[KineJapan] Sato Makoto Retrospective

Fri Apr 29 11:33:41 EDT 2016

Sato as a philosopher: it was briefly threw into the discussion by Yamane and the lady who edited the book, she couldn't really articulate too much (there was no time) but Yamane definitely shifted the conversation towards Sato's writings, he said he was a very committed writer with a mind set for writing about philosophical concepts (I'm paraphrasing). 
The was no mention of Sato's direct influence on Japanese documentary, just the name of Kobayashi (as a director) surfaced to the conversation a couple of times, although there was a long part about editing, a very interesting topic that helped sheding light on his idea of movie making, the (movie) creating process happens always together with the other(s): editor, cameraman, etc. 他者, the other, was a concept that was used a lot in the discussion. Also another topic touched was the way Sato used to approach documentary and cinema in general, that is like an open project, without any particular agenda in mind. There was a nice camparison between his way of making movies and when he used to bike in the mountains with his daughter (the story is also in the book I think): they started without goal and basically when they were lost, they tried to made their way back together. 
They didn't periodize, but I agree with you and probably it's also in the book that the last three works (Self and Others, Memories of Agano and the movie on Said) are a trace and a consequence of a shift in his aesthetics, more experimental and elliptical, insistence on landscapes (almost a return to the fukei-ron), on absence (this was also mentioned by Yamane) and on memories and images as phantasmic phenomena. 
I'm biased, I can relate very much to his works and I could watch them on a loop,  but I think a figure like Sato and his eccentric position in Japanese documentary, is very missed in contemporary Japanese cinema, and it's a pity that there's basically nothing written on him outside of Japan. 

Best

Matteo Boscarol
ボスカロル マッテオ
記憶ただ陽炎のゆらめき
- LuccaFilmFestival
Asia and Japan Correspondent
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__luccafilmfestival.it&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=4U_NHK0pQ0FyY8yGjE3dTejv2ABXKaBZUmgrSHQSWUA&e= 
- Sonatine2010
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.sonatine2010.blogspot.jp&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=KULOpJHSymSsU2Kz7MbvNGCQnayLzbsXXGgQfxSE_g8&e= 
- Storia(e) del Documentario in Giappone
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__storiadocgiappone.wordpress.com&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=6kEJXugTT8jtLTcBY2E0QmLHOC_To2754A6LQISfcS4&e= 
- Screenweek Japan

> On Apr 29, 2016, at 10:41 PM, amnornes at umich.edu wrote:
> 
> In what way did they talk about Sato as a philosopher? Did it concentrate on his writing? Teaching? Public speaking? Filmmaking? 
> 
> Did they claim it had an influence on Japanese documentary? 
> 
> Did they periodize it? I haven't cracked the book yet, but the use of "fuzai" suggests they are thinking of his career in two parts – "fuzai" is clearly referring to his last couple films.
> 
> I'd love to learn more if you can remember.
> 
> Markus
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Apr 29, 2016, at 6:03 AM, matteo boscarol via KineJapan <kinejapan at lists.osu.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> I was at the first day of the Sato Makoto retrospective in Kobe today, Living on River Agano and Self and Others were screened, The Kobe Planet Film Archive is a small place, but it was packed. Agano was followed by a very interesting talk by Yamane Sadao, about the "cinematic" quality of the the movie (editing and construction) and about Sato as a documentary philosopher. Yamane shared also some memories of his trip with Sato at the Doc's Kingdom seminar in Portugal in 2002. Self and Others was followed by a discussion between Yamane hilmself, the editor of the Sato's book and other film people.  I own the DVDs, but seeing the movies screened in 16mm, especially Agano, was a bless. The retro kicked off today and will last 4 more days till May 3rd. If you're in Kansai and you're free during the GW, don't miss it. 
>> 
>> 
>> Matteo Boscarol
>> ボスカロル マッテオ
>> 記憶ただ陽炎のゆらめき
>> - LuccaFilmFestival
>> Asia and Japan Correspondent
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__luccafilmfestival.it&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=4U_NHK0pQ0FyY8yGjE3dTejv2ABXKaBZUmgrSHQSWUA&e= 
>> - Sonatine2010
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.sonatine2010.blogspot.jp&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=KULOpJHSymSsU2Kz7MbvNGCQnayLzbsXXGgQfxSE_g8&e= 
>> - Storia(e) del Documentario in Giappone
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__storiadocgiappone.wordpress.com&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=6kEJXugTT8jtLTcBY2E0QmLHOC_To2754A6LQISfcS4&e= 
>> - Screenweek Japan
>> 
>>> On Mar 27, 2016, at 1:43 AM, Markus Nornes <amnornes at umich.edu> wrote:
>>> 
>>> There is a new book on Sato Makoto (https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__satoyamasha.com_-3Fp-3D777&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=TDXYZpk-Lfw-aIXRdjAerfNq6lw0tzv9LxbvrrvsfYg&e= ), and a retrospective in Tokyo kicked off the publication this weekend. There were many interesting speakers, like Funahashi Atsushi, Soda Kazuhiro, Kobayashi Shigeru, and others. Did anyone go? And if so, any thoughts?
>>> 
>>> I heard it was packed. This is interesting, because last year Hara Kazuo's Cinema Juku was embarrassingly empty. The contrast is interesting, and I wonder what it signals....
>>> 
>>> Markus
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> KineJapan mailing list
>>> KineJapan at lists.osu.edu
>>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__lists.osu.edu_mailman_listinfo_kinejapan&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=CqYHW0JI-WmiK9_-ny6fl1iplbhKuk4H0NvoYkQKGNo&e= 
>> _______________________________________________
>> KineJapan mailing list
>> KineJapan at lists.osu.edu
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__lists.osu.edu_mailman_listinfo_kinejapan&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=CqYHW0JI-WmiK9_-ny6fl1iplbhKuk4H0NvoYkQKGNo&e= 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20160430/000af6f8/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
KineJapan mailing list
KineJapan at lists.osu.edu
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__lists.osu.edu_mailman_listinfo_kinejapan&d=CwICAg&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=e7qMG9KFq7WNnPQWULWHJA&m=CBW4AOCuB1dIJEYnNjl_qDctzNy0FenfSeTCal9bMEE&s=CqYHW0JI-WmiK9_-ny6fl1iplbhKuk4H0NvoYkQKGNo&e= 