Film schools

[Aaron Gerow]

> At times I've seen such online biographies, which simply focus on  
> film titles, leaving me wondering what people do/have done in between.

Well, it is not just a question of "in between." The fact is that  
most directors in Japan cannot live just by what they make by  
directing, so many do other things including teaching. When Shinozaki- 
san got the professorship at Rikkyo, I was happy if only because he  
was now going to be getting a regular income!
>
> In the case of Yanagimachi, for instance, the readily available  
> information online shows a 10-year hiatus between his 1995 Tabisuru  
> Pao-jiang-hu and 2005 Who's Camus, without mentioning that he was  
> teaching at Waseda and doing other things during that time. The  
> Waseda information also helps in understanding Who's Camus, and its  
> possible autobiographical elements.

The curious thing is that Camus was actually shot at Rikkyo. Watching  
it, I kept on remembering other films shot there, from the student  
films of Kurosawa and Aoyama to Sumo Do Sumo Don't.
>
> Even though I know he was teaching at Waseda, I still don't know  
> exactly what sort of film program Waseda has, and who else may be  
> on the film faculty there, or even whether Yanagimachi is still  
> teaching there now.

Filmmaking was mostly taught in the Daini Bungakubu at Waseda, but  
with the Bungakubu being restructured, I think it has now mostly  
shifted to the Geijutsu Gakko. I know Koguchi Utako has been teaching  
there.


Aaron Gerow
Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
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Phone: 1-203-432-7082
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e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
site: www.aarongerow.com