[KineJapan] Kawase Watch

Sun Jun 6 11:08:52 EDT 2021

I feel I have to speak up and add my perspective. Let’s just discuss the statements she made within the context of the pandemic and the Olympics, and leave personal attacks out of it. 

However public some of the events Earl described (and I remember reading it) does not make that version of the story complete nor accurate, however earnestly/honestly intended. Until I hear her own version, I’m just gonna treat that as one collection of views about her. Perhaps accurate, perhaps not.

I too have directly received harsh accounts of her previously from friends and I too have had some unpleasant moments of disagreement with her over a project nearly 20 years ago.  

But all I can say now is that I’ve seen a lot of change in Kawase-san in the past 10 or so years compared to much of what’s been said of her over the years, especially early and middle of her career.

She has become a lot more gracious, humble, giving and committed to nurturing careers of others and retaining a space for creative, personal documentaries to flourish at a time when such documentaries and their filmmakers alike are losing a space to thrive and be seen or heard. 

She has also tried to engage important dialogue and discourse over the diminishing spaces for this art form within government policy and international cultural agencies. 

Personally I think it’s great that the role of documenting the Tokyo Olympics went to her and not another faceless Dentsu privileged set. Not just her, but filmmakers like her can bring so much more to our global dialogue and narrative.

I think she’s playing an important role. She’s stepping up and has matured really well into that role. 

Now unless this is a gossip room, please stop all this personal, judgmental, bitter attacks on her or anyone else for that matter unless they are factual and thoroughly analyzed with balanced consideration of both sides perspective. 

Naguib Razak

Sent from my iPhone

> On 6 Jun 2021, at 1:31 PM, Maria Jose Gonzalez via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> 
> Dear Earl,
> 
> It is your reply that is truly gracious, unlike some insulting others that I have received privately to a comment made in an honest jocular manner.
> The thing is, I don't believe she has "progressed" in any way, I have occassionally seen her on telly, and this last episode further proves it.
> As a long-term resident in Japan, I have been/ am very concerned about the situation here, which I am positive you are all also well aware of in other countries.
> To have a prominent cinema person like herself make statements of this sort feels like a slap on the face, a total disregard for all the issues the pandemic has created and continues to create.
> Faced with this kind of behaviour, it is only natural to reflect and express (negative) opinions on Kawase, especially when, in my case, it feels so close to home.
> One would think she is upset the pandemic has messed up her original documentary plans and is now campaigning to have public at the venues, very much following the government and the respective olympic committees, trampling on whatever might stand on the way to hold the event ...
> Best wishes,
> 
> María José González
> Kwansei Gakuin University
> Nishinomiya, Japan
> 
> 
> On Sunday, 6 June 2021, 01:05:52 PM GMT+9, Earl Jackson via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> 
> Dear David,
>   I am glad that Kawase was gracious with you, David, and again - I don't detail what I observed in Seoul publicly. Moreover, I believe everyone can grow, mature, and change and perhaps Kawase has done that. The behavior I mention was not hearsay or an unfortunately encounter with one person or a small group. It was extensive and in front of a packed audience there to see her and a respected feminist film maker and  scholar on stage to engage in a conversation. In any event, I hope that she has progressed beyond what she did in Korea that time. I also never intended to bring this up in a forum like this, the reports of what she did now triggered me, but in retrospect I think I should have been more restrained here. I definitely also do not want to be piling up on anyone.
> Earl Jackson
> Chair Professor
> Foreign Languages and Literatures
> Asia University
> Professor Emeritus
> National Chiao Tung University
> Associate Professor Emeritus
> University of California, Santa Cruz
> 
> 
> On Sun, Jun 6, 2021 at 11:46 AM Desser, David M via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
> I interviewed her via GoToMeeting last summer for a small seminar.  She was gracious, charming, modest and sweet.  
> Don't know why she's gotten such a bad rap from y'all, including my good pal, Earl.
> 
> David
> 
> From: KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Maria Jose Gonzalez via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
> Sent: Saturday, June 5, 2021 8:07 PM
> To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
> Cc: Maria Jose Gonzalez <tkarsavina at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Kawase Watch
>  
> Finally the real Kawase reaches the general public...
> 
> When she started getting some attention with her work, I read some interviews/ watched her speak somewhere and that was the end of Kawase for me and thus have never seen any of her films, possibly to my detriment, I know, but considering how much there is to watch, I'd rather spend my time with directors less arrogant and full of themselves as her.
> I didn't watch the programme but read the various news reports and her total lack of consideration and empathy was truly shocking. 
> In fact, she sort of blamed the people for the ongoing pandemic situation.
> Somebody should have reminded her that -sadly- all the people in Ginza and the like are the ones being forced to keep this Olympics nightmare afloat together with the capital's economy so that she can get her millions for the documentary, in the end, a paid job for the LDP government, let's not forget.
> A more conscientious director would have resigned months ago.
> 
> María José González
> Kwansei Gakuin University
> Nishinomiya, Japan
> On Sunday, 6 June 2021, 09:03:18 AM GMT+9, Earl Jackson via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> 
> I won't go into detail here, but I've often spoken privately about Kawase's shocking behavior in Seoul when she had been hosted with lavish care and attention.It really affected the way I've seen her films thereafter, although I know that's unfair. But her views on the Olympics during COVID brought that behavior back to me like a bad acid trip.
> best
> ej
> Earl Jackson
> Chair Professor
> Foreign Languages and Literatures
> Asia University
> Professor Emeritus
> National Chiao Tung University
> Associate Professor Emeritus
> University of California, Santa Cruz
> 
> 
> On Sat, Jun 5, 2021 at 10:37 PM Markus Nornes via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
> Kawase Naomi has been making news recently. 
> 
> Appearing on a talk show called Sukkiri to talk about the Olympics, she said (basically), "A high jumper can jump 3 centimeters higher with a crowd." While it appears she didn't land on a firm stance, her opinion seemed pretty clear when she pointed out that she went from Nara to a crowded Ginza and asserted people are going to get infected one way or another. I guess it's OK if a few people get sick, maybe someone dies, if you can make your documentary. I cringe to think how her film will deal with the pandemic. The Olympics are such a soul-sucking racket. 
> 
> In other news, Kawase became the president of the women's basketball association in Japan. 
> 
> Markus
> 
> 
> 
> --- 
> 
> Markus Nornes
> Professor of Asian Cinema
> Interim Chair, Dept. of Asian Languages and Culture
> Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design
>  
> Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/
> Department of Film, Television and Media
> 6348 North Quad
> 105 S. State Street
> Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285
> 
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