: the role of non-profit
theaters and festivals, and the existence of distributors like Milestone,
New Yorker, Kino and MOMA. In other words, when we look at the demise of
meigaza, it's not just video; we can't ignore structural reasons that make
the theaters unviable. With such a thin support system on the distribution
side, theaters like Higashi Nakano Box have to work so much harder
continuity will always be a struggle. I was very impressed by the
collaborative energy going into exploring the problems. But the obstacles
are daunting.

Markus