EIGA ARTS February Programme (long)

[Joss Winn]

Here's February's programme. It includes the peice on Onishi Kenji's A
BURNING STAR which I have already posted to this list (with very few
changes).  If anyone would like a fancy EIGA ARTS poster emailing to them,
let me know!
My apologies for not having a programme in Japanese.  It's always a make
shift cut and paste job done last minute.

There is now an EIGA ARTS web site maintained by FLICKER.  The address can
be found at the end of this post.

March's programme will follow shortly.  As will a review of January's
programme.  If anyone asked about sending Japanese programmes to them, I am
working on it!




EIGA ARTS

Saturday February 27th

Avanse, 4F, Saga City, Japan.

PROGRAMME A
19:00-19:50


Guest programme from Seattle-based micro cinema, INDEPENDENT EXPOSURE.
(Video presentation)

Leslie Raymond 	RIFE WITH FIRE 	8 mins, 16mm

An optically printed experimental documentary based on the pyrotechnic
demonstrations of St. Paul (now of Toronto) artist Stephen Rife.

Robert Arnold  MORPHOLOGY OF DESIRE	6 mins, computer
							generated

An experimental exploration of the commodified representation of gender and
desire in popular culture...

Lisa DiLillo    	THE COCK FIGHT      3 mins, video

Calls into question the seductive powers of spectacles that glorify
excessive displays of masculinity and bravado.

Lisa McElroy	      JOB	           5 mins, 16mm

Minimalized modernity needs no face, no pulse, no senses...as it must
function well.


Apichatpong Weerasethakul 0116643225059   5 mins, 16mm


There was a time when I called home less and less.


Erik Deutschman	  SPLIT   12 mins, 16mm

This delirious experimental narrative uses a variety of filmic techniques
to create an intimate, implosive exploration of a man confronting the
nature of his physical existence.

Mark Street 	BLUE MOVIE   5 mins, 16mm

Hand manipulated erotica.

Mark O'Connell	    LOVE GODDESS	3 mins, hi-8 	video, found
footage, digitally manipulated

Fondle suck lick thrust etc....



PROGRAMME B
20:05-21:40

A BURNING STAR
by Onishi Kenji

95mins, 16mm, Sound (no dialogue), Colour, JAPAN




A BURNING STAR depicts the physicality of destruction and disappearance
through images of the Japanese filmmaker's father who dies and is cremated.
Maintaining a solid rhythm and perspective, this film highlights the
meaning and importance of "viewing" and "filming" in documentary.(YAMAGATA
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, ASIAN CURRENTS PROGRAMME)


DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

I think the camera is the most important aspect of the absolute process of
expression. I've interpreted Vertov's "camera eye" in a personal way
adopting an Onishi style camera eye. In A BURNING STAR (SHOSEI) my inner
conflicts find a cruel form. Through the camera I come to terms with my
father's death. It's only natural that a person should tremble, hesitate,
feel sad and be afraid. As the director, I can erase all of that. That's
the unique power of the author. The camera is merely a tool to give it a
form. When I turned the camera to the subject of death I felt no need to
prepare humane justifications, a methodological structure nor escape
routes. In A BURNING STAR the camera confronts the problem of death.
Through the act of filming I recorded the distance between my father and
myself. It is a primitive, simple and absolute film. In short, it is the
possibility of my own self.


ONISHI KENJI was born in 1973. Began making 8mm films in 1990 and has made
over 100 films including short works. Recently has focused on longer 16mm
films such as SQUAREWORLD (SUKUEAWAARUDO, 1995) and continues to direct
problematic and radical films like AQUARIUM CITY (SUISO TOSHI 1996) and
ZETCHO (1997) that have attracted international attention. Onishi's films
are highly praised in Japan and have been invited to various festivals here
and in the USA. As well as making films, Onishi operates CINEMA TRAIN, a
Tokyo venue for screening and distributing experimental film.





A BURNING STAR is a feature length documentary depicting the filmmaker's
father's death and his coming to terms with that death. In his
chracteristic manner, Onishi pursues the subject to the very end, with
little regard for social conventions.  In that it breaks social 'rules', it
is a very personal documentary, and thus difficult. Onishi's relationship
with the dead body is always very intimate (at one point, without any
hesitation on screen, he goes so far as to undress the body and play with
his father's genitals) and this forces us to question our own socially
constructed conceptions of death and the 'appropriate' actions to perform
after the loss of someone.

Coping with death is one of the most ritually elaborate, socially inscribed
and culturally specific processes we can experience, yet when alone with
his father, Onishi rarely shows any concern for maintaining the 'rules'
which we live by.  One might say that he is disrespectful, that he is
exploiting his father's body and humiliating not only his father but also
the relatives that continue to organise the cremation in the accepted
manner.  Yet, he does demonstrate an enormous amount of tenderness towards
the body and the pace of the film could be understood as respectfully quiet
and patient.  When I first watched the film, Onishi showed me a shortened
preview version that cut out the long periods of preparation for the
cremation and instead concentrated on the burning of the body.  The longer
version, in my opinion, does Onishi much more justice in developing the
relationship with his father.

The second half of the full length version being screened at EIGA ARTS,
shows the body being burnt as the camera (double Super 8 later transferred
to 16mm) sits infront of the open door to the fire and records the body
melting, the bones crumbling and turning to ashes.  It initially seems
rather macabre yet over the course of perhaps 30mins or so of watching the
body in what is one long continuous shot except for film changes, I found
myself feeling closer to anything I can recall seeing on screen up until
now. I felt this way, not only in a physical sense (and to see a body decay
real-time makes one very aware of one's own physicality in relation to the
physical body represented on screen), but emotionally/intellectually too, I
found myself 'participating' in the funeral of a man I had not known.  My
notion of it being macabre dissapeared and instead, I found myself
understanding this act of filming as perhaps the greatest display of
affection and respect possible for Onishi.  It was a painfully long goodbye
and more personal and seemingly more meaningful than any preordained ritual
could have offered.

My only quibble over the film would be that by breaking the social
conventions and personalising the image of his father to such a degree,
Onishi perhaps paid disrespect to the relatives who were also mourning in
the more traditional way. One has to understand and accept that a funeral
is, like most rituals, primarily a social event, and one which requires
that everybody understand their roles.  In the film at least, Onishi seems
to disregard these roles and thus the 'mechanics' of the ritual itself.
One wonders what it must have been like to be one of the many relatives who
had to to watch Onishi wander around with a camera infront of his face, as
preparations were being made. However, they seem to show little concern
over him filming and I can only assume that they accepted it.

Onishi has said that the camera is "the most important aspect of the
absolute process of expression".  In A BURNING STAR, this is very apparent,
for when one expects him to stop filming and express himself in the manner
that other people are doing, he continues to film in what seems initially,
a cruel and thoughtless manner.  Only after some time (for me it was during
the burning of the body), do we realise that Onishi _is_ expressing the
grief, loss, respect and confusion that one would expect, only that it is
not being represented in front of us on screen (Onishi certainly doesn't
shed tears infront of the camera) but rather we are being forced to
experience his loss as our own also, with Onishi, through his 'camera eye'.
(The reference to Vertov is Onishi's own).


DOORS OPEN AT 18:30 and 19:50  Come for one or both programmes.

Entrance is free but donations are encouraged and always appreciated.
January's programme broke even!  Thanks everyone and special thanks to
Angela and SAGA AGA.

See you there!


EIGA ARTS is.....

EIGA ARTS is located in Saga City, Kyushu, Japan, showing experimental and
documentary film/video.  Good, new facilities are used for showing 16mm
films and VHS/SVHS (NTSC) videos to  a maximum audience of 90 people.
Since work will be screened to a predominantly Japanese audience, in most
cases, non-Japanese work should not rely HEAVILY on the use of text,
dialogue or narration in order to appreciate it. This judgement is left to
the filmmakers themselves. EIGA ARTS will run for approximately two hours
each month, with time for discussion afterwards.  A brief programme will be
provided at each screening with a description of every film in both English
and Japanese.  EIGA ARTS is free and non-profit making.  Donations  are
accepted to cover the monthly running costs and all money received goes
directly into renting and purchasing future films/videos. All other funding
is, presently, my own. The current ticket price for local cinemas is around
Y1600 (approx. $13).

It is hoped that EIGA ARTS provides a venue for people to watch foreign and
domestic work they would rarely have the opportunity to see, allow foreign
filmmakers to reach a broader audience, and promote documentary and
experimental filmmaking among the local community.

Filmmakers whose work is shown will receive an agreed upon amount of money
prior to the screening.  If donations continually exceed the monthly costs,
extra money will be sent to the film makers whose work is shown at that
time.

Submissions should be sent to the following address:

Joss Winn

1217 Shinden
Kubota-cho
Saga-gun
Saga-ken
849-0203

Tel. (81)-(0)-(952)68-4722

<edq39077 at saga-ed.go.jp>

http://www.sirius.com/~sstark/org/eiga/eiga.html

To avoid any possible hassles at customs, please label the package 'gift'
of no commerical value.  Address it personally to me, Joss Winn and not
EIGA ARTS.