Donald Richie and Japanese experimental films at Yale

[Richard Suchenski]

Dear Markus,

Almost all of the films in these three programs are being brought over from
Japan, and most of them have received few, if any, screenings in the US
before.  Most of the directors whose work is included here have made a large
number of films, and, in each of these cases, we tried to choose a single
representative work.  The most recognizable titles are probably X/Batsu and
the Toshio Mastumoto films, but I suspect many people on this list may also
be familiar with some of the work of Shiroyasu Suzuki, Kawanaka Nobuhiro,
and Kohei Ando.  All of them have made major contributions to either the
"cine-poem" form of the 1960s or to the highly influential strain of
diaristic filmmaking that emerged in the 1970s.  Mako Idemitsu is one of the
major female experimental filmmakers of her generation and her abstract film
"At Yukigaya 2" is exemplary of her delicately lyrical approach to both
subjectivity and light.

The filmmakers included in program 2 are probably less well-known than those
in program 1, although several of them are famous for their work in other
areas or media.  In addition to Toru Takemitsu, there's Kazamoto Fujino, a
highly-regarded surrealist painter, and the versatile artist/designer
Keiichi Tanaami.  Yoiichi Takabayashi is most famous for his ATG productions
in the 1970s and 1980s, but, in my opinion, the experimental films he made
in the 1960s, particularly "Musashino" and "Shadow of a Doll," are at least
as interesting than his later features.  Program 2 also includes films that,
often playfully, examine the formal operations and structural boundaries of
cinema in a variety of different ways and key works by filmmakers who have
worked primarily, or exclusively, in the world of abstract animation (Yoji
Kuri, Nobuhiro Aihara, and Tatsuo Shimamura).  The program ends with a pair
of highly inventive and enigmatic films - Xenogenese and Ultramint - that
epitomize the shifting parameters of experimental cinema in the 1980s.  This
is probably the program I would most recommend to people that are thinking 
of
attending only one of them, as it includes the largest number of rare films,
many of which will hopefully be pleasant surprises.

The third program is made up of works by some of the contemporary filmmakers
that are re-vitalizing Japanese experimental film.  Ichiro Sueoka, subject
of several recent mini-retrospectives and coordinator of the Film-Makers
Information Center and the Kino-Balazs film group, will be in attendance for
that screening and will answer questions afterwards.

We had originally hoped that these films might travel to other cities, but,
unfortunately, logistical complications have made that impossible, so I
really hope that a few KineJapan members will be able to make it to
some of these screenings.

Richard Suchenski
Yale University

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Nornes" <amnornes at umich.edu>
To: <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 8:26 PM
Subject: Re: Donald Richie and Japanese experimental films at Yale


> Aaron,
>
> Any pleasant surprises in this list? Quit a few titles I don't know.  I'm 
> curious, and I'll be others are.
>
> Markus
>
>
>
> On Sep 28, 2006, at 8:13 PM, Aaron Gerow wrote:
>
>> JAPANESE EXPERIMENTAL FILM SERIES
>>
>> This series of Japanese experimental films, organized in  conjunction 
>> with a visit to Yale by Japanese film scholar and  experimental filmmaker 
>> Donald Richie, is divided into four  thematically-organized programs. 
>> Each program is made up of a group  of 5-10 historically and artistically 
>> significant short films,  arranged chronologically and shown in their 
>> original formats. Taken  together, they demonstrate the richness and 
>> diversity of Japanese  experimental cinema over the past 50 years.
>> Henry R. Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave, Room 203
>>
>> Diaries and "Cine-poems" (Program 1)
>> Wednesday, October 4, 2006       8:00 PM
>>
>> All 16mm films in Japanese*
>> The Song of Stones (Toshio Matsumoto, 1963, 30 minutes)
>> At Yukigaya 2 (Mako Idemitsu, 1974, 10 minutes)
>> Reflections on a Sunset (Suzuki Shiroyasu, 1975, 24 minutes)
>> Like a Train Passing 1, 2 (Kohei Ando, 1976 and 1978, 10 minutes)
>> Shishosetsu 5 (Kawanaka Nobuhiro, 1991, 25 minutes)
>> Total running time: 99 minutes
>> *no English subtitles
>>
>> Animation, Structure, and Formal Play (Program 2)
>> Thursday, October 5, 2006       8:00 PM
>>
>> X (Batsu, Shuntaro Tanikawa and Toru Takemitsu (1960, 15 minutes)
>> Musashino (Yoiichi Takabayshi, 1963, 15 minutes)
>> An Eater (Kazamoto Fujino, 1963, 20 minutes)
>> Human Zoo (Yoji Kuri, 1963, 5 minutes)
>> Illusionary City (Tatsuo Shimamura, 1967, 6 minutes)
>> Wind (Nobuhiro Aihara, 1994, 7 minutes)
>> WHY (Keiichi Tanaami, 1975, 11 minutes)
>> Atman (Toshio Matsumoto, 1975, 11 minutes)
>> Le Cinema (Junichi Okayama, 1975, 5 minutes)
>> Time (Sakumi Hagiwara, 1970, 13 minutes)
>> Xenogenese (Morishita Akihiko, 1981, 7 minutes)
>> Ultramint (Hirose Tadashi, 1980, 10 minutes)
>> Total running time: 125 minutes
>>
>>
>> New Currents in Japanese Experimental Film (Program 3)
>> Thursday, October 12, 2006       8:00 PM
>>
>> Berlin im Winter (Ichiro Sueoka, 2003, 7 minutes)
>> Endlish ist es Fruehling (Ichiro Sueoka, 2003, 2 minutes)
>> A flick film in which there appear Liz and Franky, is composed  under the 
>> score of ARNULF RAINER by P. Kubelka on NTSC (Ichiro  Sueoka, 2000, 
>> video, 5 minutes):
>> Ein Sommer in Deutschland (Ichiro Sueoka, 2005, 7 minutes)
>> Rocking Chair (Shiho Kano, 2003, 8 minutes)
>> Blinding Noon (Nagaru Miyake, 2002, 27 minutes)
>> Gestalt (Takashi Ishida, 1999, 7 minutes)
>> The Art of Fugue (Takashi Ishida, 19 minutes)
>> Fleur (Yuiko Matsuyama, 2004, 6 minutes)
>>
>> Total running time: 88 minutes
>>
>> JAPANESE EXPERIMENTAL FILM SERIES SPECIAL EVENT WITH DONALD RICHIE
>> Thursday, October 19, 2006       8:00 PM
>> Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium, 53 Wall Street
>>
>> 35mm screening of Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog (1949) introduced by  Donald 
>> Richie. Screening followed by panel discussion with Donald  Richie and 
>> faculty from EALL, Film Studies, and History
>>
>> Contact jeffrey.levick at yale.edu
>>
>>
>>
>