About Hani Susumu

[Peter Grilli]

SUSUMU HANI is a member of a very distinguished family of Japanese
intellectuals, including writers, educators, journalists, scholars,
musicians.

His grandmother was MOTOKO HANI (1873-1957), a feminist journalist and
publisher and "blue-stocking," who began her career in the Meiji period.
She was a founder of the influential magazine, Fujin no Tomo.  In 1921, she
and her husband founded JIYU GAKUEN, a Taisho-era liberal school; this
private elementary/highschool still exists and continues to be a model of
progressive education in Japan.

Hani's father (Motoko's son) was GORO HANI, an important historian, writer
and social critic, who was for many years an independent, free-thinking
member of the House of Councillors in the Diet.  He studied in Germany and
France in the 1920s (I think), and returned to Japan to became an activist
journalist and a major contributor to the "Nihon Shihon-Shugi Hattatsu-shi
no Koza" series of publications ("Studies in the History of the Development
of Japanese Capitalism").  He also was a scholar of urban history, and wrote
the influential book "Toshi no Ronri" (The Logic of Cities).

Susumu Hani's siblings were also active in the arts as writers and
musicians: one sister was a leading orchestra conductor.  My parents knew
the Hani family quite well in Tokyo during the 1940s-1960s.  I last saw
Susumu in New York about ten years ago.  His documentary films, made in the
1950s -- including the brilliant "E o Kaku Kodomotachi" (Children Who Draw)
and "Furyo Shonen" (Bad Boys) -- are considered an important stylistic
influence on the later Japanese Nouvelle Vague.
Hani was married to the actress SACHIKO HIDARI, who starred in his "Kanojo
to Kare" (She and He) and "Andesu no Hanayome" (Bride of the Andes).  He
continues to be active in producing nature/wildlife documentaries for
television and in environmental/conservationist movements.

Peter Grilli



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
[mailto:owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu]On Behalf Of J.sharp
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 5:10 AM
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Re: About Hani Susumu


I don't know much about this director myself, but what I've seen of his and
read about him intrigues me.

As far as I can gather, during a trip to Kenya to make BWANA TOSHI, Hani
became intrigued by the wildlife there, and after a few more film during the
60s, including NANAMI: INFERNO OF FIRST LOVE, returned to make TV wildlife
documentaries. This culminated in the film AFRICA STORY in the early 80s,
which is not a great film, though is of interest for, among other things,
featuring James Stewart in one of his final roles. Read all about it:
www.midnighteye.com/reviews/africsto.shtml

The other things I know about Hani is that his daughter has made something
of a name of herself as a journalist - I remember someone telling me
something about she lives (or lived) in Hong Kong. And I believe his father
was a name in the media as well. And I also know (through hear say) he is
not very interested in trying to revive his earlier film work and make it
more widely available, and is far more enthusiastic about his TV wildlife
documentaries such as Doubutsu Kazoku.

But I would really love to see more of his films. Children who Draw and
Bride of the Andes in particular sound fascinating.

Hope this helps,

Jasper


--------- Original Message --------
From: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Re: About Hani Susumu
Date: 11/09/06 16:03

> Hi,I've looked more closely at Hani's 1950s and 1960s works than at his
more recent documentaries, but Hani seems to have focused his energy as much
as possible on wildlife documentaries since the 70s. You might be interested
in reading his "Ningenteki eizoron" (Tokyo: Chuo koronsha, 1972). He is
still active and is even working in a new medium: he has been publishing
illustrated children's books recently. He's quite eager to talk about his
work, so you might want to contact him directly for more specific questions
(let me know if you need his contact info).Cordialement,Fabienne Adler
Fabienne AdlerPh.D. candidate, Art History and Film Studies department,
Stanford UniversityKeio International residence #201,Tokyo-to, Minato-ku,
Mita 2-19-30, 108-0073Tel: 03 5476 9452Cell: 090 6013 3885 On Sep 11, 2006,
at 1:07 PM, KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu wrote:			    KINEJAPAN Digest
1914Topics covered in this issue include:  1) About Hani Susumu	by
eigagogo at free.frFrom: eigagogo at free.frDate: September 11, 2006 8:36:43 AM
JSTTo: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.eduSubject: About Hani SusumuDear
all,I am currently looking for informations about Hani 70/80?s documentary
&amp;writing. I heard that after directing ?Mio? (and later, after ?Africa
Tales? in1981), he left the ?movie world? to focus on ?pedagogy and
TV-works?. Did his Tvworks still focus on the ?innocent youth? or did they
explore different &amp; newthemes?I found the following works which are not
credited on the IMDB:-	Doubutsu Kazoku (Animal Family) 197 ? (prequel to
Africa Tales?)-	Yogen (Prophecy)  1982  &amp; Rekishi : Kaku Kyoran no Jidai
: both dealing aboutnuclear bomb-	Yumei to Maho no Kuni : Tokyo Disunerando
1983. About Disneyland TokyoThese titles seem to indicate that Hani try to
deal with rather new themes. Cananyone complete or comment this list?Is Hani
still active in the ?TV world??Regards,Martin Vieillot--Cin?ma japonais sur
eigagogo.free.fr

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