[KineJapan] Zen and Bones (new documentary)

[Fujioka Asako]

Dear Kinejapaners, 

Announcing the North American premiere screenings of 
ZEN AND BONES（ヘンリ・ミトワ　禅と骨） 
Japan / 2016 /126 min / in English and Japanese 
with director Takayuki Nakamura and Gretchen Mittwer in attendance
/ special thanks to Duncan Williams and CJRC

ZEN AND BONES is a kaleidoscopic portrait of an unconventional 93-year-old Japanese-American Zen monk, his dramatic history and turbulent family life. Fiction and animation add to tell fascinating stories about his childhood in Yokohama, his wartime in the U.S. Nikkei camps, as a 1960s American dad-turned-Zen monk, and his lifelong passion for movies. This is director Takayuki Nakamura's second feature after YOKOHAMA MARY (2005).  

The 32nd Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.asianfilmfestla.org_&d=CwIGaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=bH7hoXLUDFTQGARNV2ca3BgWSke_F8vLrscg9RyH4u8&s=_qiZiiTGxXzza7BE_ENKtQESC0wDhDinoqLZYbn08YU&e= 
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016, 6:30 PM
Downtown Independent
For tickets: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__laapff.festpro.com_films_detail_zen-5Fand-5Fbones-5F2016&d=CwIGaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=bH7hoXLUDFTQGARNV2ca3BgWSke_F8vLrscg9RyH4u8&s=Zxwuutx5WLNrgj5N-ppiTfTH_g5lpghTrWsL_LqjIIM&e= 

Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture at USC
http://dornsife.usc.edu/events/site/192/638030/
FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 7:00 PM
Leavey Library Auditorium
University of Southern California, University Park Campus
Admission free / please RSVP see website 


At his seasoned age, Henry should be living his remaining days in peace in his Kyoto temple residence. But his passion and dream is to make a movie. For years, he has been pitching his project Red Shoes to Kyoto movie studios and financiers. Apparently, the Buddhist search for nothingness does not interfere with this obsession of his. 

Born in 1918 in Yokohama to an American father who ran United Artists’ Far East Office and a former geisha, Henry grew up in Japan. At 22, he travels to America by ship to search for his father. Soon World War II breaks out and he is detained in concentration camps for enemy Japanese. He marries Sachiko and has three children, two born in the camps. In 1961, he returns to Japan and becomes a Zen Buddhist monk and emissary for the Urasenke Tradition of Tea. 

Henry falls ill in 2012 and is admitted to the hospital. The documentary crew continues to film, uncovering evidence and gathering testimonies about his extraordinary past from movie moguls, U.S. government files, and interviews with Zen masters. The truth behind Henry’s obsession for filmmaking slowly takes shape. Meanwhile, actors play out Henry’s life as a young man, and an animated version of Henry’s dream film comes true.

Director / Takayuki Nakamura 中村高寛
Born in 1975, Nakamura’s home town is Yokohama. He started his career in 1997 as an assistant director at Shochiku’s Ofuna studios. From 1999 to 2001, he studied at the Beijing Film Academy majoring in film performing arts and documentary theory. After returning to Japan, he worked under Chinese filmmaker Li Ying on feature documentaries Dream Cuisine (co-pro with NHK) and the controversial Yasukuni. He has worked extensively in TV documentary and corporate films. Yokohama Mary (2005), awarded over 11 film prizes in Japan, was his theatrical debut film as director. It was released in over 50 cinemas nationwide and grossed over 1 million dollars. He currently teaches at the Japan Institute of the Moving Image. Zen and Bones is his second feature.


++++++
Asako Fujioka 
Associate Producer
ZEN AND BONES / a film by Takayuki Nakamura 
zenandbones01 at gmail.com 




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