FIAF Congress

[Eija Niskanen]

Are these film screenings at the National Film Center, and who is able
to enter? Only Archival people?

Eija

On 4/10/07, Mark Nornes <amnornes at umich.edu> wrote:
>
> Here are the Japan-related events on the FIAF Congress schedule. Looks like
> it was a fascinating, better than half of the entire schedule. Aaron, did
> you go to Tochigi-san's presentation on Copyright? It would be interesting
> to hear someone from the Film Center spelling out their policy.
>
> Markus
>
>
> Akira Tochigi  (National Film Center, Tokyo)
> COPYRIGHT IN JAPAN
>
> Copyright Act in Japan has certain uniqueness in terms of motion picture
> films: the copyright of a film work belongs to the producer, not to any
> other authors (so-called 'modern authors'), as far as the authors agree to
> participate in the production of the work; the protection period of the work
> is reckoned from the year following its first release, not the death of any
> authors.
>
> With brief introduction of the Copyright Act, this presentation will focus
> on issues caused by such uniqueness as well as the difference between
> current laws and former laws, and the fair-use statute scarcely stipulated
> in the Act. The presentation will also cover the National Film Center's
> policy of programming of and access to its film collection in relation to
> the Copyright Act.
>
> Takayuki Oguchi  (Scholar of Large Screen Film Formats)
>
> LARGE SCREEN FILM FORMATS IN JAPAN
>
> From the 1970s to the 1990s in Japan, a series of world expositions was
> held, and many science museums and theme parks were built. The main
> attractions in these events and institutions were various kinds of large
> screen theaters with very unique equipments such as a gigantic screen
> showing eight Vistavision pictures at the same time, a dome for 3-D
> projection, a 360-degree spherical screen, all of which we could not find
> any equivalences in other countries.
>
> However, most of the films screened in these theaters are no longer
> accessible and quite a few formats have disappeared. These systems require a
> combination of films, projectors and special theaters, and keeping the films
> is not enough for them to revive.
>
> Judging from a historical point of view, on the other hand, these visual
> experiments should not be overlooked because many of the films were directed
> by prominent figures such as Kon Ichikawa, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Nobuhiko
> Obayashi and Mamoru Oshii.
>
> This presentation will observe the present situation of study, research and
> preservation of these extraordinary formats in Japan.
>
> 15:05 - 15:30
> Yoshiyuki Yahiro (The Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archive, Fukuoka)
>
> PRESERVATION OF NARROW GAUGEFILMS IN JAPAN: A CASE STUDY OF 8MM FILMS
>
> In Japan, narrow gauge films were popularized by the import of Pathé-Baby
> (9.5mm) in 1923, and then Kodak's 16mm and 8mm cameras which followed. As
> these cameras were expensive for ordinary families, shooting narrow gauge
> films was a hobby of the upper class. Major changes were brought about by
> the sales of less expensive cameras in super-8 and single-8 formats after
> World War II.
>
> The spread of these machines enabled even college students to make movies
> easily, and the flourishing of amateur movie making gave birth to festivals
> specializing in 8mm films, which led to the production of many commercial
> filmmakers and avant-garde artists.
>
> This presentation will offer a historical overview of narrow gauge films in
> Japan, and examine how rediscovery and preservation have been made for
> narrow gauge films which were forgotten in the mainstream history of cinema.
>
> Session 2: Made in Japan
>
> Sunday, April 8, 9:00-14:10
> Chaired by Yoshiro Irie(National Film Center, Tokyo).
>
> 9:00 - 9:25
> Fumiaki Itakura (National Film Center, Tokyo)
> Natsuki Matsumoto (Film Collector /Historian)
>
> PAPER FILM: HISTORY AND PRESERVATION
>
> Screening paper film was one of the popular home entertainments in the
> middle of 1930s in Japan. Paper film has an original projection system: Each
> frame of a film strip is printed in offset process, and the reflection of an
> electric light against the paper film is projected on a screen. Although
> "Refcy" and "Kateito-ki-" were representative brand names of this system,
> most of the films and projectors have been lost. This presentation aims to
> locate the paper film within the history of world cinema and to investigate
> the optimum preservation method. Fumiaki Itakura's presentation will be
> followed by a screening of paper films operated by Natsuki Matsumoto. The
> technical data of the paper film is provided by Dai Nippon Printing Co.,
> Ltd.
>
> 9:25 - 9:50
> Natsuki Matsumoto (Film Collector/Historian)
> Taiji Kozaki (Benshi Performer)
>
> THE OLDEST ANIMATION IN JAPAN: DEMONSTRATING THE CULTURE OF HOME MAGIC
> LANTERN AND TOY FILM
>
> Besides public screenings at theaters, private screenings of magic lantern
> and film at home undoubtedly played a significant role in diffusing film
> culture in Japan. Found in 35mm in Kyoto two years ago, a strip of 50 film
> frames, presumably Japan's oldest surviving animation, nicely exemplifies
> the fertility of early home entertainment and aptly illustrates the
> background of this culture.
>
> With a projection of this film in tasuki (looped) style, the screening of
> toy films and the projection of home magic lanterns will be presented. This
> series of demonstrations will reconsider the history of film reception in
> Japan from a domestic point of view and propose 'an alternative history of
> film culture' which has been ignored by a 'legitimate' history of cinema and
> an authorized history of film industry.
>
> 9:50 - 10:15
> Yoneo Ota (Osaka University of Arts, Osaka)
>
> THE HISTORY OF TOY FILM IN JAPAN AND THE CHALLENGES OF ITS PRESERVATION
>
> There was a time in which people enjoyed movie with a toy projector at home
> in Japan. The projector was no more than a tin toy, but it could project
> both fragments of 35 mm released prints sold by pieces and the films
> specially made for this toy machine.
>
> The peak of this machine's popularity overlapped the golden age of Japanese
> silent cinema (1920s-1930s), in which chanbara (swordplay) films were at the
> height of prosperity. These films, though very short (20 seconds-3 minutes),
> can vividly tell the brisk air of the age. Toy film covers many genres from
> animation (toy film contributed to foster the industrialization of animation
> production) to newsreel to propaganda film called gunshin-mono (films about
> war god).
>
> These fragments are the testimonies of the age and the precious historical
> materials which can fill up another side of film reception in Japan. This
> presentation will introduce the project of collecting and restoring toy
> film, begun by the Osaka University of Arts a few years ago, and the
> challenges this project has faced.
>
> 10:15 - 10:30 Break
>
> 10:30 - 10:55
> Machiko Kusahara (Waseda University, Tokyo)
>
> BABY TALKIE AND ITS ERA
>
> Baby Talkie is a Japanese zoetrope made for enjoying animation accompanied
> with music. The iron zoetrope fits on the central part of a SP record on
> gramophone without disturbing its normal function to play music. Thus it
> offers a home "talkie" experience with one's favorite music. Strips include
> both traditional and 'Western' motifs such as Charlie Chaplin.
>
> Some of them create three-dimensional illusion. This lecture-demonstration
> will show how this forgotten invention tried to connect cinema with music,
> and how juxtaposition of modern and traditional lifestyles of the era is
> reflected in its name and images.
>
> 10:55 - 11:10
> Hidenori Okada (National Film Center, Tokyo)
>
> RECYCLED MOTION PICTURE FILMS IN JAPAN
>
> The history of manufacturing of motion picture film in Japan sees a small
> but unique business: recycling used films. Purchasing used positive prints
> both in 35mm and 16mm from film companies, the manufacturers washed film
> emulsion away and sold the emulsion to silver refiners. They then applied
> black and white emulsion on the remaining film base to reclaim.
>
> The reclaimed films were used for low budget films from the 1930s, and were
> adopted mainly for newsreels after World War Two. As the demand of black and
> white films soured, the production decreased and the manufacturers shifted
> the recycling to leader films. Tracing the history of Takahashi Photo Film
> Laboratory, the former leading company in this field, which closed its
> factory (the last factory to reclaim films in Japan) in 2005, this
> presentation will excavate the technical aspect and historical significance
> of such a unique industry.
>
> 11:10 -11:35
> Ayako Shiba (Scholar of Utsushi-e)
>
> UTSUSHI-E (JAPANESE PHANTASMAGORIA):PRESERVING AND HANDING DOWN THE NATIONAL
> HERITAGE
>
> A kind of magic lantern originated and developed in Japan, Utsushi-e
> flourished as a popular entertainment for about a hundred years from early
> 19th to the beginning of the 20th century.
>
> The most characteristic difference of Utsushi-e from western lanterns lies
> in the use of plural hand-held projectors (called furo). Its style and
> themes are deeply rooted in the Japanese tradition of performing and
> narrative arts.
>
> From the 1950s to the 1980s, Ayako Shiba devoted herself to preservation of
> this disappearing entertainment with her father Genjiro Kobayashi by making
> researches on projectors and slides of Utsushi-e, and conducting interviews
> with almost forgotten Utshushi-e players.
>
> This presentation will summarize the history of Utsushi-e and its
> preservation, and reexamine the problems and challenges the project of
> succeeding this national heritage has faced.
>
> 11:35 – 12:00
> Discussion
> Chaired by Yoshiro Irie.
>
> 12:00 – 13:30 Lunch Break
>
> 13:30 - 14:10
> Special Presentation of Utsushi-e
> Presented by Minwa-za
> (Fumio Yamagata and Yuko Tanaka).
>
> The presentation of Ayako Shiba will be supplemented by the performance of
> Utsushi-e by Minwa-za, one of the theatrical troupes which have made this
> traditional art accessible.
>
> Special Public Screening
> Sunday, April 8, 18:45-21:00 at Yurakucho Asahi Hall
> (11th floor of Yurakucho Mullion Building, 15-minute walk from NFC
> Headquarters)
>
> KURUTTA IPPEIJI
> (A Page of Madness/A Disordered Page)Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa (1926,
> b/w, silent, 35mm, 79 minutes [18 fps], 1:1.33 [full-frame]);With piano
> accompaniment by Yuji Takahashi;Preserved and restored by National Film
> Center, Tokyo;
> Lab work done by IMAGICA West Corp, Osaka.
>
> Co-organized by The Asahi Shimbun Company in collaboration with IMAGICA West
> Corp and in cooperation with Pia Corporation, National Film Center is proud
> to present the world premiere of a newly restored version of KURUTTA
> IPPEIJI, which will be dedicated to FIAF and its colleagues who preserve and
> safeguard precious film culture of the world.
>
> KURUTTA IPPEIJI, directed by young Teinosuke Kinugasa, represents the
> brilliant jewel of silent film art and "remains one of the most radical and
> challenging Japanese movies ever seen here" (Tony Rayns, Time Out Film
> Guide).
>
> With piano accompaniment by Yuji Takahashi, arguably the most avant-garde
> composer and player of piano and electronic instruments in contemporary
> Japan, the premiere screening of this newly restored version from the best
> pre-print element will celebrate the 80th anniversary of its first release
> in 1926.
>
> Prior to the screening, from 18:45 to 19:25, Eva Orbanz (President of FIAF)
> and Paolo Cherchi Usai (National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra) will have
> a panel "FIAF and the Future of Film Archives," moderated by Hisashi Okajima
> (National Film Center, Tokyo).
>
> Evening Screening Program
> Saturday, April 7/Monday, April 9/Wednesday, April 11, 19:00-21:00 at Cinema
> 1, NFC
>
> Scheduled every other evening during the congress, a series of screenings
> will showcase recent achievements of film restoration made by NFC and other
> film institutions in Japan such as Fukuoka City Library, The Museum of
> Kyoto, Kawasaki City Museum, Hiroshima City Cinematographic and Audio-visual
> Library, Film Preservation Society and Ritsumeikan University College of
> Image Arts and Sciences.
>
> Archivists from the institutions will introduce their films. Plus a special
> screening with benshi performance (Japanese tradition of narration for
> silent film show) is planned in the program of April 11.
>
> Screening Schedule
> Saturday, April 7 19:00
> (total running time: 85 minutes)
>
> The Museum of Kyoto presents:
> GION KOUTA EHIGASA: TANUKI DAIJIN
> (A Ballad of the Gion, A Pictured Parasol: A Wealthy Raccoon, 1930, Makino
> Productions [Omuro Studio], directed by Bansho Kanamori) 35mm, b/w, 7
> minutes [18 fps], silent. Digitally restored from the 9.5 film by the Museum
> of Kyoto.
>
> Kawasaki City Museum presents:
> HEIWA KINEN TOSHI: HIROSHIMA
> (Hiroshima: Aiming at Peace Center, 1954, Naigai Eiga-sha, directed by Ken
> Akimoto) 35mm, b/w, 30 minutes, sound. Restored by Kawasaki City Museum.
>
> The Fukuoka City Public Library FilmArchive presents:
> BAKUDATTO-HIME
> (The Princess of Baghdad, 1948, Sanko Eiga-sha, directed by Iwao Ashida)
> 35mm, b/w, 48 minutes, sound. Jointly restored by The Fukuoka City Publice
> Library Film Archive and National Film Center. A collection of National Film
> Center.
>
> Monday, April 9 19:00
> (total running time: 95 minutes)
>
> Hiroshima City Cinematographic and Audio-visual Library presents:
> SHONEN SHOKUN
> (You Boys, 1932, Kyodai Productions, directed by Tamotsu Takata) 35mm, b/w,
> 28 minutes [24 fps], silent. Jointly restored from the 16mm film by
> Hiroshima City Cinematographic and Audio-visual Library and National Film
> Center. A collection of National Film Center.
>
> National Film Center presents:
> KEMURIGUSA MONOGATARI
> (The Story of Cigarettes, 1926, Tokyo Jiyu Eiga-sha, directed by Noburo
> Ofuji) 35mm, tinted color, 3 minutes [24 fps], silent;
>
> NAKAYAMA SHICHIRI
> (Seven-ri to Nakayama, 1930, Hassei Eiga, directed by Namio Ochiai) 35mm,
> b/w, 37 minutes [21 fps], sound (Mina Talkie sound system), incomplete;
> RHYTHM (1935) 35mm, b/w, 2 minutes [16 fps], silent; PROPAGATE (1935) 35mm,
> b/w, 4 minutes [16 fps],silent; AN EXPRESSION (1935) 35mm, color
> (pseudo-Kinemacolor system), 3 minutes [30 fps], silent. All directed by
> Shigeji Ogino, blown-up from the 9.5mm originals;
>
> KAWAII SAKANAYA-SAN
> (A Little Fishmonger, 1953, Konishiroku Shashin Kogo, directed by Shiko
> Niimura) 35mm, color (Konicolor system), 3 minutes, sound; and
> GINRIN (Bicycle in Dream, 1955, Shin Riken Eiga, directed by Masao Yabe,
> Toshio Matsumoto and Genichiro Higuchi) 35mm, color, 12 minutes, sound,
> English version.
>
> All restored by and collections of National Film Center.
>
> Wednesday, April 11 19:00
> (total running time: 75 minutes)
>
> Film Preservation Society presents:
> MODAN KAIDAN: ICHIOKU-EN
> (Modern Horror 100,000,000 Yen, Shochiku [Kamata Studio], directed by
> Torajiro Saito) 35mm, b/w, 15 minutes [16 fps], silent, abridged version.
> Restored by Film Preservation Society. A collection of National Film Center.
>
> Ritsumeikan University Art Research Centerpresents:ONSEN HIWA: MISASA KOUTA
> (The Ballad of Misasa: Tragedy in the Hot Spring Town, 1929, Makino
> Productions [Omuro Studio], directed by Kichinosuke Hitomi) 35mm, b/w, 60
> minutes [18 fps], silent, with English subtitles. Jointly restored by
> Ritsumeikan University and National Film Center. A collection of National
> Film Center.
>
> Both screenings that day will have benshi performance by Midori Sawato, the
> internationally acclaimed benshi performer, with musical accompaniment by
> Joichi Yuasa (guitar) and Makiko Suzuki (flute).