[KineJapan] Iimura Takahiko, May He Rest in Peace

[Earl Jackson]

I went to a beautiful joint retrospective of Iimura and Jonas Mekas at the
Seoul Cinematheque one year. It was amazing to see them together. Their
works are completely different but the films shared an equal level of
challenge and reward.
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 Mon, Aug 8, 2022 at 9:34 AM Earl Jackson <earljac at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thank you telling us the sad news, Markus. His films have always been
> revelatory and meditative for me, and I'm sure for many.
> A truly gifted artist who contributed so much to the possibilities of
> Film. May his memory be a blessing, as I'm sure it will.
> 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 Mon, Aug 8, 2022 at 9:32 AM Markus Nornes via KineJapan <
> kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>
>> I just learned that experimental filmmaker Iimura Takahiko passed away on
>> July 31 at the age of 85. The cause was an inflammation of the lungs.
>>
>> Iimura was one of the key figures in experimental film, and in a
>> global sense. He graduated from Keio and began his film career in PR film.
>> But rather than turn to documentary and fiction like so many of his
>> colleagues in that area, Iimura committed his life to the poetry of film. I
>> love his 60s films in particular, and wrote about *White Calligraphy* in
>> my recent book. I have often shown Ai/Love in my Japanese cinema course.
>> https://youtu.be/b_SZejNKeeI
>>
>> He started splitting his time between New York and Japan starting in the
>> mid-1960s, which gave him a great platform for introducing Japanese
>> experimental films to the world and vice-versa. Iimura brought intermedial
>> happening strategies to film screenings, and was quick to shift to video
>> art, pioneering yet another field.
>>
>> Iimura-san created lots of DVDs, books, and gave lots of interviews over
>> the years, a great contribution to the writing of this history (which is
>> often so ephemeral).  I enjoyed bringing him to Ann Arbor for an Ann Arbor
>> Film Festival screening, and drinking good Michigan beer while telling
>> stories about White Calligraphy and the many ways he screened it over the
>> years. He was one of those people I'd bump into at receptions and parties
>> all over Tokyo, and was always fun to chat with.
>>
>> I've been writing about Film Independent—which he helped lead—and so I
>> tried contacting him this spring to try and meet up, but never heard back.
>> When I got to Japan, I heard he wasn't doing well, so this isn't a
>> shock—but it's always a shock.
>>
>> Iimura's work is easy to rent or purchase from Filmmakers Cooperative.
>> This page gives a wonderful flavor for his artistic practice.
>> https://film-makerscoop.com/search?q=iimura
>>
>> 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/
>> <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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>>
>
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