[KineJapan] Fwd: YIDFF News June 24, 2013 [Special Issue]

Mon Jun 24 14:15:47 EDT 2013

Yamagata has released information on their competition for October. The
Japanese entry is Voices from the Waves (Nami no koe), by Hamaguchi Ryusuke
and Sakai Ko. I haven't read much from the many online interviews and blog
entries on the film, so I don't write with much confidence. But what I
thought were a set of short films based on geography, yet released under
the Nami no koe title, now appear to be one big massive film.

But don't confuse the 213 minute running time with monumentality. It's the
most intimate of films. And one of the most experimental of the 311 films.
The rough cuts I saw were nothing but two people talking to each other,
face to face, and with almost no prompting from the filmmakers. The
directors sit two tsunami survivors in community halls or libraries, and
let them talk to each other.

There are only three basic shots. An establishing shot taken at a 90 degree
angle to the two speakers. And then shot reverse shots where one of the
speakers looks directly at the camera. Through a fascinating cinematic
trick, the people speak in direct address to the camera even though they
are actually talking to—and looking at—their interlocutor. It's a very
strange feeling, best to be experienced without knowing exactly how they
did it.

This formal aspect to the film—added to the parallel formality of two
Japanese strangers talking to each other—makes this one of the better 311
films. It's certainly the most innovative. But I have serious doubts about
the running length. Very few people are going to last through four hours.
It signals a complete lack of distance to their material. A kind of
shiryo-sei that regrettably blinds the filmmakers to the desires, needs and
capabilities of their viewers. Can you tell I'm bumming?

In the rough, I thought this looked like a very promising film. I'm pretty
disappointed by this choice. Obviously, they needed an editor.

Markus

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               YIDFF News < June 24 Special Issue >
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    YAMAGATA International Documentary Film Festival 2013
               October 10 [Thu] - 17 [Thu], 2013
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:+:+:+   YIDFF2013 International Competition Lineup Open!   :+:+:+

We are very pleased to announce the YIDFF 2013 International
Competition lineup.
Feature-length works were sought from 1152 entries from around the
world - a unique selection of 15 cinematic gems, richly varied and
representing the vanguard of world filmmaking.

*************************

_The Act of Killing_
DENMARK, INDONESIA, NORWAY, UK / 2012 / Indonesian / Color / VIdeo /
159 min
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer

_Bajari: Gypsy Barcelona_
SPAIN / 2012 / Spanish / Color / Video / 84 min
Director: Eva Vila

_Boundary_
THAILAND, CAMBODIA, FRANCE / 2013 / Thai, Khmer / Color / Video / 96 min
Director: Nontawat Nubenchapol

_Char... The No-man's Island_
JAPAN, INDIA, ITALY, NORWAY, DENMARK / 2012 / Bengali, Hindi / Color
/ Video / 88 min
Director: Sourav Sarangi

_A Gift from the Sky - The Tragedy of Hsiaolin Village, Part 2_
TAIWAN / 2013 / Taiwanese, Chinese / Color / Video / 153 min
Director: Lo Hsin-chieh, Wang Hsiu-ling

_Motherland or Death_
RUSSIA / 2011 / Spanish / Color / Video / 99 min
Director: Vitaly Mansky

_Once I Entered a Garden_
FRANCE, ISRAEL, SWITZERLAND / 2012 / Hebrew, Arabic / Color / Video
/ 97 min
Director: Avi Mograbi

_The Other Day_
CHILE / 2012 / Spanish / Color / Video / 122 min
Director: Ignacio Agüero

_Parts of a Family_
THE NETHERLANDS, MEXICO / 2012 / Spanish / Color / Video / 83 min
Director: Diego Gutiérrez

_The Punk Syndrome_
FINLAND, NORWAY, SWEDEN / 2012 / Finnish / Color / Video / 85 min
Director: Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi

_Revision_
GERMANY / 2012 / German, Romanian, Romani / Color / Video / 106 min
Director: Philip Scheffner

_Stories We Tell_
CANADA / 2012 / English / Color / 35mm / 108 min
Director: Sarah Polley

_Tour of Duty_
KOREA / 2013 / Korean / Color / Video / 161 min
Director: Kim Dong-ryung, Park Kyoung-tae

_Voices from the Waves_
JAPAN / 2013 / Japanese / Color / Video / 213 min
Director: Sakai Ko, Hamaguchi Ryusuke

_A World Not Ours_
PALESTINE, UAE, UK / 2012 / Arabic, English / Color, B&W / Video /
93 min
Director: Mahdi Fleifel

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Copyright (C) YAMAGATA International Documentary Film Festival

-- 
*Markus Nornes*
Chair, Department of Screen Arts and Cultures
Professor of Asian Cinema, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
Professor, School of Art & Design

*Department of Screen Arts and Cultures*
*6348 North Quad*
*105 S. State Street*
*Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*
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