THE DOCUMENTARIES OF NORIAKI TSUCHIMOTO

[Martin Vieillot]

I'm surprised no having seen any announcement here on the list and elsewhere, but i've just found 4 of his documentaries are getting an (english subbed) DVD release through label ZakkaFilms (http://zakkafilms.com/). Pretty great news! "On the Road: A Document" was my favorite japanese work seen last year, a real gem, photographied by Tatsuo Suzuki.

THE DOCUMENTARIES OF NORIAKI TSUCHIMOTO

Noriaki Tsuchimoto is one of the most important figures in the history of Japanese documentary, famous for his compelling films on the shocking mercury poisoning incident in Minamata, Japan, and for his fascinating portraits of a modernizing Japan and a changing Asia. Tsuchimoto was involved in over 100 films, of different topics and styles, and Zakka Films is introducing four of those, starting with Minamata: The Victims and Their World, one of the masterpieces of world documentary; On the Road: A Document, a traffic safety documentary that was so powerfully critical it was shelved for 40 years; and two rare documents of Afghanistan before the Taliban filmed in the 1980s, including Traces: The Kabul Museum, the world’s only moving image record of a priceless collection that was largely lost to bombs and looting. 

Minamata: The Victims and Their World

On the Road: A Document

Traces: The Kabul Museum 1988

Another Afghanistan: Kabul Diary 1985

(guess Aaron will make further comments if necessary)