Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2001

[Aaron Gerow]

As many of you know, the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 
will be taking place between October 3 and 9.  There'll be a lot going 
on, including retros of the films of Kamei Fumio and Robert Kramer, but 
here first are some of the recent Japanese films and videos that will be 
shown:

International Competition:

A2 (JAPAN / Video / 130 min) Dir: Mori Tatsuya
Also in competition is Longinotto/Williams' Gaea Girls, about women 
wrestlers in Japan.

New Asian Currents:

MAYA (JAPAN / 8mm / 66 min) Dir: Sekine Hiroyuki
Danchizake (JAPAN / Video / 49 min)  Dir: Ono Satoshi
Variant Phases (JAPAN / Video / 51 min)  Dir: Kawaguchi Hajime
Blessed (JAPAN / Video / 77 min) Dir: Takashi Toshiko

Japanese Panorama:

Tsuma no Kao
Dir: Kawamoto Akito, Hiroshima
Video / 114 min 

Then, She Closes Another Eye
Dir: Negoro Yu, Tokyo
Video / 53 min 

An Error With Wings
Dir: Aramaki Ryoko, Tokyo
16mm / 38 min 

Tei-chan's Roots
Dir: Tanaka Miwa, Kyoto
Video / 14 min 

35.4 Degrees C
Dir: Tanaka Miwa, Kyoto
Video / 3 min 

Nihon Shinju
Dir: Oura Nobuyuki, Tokyo
Video / 106 min 

Takashi and His Friends
Dir: Kihara Daigo, Niigata
Video / 31 min 

Dialogue 1999
Dir: Inoue Akiko, Niigata
8mm / 38 min 

A Patch of Blue Sky
Dir: Kobayashi Shigeru, Niigata
Video / 31 min 

Special Invitation Films:

Devotion
Dir: Barbara Hammer
2000 / USA, JAPAN / Video / 84min 
(A very interesting film on the women in Ogawa Pro)

The Sea of Youth
Dir: Ogawa Shinsuke
1966 / JAPAN / 16mm / 56min 

Summer in Narita
Dir: Ogawa Shinsuke
1968 / JAPAN / 16mm / 108min 

Magino Story-Raising Silkworms
Dir: Ogawa Shinsuke
1977 / JAPAN / 16mm /112min 

In the retrospective sections, there will be tributes to Kamei Fumio and 
Teshigahara Hiroshi. The Kamei retro will feature talks by KineJapan's 
own Markus Nornes and our beloved Makino Mamoru.  Both the Kamei and 
Kramer retros have produced valuable special catalogs.

Kamei Fumio:

1) Post war documentary films 
A Japanese Tragedy (Nihon no higeki)
Children of the base (Kichi no kodomotachi)
The People of Sunagawa (Sunagawa no hitobito)
Undying Barley (Mugi shinazu)
It's Good to Live (Ikite ite yokatta)
The World in Fear (Sekai wa kyofu suru)
Fluttering Pigeons (Hato wa habataku)
Record of Blood (Ryuuketsu no kiroku: Sunagawa)
Living in a Rough Sea (Araumi ni ikiru)
Men Are All Brothers (Ningen mina kyoudai)
Towards a World without Arms (Gunbi naki sekai ni)
All Must Live : People, Insects and Birds (Minna ikinakereba naranai)
All Living Things Are Friends-Lullabies of Birds, Insects and Fish (Tori 
mushi sakana
                                            no komori uta), etc. 

2) Feature films 
Become a Mother, Become a Woman (Haha nareba onna nareba) 
A Woman Goes to the Land (Onna Hitori Daichi o iku) 

3) PR Films 
Poem of Life (Inochi no uta)
Japanese Architecture (Nihon no kenchiku)
Living an Idea (Aidia ni ikiru)
Let's Weave a Rainbow (Niji o amimasho), etc. 

4) Pre-war Works 
Hiking Song (Haikingu no uta)
Shape without Shape (Sugata naki sugata)
The Geology of Fuji (Fuji no Chishitsu)
Shanghai (Shanhai) 
Beijing (Pekin)
Fighting Soldiers (Tatakau heitai)
Kobayashi Issa (Shinano fudoki yori: Kobayashi Issa), etc. 

5) 
Underwear Makes the Woman (Onna wa shitagi de tsukurareru)
The Model and the Photographer (Moderu to shashinka)
Human Conceit (Ningen yo ogoru nakare)
Kamei Fumio--Kamei on Kamei: A Record of Tomorrow's Film Production 
Discussion Group (Kamei Fumio-Jishin o kataru: Ashita no eiga seisaku o 
katariau kai no kiroku)
                                            (video) 

Teshigahara Hiroshi:

Tokyo 1958
Vita
Ako--White Morning
Jose Torres Part II

As part of the Robert Kramer retro, the Doc's Kingdom seminar will be 
held, which hopefully should include some discussions with recent 
filmmakers from Japan and abroad.

And if you see someone wandering around with a cute little boy named Ian, 
it's me.

For more about the Festival, check out:

http://www.city.yamagata.yamagata.jp/yidff/home-e.html





Aaron Gerow
Yokohama National University
KineJapan list owner
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