From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Tue Feb 1 11:01:55 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 11:01:55 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Ishihara Shintaro Message-ID: <6B69DE6D-77B6-4020-8181-8840CF199A07@yale.edu> The politician and novelist Ishihara Shintaro has died at the age of 89. There is much that can be said about his racist right-wing politics, but at least on this forum, we should note his significant involvement in film. Not only did his novels help spur the taiyozoku craze in film, sending his younger brother Yujiro to stardom, but he wrote film scripts, acted in films, and even directed a few movies. He even directed an episode in the international omnibus film L?amour a 20 ans with Francois Truffaut, Marcel Ophuls, and Andrej Wajda. One could debate how his later-right wing politics are reflected in these films from the 50s and 60s, but he did produce historically revisionist works in the 2000s. Ishihara?s political career is also an example of how the entertainment industry in Japan influences politics. One wonders how successful Shintaro would have been if he did not have an immensely successful star for a younger brother and his ?gundan? to help with campaigning. At least one of his sons, Yoshizumi, is a successful tarento. One is tempted to compare him to other rightwingers like Hashimoto Toru, who rode his success as a TV tarento to engage in similar fascistic politics. Aaron Gerow -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 1 12:08:43 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 12:08:43 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car Message-ID: I finally saw Drive My Car the other day. It's one of those films that dwells inside you long afterwards. Loved it. The rhythm and pace of the film is really special. Actors deliver lines in a slightly flat tone and regular cadence. They break into "acting" when they audition, in advanced rehearsal or on stage, which is probably what makes those scenes so striking. I have to admit I hate films-about-theater, and one reason is the style of performance comes off as so stilted and wrong (have yet to see Hamaguchi's Intimacies, but I'd probably dislike it). But this was one film-about-theater that quite mysteriously _worked_. Hamaguchi builds a curious self-reflexivity into *Drive My Car.* The weird style of rehearsal built into the narrative was also what he subjected his actors to in preproduction. And, judging from comments by a couple of them, they really didn't know what to make of it (the actors are disciplined if they deliver lines with any degree of emoting). There is a key line delivered by a mute character to the theater director that goes something like, "Unlike the others, I always have to struggle with words and communicating meaning, so I understand how what matters is not always in the words. I understand what you are doing." This is definitely what's going on in this film; at the same time, I couldn't help noticing the climax is ultimately...wordy. So this got me wondering. *Drive My Car* would seem to embody the legacy of what Aaron called the "detached style" of 90s/turn of the century Japanese film?films like *Eureka,* another quiet film about trauma, memory, and healing. I won't rehearse Aaron's argument here (if you haven't encountered it, here is a nice gloss ) But I suspect Aaron has something to say about this? I'm very curious about how other people are experiencing this film. Fun Fact: I drove that very car back in the late 80s, and sold it to none other than Darrell Davis. 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* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timothyunverzagt.goddard at yale.edu Tue Feb 1 12:28:19 2022 From: timothyunverzagt.goddard at yale.edu (Goddard, Timothy) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 17:28:19 +0000 Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Marcus, Glad to hear that you liked the film so much. I saw it at Lincoln Center in New York back in early December, and it had a similar effect on me. Hamaguchi will be participating in a webinar organized by Japan House Los Angeles this evening that might be of interest to you and other KineJapan members: https://www.japanhousela.com/events/ma-in-japanese-film/ He?ll be joined in conversation by Hitoshi Abe of UCLA and Ken Tadashi Oshima of UW. ?Tug ? Dr. Timothy Unverzagt Goddard ??? Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures Yale University 320 York Street, Room 112 New Haven, CT 06511 https://eall.yale.edu/people/timothy-unverzagt-goddard From: KineJapan on behalf of Markus Nornes via KineJapan Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 12:11 PM To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum Cc: Markus Nornes Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car I finally saw Drive My Car the other day. It's one of those films that dwells inside you long afterwards. Loved it. The rhythm and pace of the film is really special. Actors deliver lines in a slightly flat tone and regular cadence. They break into "acting" when they audition, in advanced rehearsal or on stage, which is probably what makes those scenes so striking. I have to admit I hate films-about-theater, and one reason is the style of performance comes off as so stilted and wrong (have yet to see Hamaguchi's Intimacies, but I'd probably dislike it). But this was one film-about-theater that quite mysteriously _worked_. Hamaguchi builds a curious self-reflexivity into Drive My Car. The weird style of rehearsal built into the narrative was also what he subjected his actors to in preproduction. And, judging from comments by a couple of them, they really didn't know what to make of it (the actors are disciplined if they deliver lines with any degree of emoting). There is a key line delivered by a mute character to the theater director that goes something like, "Unlike the others, I always have to struggle with words and communicating meaning, so I understand how what matters is not always in the words. I understand what you are doing." This is definitely what's going on in this film; at the same time, I couldn't help noticing the climax is ultimately...wordy. So this got me wondering. Drive My Car would seem to embody the legacy of what Aaron called the "detached style" of 90s/turn of the century Japanese film?films like Eureka, another quiet film about trauma, memory, and healing. I won't rehearse Aaron's argument here (if you haven't encountered it, here is a nice gloss) But I suspect Aaron has something to say about this? I'm very curious about how other people are experiencing this film. Fun Fact: I drove that very car back in the late 80s, and sold it to none other than Darrell Davis. Markus --- [https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1YYQZdrswh1HD_xCKXSzMs3lLalKxLVgs&revid=0By9QGX7UmiKRSEdLZ0xoVDNEM2xLclB3R0pDbk93ek8yeEtVPQ] 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 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mekerpan2 at gmail.com Tue Feb 1 13:10:14 2022 From: mekerpan2 at gmail.com (Michael Kerpan) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 13:10:14 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Markus -- Is this streaming anywhere yet (or might it soon?) Michael Kerpan Boston On Tue, Feb 1, 2022 at 12:11 PM Markus Nornes via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > I finally saw Drive My Car the other day. It's one of those films that > dwells inside you long afterwards. Loved it. > > The rhythm and pace of the film is really special. Actors deliver lines in > a slightly flat tone and regular cadence. They break into "acting" when > they audition, in advanced rehearsal or on stage, which is probably what > makes those scenes so striking. I have to admit I hate films-about-theater, > and one reason is the style of performance comes off as so stilted and > wrong (have yet to see Hamaguchi's Intimacies, but I'd probably dislike > it). But this was one film-about-theater that quite mysteriously _worked_. > > Hamaguchi builds a curious self-reflexivity into *Drive My Car.* The > weird style of rehearsal built into the narrative was also what he > subjected his actors to in preproduction. And, judging from comments by a > couple of them, they really didn't know what to make of it (the actors are > disciplined if they deliver lines with any degree of emoting). > > There is a key line delivered by a mute character to the theater director > that goes something like, "Unlike the others, I always have to struggle > with words and communicating meaning, so I understand how what matters is > not always in the words. I understand what you are doing." This is > definitely what's going on in this film; at the same time, I couldn't help > noticing the climax is ultimately...wordy. > > So this got me wondering. *Drive My Car* would seem to embody the legacy > of what Aaron called the "detached style" of 90s/turn of the century > Japanese film?films like *Eureka,* another quiet film about trauma, > memory, and healing. I won't rehearse Aaron's argument here (if you haven't > encountered it, here is a nice gloss > ) > But I suspect Aaron has something to say about this? > > I'm very curious about how other people are experiencing this film. > > Fun Fact: I drove that very car back in the late 80s, and sold it to none > other than Darrell Davis. > > 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* > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From macyroger at yahoo.co.uk Tue Feb 1 13:34:09 2022 From: macyroger at yahoo.co.uk (Roger Macy) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 18:34:09 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <598934507.7271140.1643740449203@mail.yahoo.com> I agree that the audition scenes are striking, particularlythat of the signing mute character, but my memory is that Hamaguchi allowed himselfsome medium close-ups there.? I?m prettysure I would have walked out of the (diegetically) ?real? theatre performance ifconfronted with an enormous screen for the surtitles with two very small actorsat the bottom of it, who weren?t ?speaking? a common language. 5 pm PST is pretty late in old Europebut I?d be interested whether Hamaguchi felt a detachment, or commitment, to thatstyle of theatre direction. Roger On Tuesday, 1 February 2022, 17:28:25 GMT, Goddard, Timothy via KineJapan wrote: Dear Marcus, ? Glad to hear that you liked the film so much. I saw it at Lincoln Center in New York back in early December, and it had a similar effect on me. ? Hamaguchi will be participating in a webinar organized by Japan House Los Angeles this evening that might be of interest to you and other KineJapan members: ? https://www.japanhousela.com/events/ma-in-japanese-film/ ? He?ll be joined in conversation by Hitoshi Abe of UCLA and Ken Tadashi Oshima of UW. ? ?Tug ? ? Dr. Timothy Unverzagt Goddard??? Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures Yale University 320 York Street, Room 112 New Haven, CT 06511 https://eall.yale.edu/people/timothy-unverzagt-goddard ? From:KineJapan on behalf of Markus Nornes via KineJapan Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 12:11 PM To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum Cc: Markus Nornes Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car I finally saw Drive My Car the other day. It's one of those films that dwells inside you long afterwards. Loved it. ? The rhythm and pace of the film is really special. Actors deliver lines in a slightly flat tone and regular cadence. They break into "acting" when they audition, in advanced rehearsal or on stage, which is probably what makes those scenes so striking. I have to admit I hate films-about-theater, and one reason is the style of performance comes off as so stilted and wrong (have yet to see Hamaguchi's?Intimacies, but I'd probably dislike it). But this was one film-about-theater that quite mysteriously _worked_.? ? Hamaguchi builds?a curious self-reflexivity intoDrive My Car.?The weird style of rehearsal built into the narrative was also what he subjected his actors to in preproduction. And, judging from comments by a couple of them, they really didn't know what to make of it (the actors are disciplined if they deliver lines with any degree of emoting).? ? There is a key line delivered by a mute character to the theater director that goes something like, "Unlike the others, I always have to struggle with words and communicating meaning, so I understand how what matters is not always in the words. I understand what you are doing." This is definitely what's going on in this film; at the same time, I couldn't help noticing the climax is ultimately...wordy.? ? So this got me wondering. Drive My Car?would seem to embody the legacy of what Aaron called the "detached style" of 90s/turn of the century Japanese film?films likeEureka,?another quiet film about trauma, memory, and healing. I won't rehearse Aaron's argument here (if you haven't encountered it,here is a nice gloss) ? But I suspect Aaron has something to say about this?? ? I'm very curious about how other people are experiencing this film.? ? Fun Fact: I drove that very car back in the late 80s, and sold it to none other than Darrell Davis.? ? 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 ? _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 1 15:10:32 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 15:10:32 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?b?MS824oCUMTAgRnJvbSBZSURGRuKAlEEgTW92aWUg?= =?utf-8?q?Capital?= Message-ID: Hi everyone, I hope it didn't escape your notice that dafilms.com is streaming 10 key Japanese documentaries that launched from Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. https://asia.dafilms.com/spotlight-on/1129-yamagata2021 The festival asked me to write up some blog posts about both the films vis-a-vis the festival. I contributed six short essays, and since they were only distributed by Facebook, I thought I'd post them here as well. Cheers, Markus ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ How appropriate that this series kicks off with Ogawa Productions? *A Movie Capital *(*Eiga no miyako, *1989), an unconventional PR film for the first Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 1989. Looking back at that moment?on the very pivot from Cold War to post-Cold War?we can appreciate this film as the record of a turning point in the history of Asian documentary. I first met the great director Ogawa Shinsuke at the 1988 Hawai?i International Documentary Film Festival, where I was working as an intern. He was there showing his collective?s last major film, *Magino Village Story: Sundial Carved with a Thousand Years of Notches *(*Magino-mura monogatari: Sennen kizami no hidokei, *1987). One of my jobs was minding Ogawa, leading him from screening to screening and making sure he was happy. That was no problem. He was endlessly optimistic and enthusiastic and we swiftly became friends. I loved his film and was entranced by his many stories; he took to me, I learned later, because he couldn?t believe there was an American who did not possess a credit card. Apparently, I scored points in his book for my poverty. He told me many stories about his exploits over the decades, but he was most excited about a new project: the Yamagata International Film Festival. Everywhere he went, he carried a handful of festival applications and pressed them into the hands of the filmmakers he met. I vividly recall the gap between my first impression and his bright enthusiasm for the Yamagata festival. He was a charismatic talker, so it sounded absolutely splendid. However, I was not the only person that thought, ?A festival in Yamagata? ?where?s Yamagata?? I had to look on a map, and when I saw how far it was from the cultural hub of Tokyo I must confess I had my doubts about Ogawa?s grand vision. Little did I know that YIDFF would most definitely put Yamagata on the map. Sometime after we returned to our respective homes, I contacted Ogawa. I was considering a gap year between my MA and PhD and perhaps Ogawa knew of possibilities for me in Japan? I was actually hoping he?d invite me to work with his collective in one capacity or another, although I was too modest to come right out and ask. To my delight, he immediately responded and within months I unexpectedly found myself in Japan interviewing for a programming position at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. I glimpsed their operation close-up, noting what seemed to be a chasm between their relatively modest resources and their grand ambitions. Nevertheless, they brought me on as a coordinator, and it?s no exaggeration to say the festival changed my life just as it changed Asian documentary. It turned out those ambitions were quite realistic. As I will explain below, it had everything to do with the historical moment. I started working at Yamagata in 1990, and much of the time I was living in an apartment Ogawa Productions kept near their office. My roommate was Iizuka Toshio, the director of *A Movie Capital. *It was a tiny one-room apartment with tatami floors. The bathtub had been converted to storage and was filled with cardboard boxes packed with filmmaking detritus. So at the end of every day Iizuka and I would plod over to a nearby public bath to wash away our weariness, and on the way home we?d pick up beers at a convenience store. We would sit on the tatami, enjoying the day?s end drinks and trading stories. Iizuka was in the middle of editing *A Movie Capital. *The editing was being done just down the street at Ogawa Productions? Ogikubo studio. That sounds splendid, but it was actually a typical Japanese apartment converted into a jury-rigged post-production studio. There was a kitchen just big enough to stand in. A back bedroom had a 16mm editing station. The space in-between had been converted into a projection booth, transforming this modest living room into a screening room. Over a season, I dropped in to see the Ogawa Pro team editing away, and at night Iizuka updated me on their progress?or lack thereof. Iizuka was always circumspect, taking care not to criticize Ogawa. But he felt vexed by the mountain of footage they had accumulated during the festival. Every time he took a crack at giving it form, Ogawa knocked him down and he had to start again. It was clearly frustrating. I recall sitting in the screening room more than once when Ogawa was intensely critiquing the editing. The director?s words were too rapid for me to really grasp, but the disappointment was unmistakable. One night, Iizuka informed me that Ogawa was ?helping him edit the film? and it finally approached completion. When it was done, they asked me to translate the subtitles; I was surely not the best choice, but I was cheap. I wasn?t sure what to make of that whole experience until much later, when I found out this was Ogawa?s MO whenever one of his staff tried to direct his own film. The idea of masters giving their apprentices the chance to come into their own as an artist was as true of cinema as the traditional arts, and surely Ogawa felt compelled to support his key collective members in this way. But the three times he did this, he ended up severely criticizing his staff and ultimately taking over the post production process. It happened when Assistant Director Fukuda Katushiko made *Filmmaking and the Way to the Village *(*Eigazukuri to mura e no michi, *1973), leading to Fukuda?s departure from the collective and Iizuka?s ascension the role of assistant director. It happened just after that when his other assistant director Yumoto Mareo directed *Dokkoi! Songs from the Bottom *(*Dokkoi! Ningenbushi?Kotobukicho: Jiyu rodosha no machi, *1975); in this case, Ogawa so severely criticized Yumoto that he left the collective never to be heard of again. Thankfully, Iizuka stuck in there, and went on to forge a career of his own as a director. The film about the festival that finally came of their collective efforts is a fascinating account of both the first outing and the times. For those lucky enough to have visited the festival over the years, many of the rooms, theaters, and faces will look familiar. The continuity from then to now is striking. But this was also a very special year. The spectre of June 4 and the fall of the Berlin Wall hung over the festival, especially since China prevented director Tian Zhuangzhuang from traveling to Japan to serve on the jury (a key sequence in the film). The scene where Ogawa intensely engages Polish director Andrzej Marek Drazewski about the future of socialism vividly captures the moment. The world was teetering on the brink of something new, and the space of the film festival lent itself to heady discussions about future directions. Another transition is striking: the film opens with the death of Joris Ivens?one of the original founders of the documentary form?who was scheduled to show his new film in person. Sadly, Marceline Loridan had to visit alone. But she sets the tone for both the film and the festival when she said, For us the most important thing was to find a new cinematic form and method. We didn?t want to work with the old methods. To find a new form, you must liberate yourself. You must be free. You must be bold. You must express yourself in the film. This captures the spirit of the festival in 1989. Japan was unique in Asia for a tradition of documentary that started in the 1920s and regularly brought the avant-garde and documentary into dialogue; however, by the 1980s most people associated nonfiction with conventional television and Yamagata dedicated itself to being free and bold and exploding audiences? preconceptions about documentary. More importantly, the 1989 YIDFF also marked a turning point for Asian documentary, broadly construed. Most countries in the region suffered under dictatorships and illiberal governments where freedom of expression was unavailable?or dangerous. Furthermore, 16mm film stock was so expensive that only governments, large businesses and television networks could afford to make documentaries. However, right around this time, dictatorships fell, social movements looked to new forms of expression and video emerged as a form of low-budget production. Shocked that there were no Asian films for their competition section, the festival gathered these independent filmmakers and critics from across the region for its 1st Asia Symposium. *A Movie Capital* captures some of their discussions about the difficulties and dreams of Asian producers. At the end of the symposium, the great Filipino filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik drafted a manifesto which the assembled filmmakers signed. It ended with a reference to Ivens? new film: We the Asian Filmmakers present here, declare our commitment to maintain a network of Asian Filmmakers sharing of our visions, as well as our problems and solutions. We dramatize her, our desire to plant the seeds for the renaissance of independent documentary filmmaker in our region. We affirm here with optimism, our determination to seek, develop and implement approaches to deal with the obstacles, so that future international events like YIDFF will not be short of good Asian films. We declare here, the SPIRIT of the independent Asian documentary filmmakers is alive! And will one day, soar with the wind! Indeed, this is exactly what happened. Every two years, more and more Asian filmmakers came to Yamagata to show their work. They got to know their colleagues, and an intricate network quickly developed. Through Yamagata?s extensive historical retrospectives they were able to see the classics of Japanese and world documentary, which was particularly precious before the age of Youtube and the home video. And in this way Yamagata became a vibrant hub for Asian filmmakers, a role it plays to the present day. *A Movie Capital* is a valuable record of this unique moment in film history. Although it was the first film of Iizuka Toshio?s long career, it became the last film of Ogawa Productions. Sadly, while Ogawa helped birth this consequential international event, cancer had taken root deep in his body. He would be unable to attend the 1991 festival, though many Asian filmmakers visited his sick bed on their way to and from Yamagata. Those filmmakers and the ones that followed in their footsteps circulated between their homes and the biennial movie capital of Yamagata. And over these 30 years of festivals, Asian documentary has flourished, soaring with the wind. --- *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* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 1 15:14:57 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 15:14:57 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?b?NC824oCUMTAgRnJvbSBZSURGRuKAlEEy?= Message-ID: Hi everyone, I hope it didn't escape your notice that dafilms.com is streaming 10 key Japanese documentaries that launched from Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. https://asia.dafilms.com/spotlight-on/1129-yamagata2021 The festival asked me to write up some blog posts about both the films vis-a-vis the festival. I contributed six short essays, and since they were only distributed by Facebook, I thought I'd post them here as well. Cheers, Markus ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A2 On March 20, 1995, as preparations for that October?s Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival were picking up, Japan was rocked by domestic terrorism. Five members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult broke bags of sarin in Tokyo subway trains. The stations under attack were just kilometers away from the Yamagata Tokyo office in Kagurazaka and in every direction. Fourteen people died, over 5,000 victims went to hospitals, and things got strange fast. I vividly recall the way daily life transformed that spring and summer. Commuting to and from the festival office, one accumulated all sorts of trash in one?s pocket because all the trashcans in Tokyo had been taped shut. There was a general sense of fear, particularly because of the hyperbolic way the media portrayed both the manhunt and the cult itself. It was all incredibly dramatic and I wondered if any intrepid filmmakers were pursuing the story. My question was answered three years later with Mori Tatsuya?s *A *(1998), which he followed up in 2001 with *A2*. Mori?s films are a variation of direct cinema. He follows the media frenzy around the cult with his camcorder, occasionally inserting himself into the scenes with questions. Once in a while, he offers his perspective on things. The reception of the films, particularly the first one, was a real surprise. Somehow, Mori had insinuated himself into the good graces of the Aum leadership and he offered Japanese audiences a glimpse at the inside workings of the organization under police and media siege. The films raise a wide array of questions about both the workings and beliefs of the cult and the patently unethical behavior of both the authorities and the media. >From this starting point, Mori built a career around questions of documentary and journalistic ethics. Incredibly, I?ve heard Mori Tatsuya downplay his work as a documentary filmmaker. True, the man has written upwards of 40 books, and is a regular commentator on television any time journalistic ethics come to the fore. However, his contributions to Japanese documentary are undeniable, and *A2* (2001) is as good a starting point as any for approaching his oeuvre. Mori went to Rikkyo University, where he connected with a cohort of film-crazy students that included Kurosawa Kiyoshi. He even had an acting role in a few of Kurosawa?s first films. Around the same time, he pursued a career in television journalism; however, he continually found the strictures of mainstream tv not only unbearably tight, but at times sketchy to boot. This came to a head during the Aum Shinrikyo subway attack. In the year after the attack Mori had a line on Aum?s media spokesperson, Araki Hiroshi, and was able to conduct extensive interviews on tape. He wanted to use these as the basis for some television documentary, but the producers only wanted to extract his interviews and embed them in the conventional, hyperbolic coverage of the day. Frustrated, he teamed up with producer Yasuoka Takahara, who started his career as assistant director to Hara Kazuo on *The Emperor?s Naked Army Marches On *(*Yuki yukite shingun, *1987), and they edited the film into a feature length documentary entitled, simply *A*. It was a hard time to distribute independent documentaries. The postwar network of independent screening venues and groups was transforming into a nationwide collection of independently run theaters, or ?mini-theaters.? They were few and far between, and they weren?t showing much non-fiction. There was a technical obstacle as well. This was still the transition era between film and video. Here is a telling example: festival regular Jon Jost was just turning to?and proselytizing?digital capture and submitted his fully digital *London Brief* (1999) to Yamagata around the same time Mori completed *A*. The festival accepted the film to the competition?and told him to transfer it to film, *as per the regulations.* Jost said he didn?t have the $30,000 that would take, but the festival obstinately refused to budge (the film was finally shown out of competition and won an award). This is one reason *A *was shown out of competition at the 1997 YIDFF. Mori and Yasuoka were up against this deeply held prejudice against video. *A* and *A2* are rough and ready. They are almost exclusively hand-held?poorly?with the occasional wind blowing out the soundtrack. Lighting is often muddy. Resolution is so low it looks somewhat fuzzy from start to finish. As a result, A has been seen more in the intervening years than its original run. A2 fared better in 2001. Yamagata had broken down by then and started accepting video submissions without the expectation of a film transfer. The film was selected for the international competition and picked up two awards that October. The films were electrifying for those who took them on the terms of the new technology and its protean conventions. Mori freely traverses the border between the inner Aum sanctum and the crazy media ecosystem outside. This is literalized over and over in the films during press conferences. While the media mob waits in their assigned seats?cameras lined up and pens at the ready?Mori?s camera effortlessly moves to adjacent spaces where the Aum leadership prepares to meet the press. We then see how television repackages that raw reality and inevitably spins it in ways unfair to the cult. At the same time, while Mori portrays the Aum members sympathetically, he hardly lets them off the hook. He masterfully walks these lines and in an ethnically righteous manner. To this, Mori adds regular Japanese to the mix in *A2.* The film careens between encounters between Aum and three groups: the police, rowdy right-wing nationalists, and Japanese citizens living in the communities Aum has set up shop in. *A2* picks up around the beginning of the new century and captures a turning point in the story. Public relations head Joyu Fumihiro is let out of prison and replaces Asahara Shoko?s sons as the leader. The group changes its name to Aleph, and announces doctrinal changes. They apologize and create a large fund to compensate victims. At the same time, the government passes an anti-Aum law that allows the authorities extraordinary surveillance power. And at Aum?s facilities around the country, community members organize 24-hour surveillance posts and subject cult members to searches. Mori?s film tracks all these developments from inside the compounds and offices. The hysteria and discrimination members are subjected to is striking, especially thanks to the director?s humanizing gaze. He remains critical and repeatedly challenges his subjects. But he?s also respectful and friendly. Likewise, as the citizen surveillance teams interact with cult members over time, they realize how unfair the global demonization has been and begin to establish friendships. That leaves the ultra-right activists, the police and the media, none of whom shows any capacity to learn or change. Since the turn of the century, Mori went on to write dozens of books on the complex themes raised by A and A2. He addresses human rights, the legal foundations and cultural challenges of freedom of religion and speech, and the ethical quandaries of journalistic practice. Several of his books powerfully explore the theoretical dimensions of documentary and truth claims. These are themes he has returned to in his most recent must-see documentaries *FAKE* (2016) and *i-Documentary of the Journalist* (2019). To understand what he aspires to in these films, one ideally approaches them through Mori?s own starting point, the epicenter of the media spectacle captured in *A2*. --- *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* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 1 15:14:50 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 15:14:50 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?b?My824oCUMTAgRnJvbSBZSURGRuKAlFRoZSBOZXcg?= =?utf-8?q?God?= Message-ID: Hi everyone, I hope it didn't escape your notice that dafilms.com is streaming 10 key Japanese documentaries that launched from Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. https://asia.dafilms.com/spotlight-on/1129-yamagata2021 The festival asked me to write up some blog posts about both the films vis-a-vis the festival. I contributed six short essays, and since they were only distributed by Facebook, I thought I'd post them here as well. Cheers, Markus ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [image: 1999 New God-1-1_small.jpg] *The New God* In the postwar era, there were many modes of documentary, both in terms of production modes and aesthetics. However, the independent, politically engaged, and formally inventive cinema on the left attracted the most attention, and within that the collective mode epitomized by Ogawa Productions was particularly prestigious. It remains deeply valued today, despite the fact that it essentially died out with the demise of the student movement in the 1970s. As I suggested in a previous musing, *Living on the River Agano *(*Aga ni ikiru,* 1992) was something of a last gasp of the politically engaged collective documentary. A new trend took hold around that time, one that was predicated on the emergence of video. Of course, video had been around for a long time. However, by the 1990s the cameras became smaller and cheaper, bringing quality capture within reach of poor independent filmmakers. Perhaps even more importantly, the clunky apparatus needed for video editing gave way to non-linear editing systems on the new personal computers. This registered at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 1995, when Avid set up a table at the main venue to demonstrate its software to the visiting filmmakers. Adobe Premiere was new as well, and things really changed in 1999 when Apple released its prosumer Final Cut. With camcorders and desktop editing, a new generation of independents arrived. Many of the new directors were young, penniless, but computer-literate. While the first independent deployments of the new video technology in neighboring Taiwan and Korea were connected to group production and political activism, the young directors in Japan tended to focus on the personal. It?s telling that it has often been called the ?private film.? It soon constituted a whole new genre in Japanese documentary, one which sank its roots in the earlier autobiographical films of Hara Kazuo and Suzuki Shiroyasu. However, this ?private film? emerged from the ruins of movement politics. Conceptions of progressive politics in the film world fell into a kind of stasis in the 1970s, when the student movement boiled down, when the vanguard of the Red Army exposed a corruption within the Left by killing its own, when the oil shock hit hard, when the advances of third world and feminist filmmaking and theory were passed by, when Narita airport was completed. Stuck with a conception of the political defined decades in the past, young filmmakers became quick to dismiss any affiliation with it. Their practice of the private was a retreat. Now this emergence of a new autobiographical documentary was a global phenomenon because the technology was hitting everywhere at once. However, as Susan Hayward has pointed out, one of the fascinations of film history is that, while the technology of cinema is globally homogenous, its uses are radically heterogeneous; in other words, everyone was using camcorders, but in very different ways. Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival took note of the shift and invited Michael Renov, one of the top scholars of documentary, to contribute an article to its journal. Entitled, ?New Subjectivities: Documentary and Self-Representation in the Post-Verit? Age,? it came out in *Documentary Box 7* in the summer of 1995 ( https://www.yidff.jp/docbox/7/box7-1-e.html). Renov named the new autobiography the essayistic, and it was substantially defined by approaches that *used the self as a way to approach the world. *This is to say, documentary was discovering a new politicality. Renov wrote, The work to which I refer may rework memory or make manifesto-like pronouncements; almost inevitably a self, typically a deeply social self, is being constructed in the process. But what makes this "new subjectivity" new? Perhaps the answer lies in part in the extent to which current documentary self-inscription enacts identities - fluid, multiple, even contradictory - while remaining fully embroiled with public discourses. In this way, the work escapes charges of solipsism or self-absorption. What was striking about the Japanese iteration, however, was its reticence to connect the self of the filmmaker to the world. And even the directors that made the jump were debilitated by their knee-jerk rejection of the political and their work suffered for it. It was in this context that Tsuchiya Yutaka showed up at the 1999 Yamagata International Documentary Film festival with *The New God* (*Atarashii kamisama,* 1999) and caused quite a sensation. Tsuchiya was himself a dedicated activist. He led Video Act! which was then the closest thing to a movement in the Japanese cinema world at the end of the 1990s. The structure of this organization bears out the era?s atomization of passion. It was (still is: http://www.videoact.jp/english/index-e.html) a loose confederation of groups, connected more by a catalog and an internet site than anything else. Before this, Tsuchiya?s most interesting work was the controversial *What Do You Think About the War Responsibility of Emperor Hirohito?* (*Anata ha tenno no senso sekinin ni tsuite do omoimasu ka? [96.8.15 Yasukuni-hen],* 1997). In this fine example of video activism, Tsuchiya and a friend go to Yasukuni Shrine on the anniversary of the war's end to ask old people the question of the title. There are many impressive things about this project, both politically and formally. However, it is significant that these young filmmakers stepped into Yasukuni Shrine in the first place, let alone asking such a provocative question. This indicated a precious flexibility and an unwillingness to paint the right wing in broad strokes in order to dismiss it. For *The New God* Tsuchiya capitalized on his flexibility and eagerness to engage people across the entire political spectrum. Its premise was simply startling: Tsuchiya the progressive video activist hooked up with an ultra-nationalist punk band, and each tried to figure the other out. He gave the lead singer, Amamiya Karin, a video camera and both she and Tsuchiya recorded the development of their unlikely encounter from their own perspectives. They treat the video camera as a kind of intimate, confessing their deepest thoughts. At one point Tsuchiya arranged for Amamiya to visit the Red Army members who hijacked a plane to North Korea back in 1970 and the visit forces her to think hard about her own life. As the deep similarities between the extreme left and extreme right become clear to her?including the intolerance of their politics and their untenable idealism?Tsuchiya and Amamiya find themselves drawing closer together, perhaps politically and certainly emotionally. By the end of *The New God, *they enter a romantic relationship, she quits her affiliation with an ultra-nationalist organization to rethink her musical activism. *The New God* fits uncomfortably into the rubric of the private film. It constantly threatened to devolve into a love story, but Tsuchiya was too smart and too dedicated to an engaged documentary to let that happen. It started out looking like a somewhat conventional documentary until he handed a camera to Amamiya and her guitarist Ito Hidehito. From that point on, they became collaborators, something quite novel to the personal film as it was construed in Japan. In addition to the footage each shoots, all three offered their own voice-over commentary on the soundtrack. Tsuchiya made great use of the confessional mode that seems so specific to video as a medium. When they turned the camera on their own bodies, they constantly reflected on the latest twists and turns of their encounter. It became a mutual self-reflection, energized by the fact that each speculated on the motives and emotions of the other. Some audience members complained of a sense of performance during these private sessions with the camera, but that is only a matter of course. All documentary involves performance, but it also provokes what never would have happened without the presence of the machine. To focus on these matters of style would be to limit *The New God* to the confines of the ?private film.? What generated this phenomenon was precisely a refusal to enter the world, camera in hand. It was a dismissal of the political and the engaged, and a concomitant retreat to the safety of the self, the family and the friend (or even the aesthetic). Tsuchiya cites their constant consumption of the newest of the new as a deflection of the emptiness this causes, a way of engaging something safe, or creating a seemingly solid place to stand. He suggests the other safe haven is the personal. This situation helps explain why most young filmmakers seemed unwilling to take their cameras into that troubling world out there. Tsuchiya's use of the private film constituted a critique from within, because instead of using the genre to confirm one's identity and worth through public screening of the private sphere, he used it to engage the public arena with a resolute and refreshing passion. Bringing in the Red Army was a brilliant move, and reminds us of that other Red Army revolutionary=artist, Adachi Masao, who seemed to pose the choice in the early 1970s as one between politics and art. But like the reality of Adachi?s position, which was never an abandonment of art, Tsuchiya was dedicated to avoiding these kinds of either-or choices and traps. His commitment to escape the closed circuit of consumption and dedicate oneself to something larger was also a refusal to become dead-ended in the vestiges of Old Left party politics or New Left revolutionary politics. In 1999, I was not the only one who left the theater feeling like I had *finally* seen a committed, passionate, engaged documentary by someone from the new generation. This said, I must also point out that while the film broke down easy oppositions of right and left, new and old, private and public, it left everyone on shaky ground. This is why, in retrospect, it?s hard to see *The New God*, in the end, as a turning point for the Japanese documentary. [image: 1999 New God-2-1_small.jpg] [image: 1999 New God-3-1_small.jpg] --- *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* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: 1999 New God-3-1_small.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 118421 bytes Desc: not available URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 1 15:14:40 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 15:14:40 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?b?Mi824oCUMTAgRnJvbSBZSURGRuKAlExpdmluZyBv?= =?utf-8?q?n_the_River_Agano?= Message-ID: Hi everyone, I hope it didn't escape your notice that dafilms.com is streaming 10 key Japanese documentaries that launched from Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. https://asia.dafilms.com/spotlight-on/1129-yamagata2021 The festival asked me to write up some blog posts about both the films vis-a-vis the festival. I contributed six short essays, and since they were only distributed by Facebook, I thought I'd post them here as well. Cheers, Markus ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *Living on the River Agano* *Living on the River Agano* (*Aga ni ikiru,* 1992) is historically significant for the way it firmly stands at the transition point between the postwar social justice documentary and a proliferation of nonfiction forms, between the eras of 16mm and video, and between collective and individual production modes. It?s also a great film. Diretor Sato Makoto first contemplated a career in filmmaking in high school in the late 1970s, when Tsuchimoto Noriaki (the Minamata Series) and Ogawa Shinsuke (the Sanrizuka Series) dominated the nonfiction scene. While the student movement had already quieted down, the films by Tsuchimoto and Ogawa made him interested in the continuing struggles at Sanrizuka and Minamata. He became a member of the collective that shot *The Innocent Sea* (with Kakesu Shuichi, Katori Naotaka, Shiraki Yoshihiro, Sugita Kazuo and Higuchi Shiro, *Muko naru umi,* 1983). This was a Minamata film, and he drew on the national networks of Ogawa Productions and Tsuchimoto?s Seirinsha for distribution. Then in 1988, he and a crew of seven went to Niigata to make a documentary on the other area where Minamata Disease had afflicted the people, the Agano River. The collective approach to cinema epitomized by Ogawa Productions was still prestigious and powerfully attractive, so the filmmakers decided to living collectively in Niigata with the farmers and fishermen they were shooting. At the same time, people in the film world were increasingly aware of the pitfalls and challenges of collective production and they wanted to avoid some of the problems they perceived in the example of Ogawa Pro. On a YIDFF roundtable (featuring Ogawa?s Assistant Director Fukuda Katsuhiko among others) Sato recalls what they set out to do: The system of actually living and working somewhere no longer existed, but we were taken by the idea that we had found an opening that no one else had. We were very clear that the messages in our films should be different. We didn't want to convey the whole of Minamata, but rather to film its daily life. We thought that our films should be personal, that we should try somehow to break down social problems and focus on how lives can be lived and on the individual. Our way of filming was very 70s in that we worked in groups, but we absolutely did not want collaborative work to be a hard and fast rule as it had been at Ogawa Productions. There, it was a matter of hierarchy and poverty. We decided not to give the director all the power, and not to exhaust crewmembers without giving them any reward. We were determined to pay them at least something. We were trying to create some kind of community, but after three years, we found that we were just like a miniature Ogawa Productions. I don't think that this kind of thing will really succeed (Sato, et al., 47). The film that resulted from this collaboration, *Living on the River Agano*, was one of the high points of 1990s documentary. However, the production proved rocky, highlighting the problems of the collective approach. In retrospect, it appears like something of an experiment, to test whether the prestigious method represented by the example of Ogawa Pro was viable in an age when filmmakers were increasingly turning to private matters. Sato?s comment above was provoked by something Fukuda said: ?Film units have gotten smaller, with all the main filmmakers, like Kawase Naomi, working either alone or as a couple. Documentary filmmakers no longer get a film crew together to shoot movies. So it is not only the film subjects, but also the way people make films, that has shifted from the group to the individual. I have the feeling that Sato?s *Living on the River Agano *will be the last collective film in this sense? (Sato, et al., 47). Indeed, Fukuda appears to have been prescient in his prediction that this film was closing an era. Sato himself left collective production for the conventional mode based on an assembled crew. The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival played an important role in the production of *Living on the River Agano.* At the 1989 festival, Sato and his team famously travelled from Niigata to Yamagata to show a rough cut and get feedback. I write ?famously? for two reasons. One was that the collective was so poor that had no money to stay at hotels; instead, they pitched tents next to a river under a large bridge. The other reason is that the feedback was intense and took them aback. I once asked Sato for specifics. However, he just laughed as he stroked the top of his head and said only that it really put them in a tough spot. [image: 1991_YIDFF_Aga_small.jpg] I do recall the first official press screening of the film in Tokyo. By this point, it was a highly anticipated film, and the theater was crowded with filmmakers, programmers and critics. After the film, Hasumi Shigehiko held court with the filmmakers in the lobby, effusively praising the film. Aside from his cultural capital, being a professor (and future president) Tokyo University, Hasumi was one of the most powerful critics in Japan. He would go on to be one of the film?s champions. And Sato needed that support because the film also had many detractors. They mainly kept their criticisms off stage and out of print, but people were often dismissive and sometimes brutal. The main criticism had to do with the tone and stance of the film. This was not the in-your-face activist film that had dominated independent documentary since the end of the Occupation. Many had hoped for a concerted critique of the corporation that dumped mercury into the river, and one linked to government complicity and obstruction. In other words, they were using Tsuchimoto as a measuring stick and *Living on the River Agano* came up short. It?s true, Sato and his crew chose a more indirect approach that centered the film on the lives of the old people along the river. There are no clinical analyses of the disease and its horrible effects on the body. Rather, Sato mainly uses intertitles to explain the historical and political context of Niigata Minamata Disease. We see it registered on the human body mainly in indirectly, for example in the close-up of a gnarled, shaking hand. Hasumi recognized and celebrated the continuities between the films of Ogawa and Tsuchimoto and *Living on the River Agano.* This is a film that was firmly rooted in the lives and being of the people before the camera. The filmmakers took a deferential approach to filmmaking that was cognizant of the power of the filmmaker, while trying hard to think and record from the place of the other. This is the source of the film?s powerful affect. Over the years, Sato continually developed and articulated this approach as a filmmaker, writer and professor. In an era where independent documentary filmmakers were increasingly turning inward, to the self, through autobiographical modes, Sato asserted the importance of building the other?s gaze into the film. His most developed treatment is this theme may be found in the two-volume book entitled, *Horizons of Documentary *(2001). In his most powerful chapter, Sato pointed out that ?The camera possesses a violent power. At the very least, for the person that is turned into a subject, *being shot* for a film, is like *having something stolen?* (104). Drawing on Oshima Nagisa, Sato asserted three principles for the documentary: ?love for the subject,? ?long-term recording? and ?responsibility towards the subject? (169-171). Sato provocatively argued the camera bears ?fangs? ( *kiba*) that directors bare before their subjects, proposing that a politics and ethics for documentary filmmaking was inescapable. That anything else would be irresponsible. This was Sato?s starting point as a theorist, filmmaker and a human being. These are the very values and principles that animate *Living on the River Agano*. With time, the whispered criticisms of the film have all but disappeared, and the rich achievement of the film has become crystal clear. Sato demonstrated a righteous ethics of documentary; indeed, he lived it. Unfortunately, that sentence was cast in the past-tense. Despite a cheerful and enthusiastic demeanor, Sato profoundly suffered from depression. Every once in a while, he would disappear from sight for the sake of self-care. However, in one particularly dark bout with depression, he tragically elected to end his life in 2007 at the age of 49. However, his legacy, starting with *Living on the River Agano,* is as strong as ever. Today in Japan, any discussion of documentary theory and practice inevitably cites Sato. His pupils are working throughout the industry. His writings printed and reprinted. And at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, one hears Sato?s name resound in the Q &As, panels and bars. At the 2017 YIDFF?a decade after his passing?Sato?s pupils mourned his death and celebrated his life with a series of discussions. The events climaxed with a big party?under the very bridge his crew slept under in 1989. There was a huge vat of potato soup, free-flowing sake, and Sato?s ghostly presence projected on the pillars of the bridge. Those present included his many students and collaborators, as well as the many filmmakers and programmers from across Asia who have been touched by Sato?s legacy. This, I think, perfectly sums up the spirit of Yamagata and the role it has played in the history of Asian documentary. [image: 2017_10_9 YIDFF65_small.jpg] [image: 2017_10_9 YIDFF70_small.jpg] Sato Makoto. *Horizons of Documentary *(*Dokyumentarii no chihei, *Gaifusha, 2001). Sato Makoto, Yamane Sadao, Fukuda Katsuhiko, and Araki Keiko. ?From Political to Private: Recent Trends in Japanese Documentary,? in *The Pursuit of Japanese Documentary: The 1980s and Beyond* (Tokyo: YIDFF, 1997). --- *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* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 1991_YIDFF_Aga_small.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 178592 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2017_10_9 YIDFF65_small.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 358053 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2017_10_9 YIDFF70_small.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 254902 bytes Desc: not available URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 1 15:15:37 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 15:15:37 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?b?Ni824oCUMTAgRnJvbSBZSURGRuKAlFBpY2tsZXMg?= =?utf-8?q?and_Komian_Club?= Message-ID: Hi everyone, I hope it didn't escape your notice that dafilms.com is streaming 10 key Japanese documentaries that launched from Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. https://asia.dafilms.com/spotlight-on/1129-yamagata2021 The festival asked me to write up some blog posts about both the films vis-a-vis the festival. I contributed six short essays, and since they were only distributed by Facebook, I thought I'd post them here as well. Cheers, Markus ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [image: 1999-Komian-1_small.jpg] *Pickles and Komian Club* Anyone who has been to Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival should watch *Pickles and Komian Club *(*Maruhachi Yatarazuke Komian,* 2020). Anyone who has yet to visit Yamagata should watch this film. I guess that means *everyone* should watch *Pickles and Komian Club! * This is a documentary about a tsukemono-ya?a pickle shop/restaurant?near Yamagata?s City Hall, its history, its central role in Asian documentary film culture and, sadly, its demise. My first festival back in 1991 was incredibly exciting. I was busy most of the day and night tending to my own program commemorating the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. We ran films and symposia from morning to pretty late at night. And when we wrapped up each evening, it was time to kick back and relax. But there were two problems. The first was that Yamagata is no Shibuya, so shops and restaurants start shutting down regrettably early. The second was that what was open was pretty expensive. This was particularly true for the independent filmmakers from other Asian countries. The festival recognized this as a problem and set to work on it. Gearing up for the next festival, the staff in Yamagata announced they had an idea. A local tsukemono-ya wanted to invite the *entire festival* to hang out after the films ended. It was a brilliant idea, and soon became one of the hallmarks of the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival?it soon became the heart and soul of the festival. Film festivals are racked by hierarchy, and the bigger the festival the harder it becomes to penetrate the inner realms. I realized that at my first film festival job, the Hawai?i International Film Festival in 1988. At the time, Hawai?i was known as the place to go to see the latest Asian films. It was packed with scholars, programmers and filmmakers from across the region. As an intern, one of my tasks was to help create and manage the large fundraising operation that kept the festival not just running, but free to the public. This was my first introduction to film festival hierarchy, as the more money one gave the more access one had to special events where the famous guests were put on parade. This was most palpable to me at the opening night party, where the festival?s filmmakers rubbed elbows with the wealthiest donors around Jack Lord?s swimming pool beneath Diamondhead. The festival?s slogan?When Strangers Meet?felt a bit disingenuous to me, since the ticket to that glitzy party depended a lot on which gifting level you came in at. A few years later, I had a chance to visit Berlin International Film Festival in my capacity as a programmer. It came as something of a shock to learn that my badge got me free films and not much else. I couldn?t visit the market, though the researcher in me was dying to experience it. I was invited to one reception, but none of the others I heard about. Like all the big festivals, one?s distance from the seductive center of things is determined by the color of one?s badge. And if you don?t have a badge, then the festival positions you as mere consumer of tickets. Yamagata was different. And the difference was most obvious at the Komian Club. It opened at 10:00 each evening, and no matter what direction you approached from you?d bump into other festival people with the same goal. By the opening time, there was always a small crowd. Everyone mingling and chatting in anticipation. When they opened the doors, everyone filed in past huge tubs filled with sake and beer. For a 500 yen coin, the cheerful staff would hand over a drink and a snack. Within the hour, the place was packed with festivalgoers. [image: 2019 Komian--1_small.jpg] The space beyond was riotous and complex. Maruhachi Yatarazuke was over a century old. The facility was essentially a collection of old buildings all connected together. After receiving a drink, one faced a long, narrow hallway. It was like a gauntlet, forcing one to weave in and out around people, friends new and old stopping you to chat every few feet. Off to the right was a large room with tables. A bit further down, a staircase led to platform covered with shoes and a big tatami room beyond. To the left of the stairway was the kitchen, where more staff busily prepared food. A bit beyond this was a long room with a few more tables. I always loved the decorations in this room; it had huge wooden vats, ancient farm implements, and not quite as ancient skis. These included a pair of venerable Olin Mark IVs, which I skied on during my childhood in Colorado?as it happened, Yamagata and Boulder are sister cities, another reason I came to love it). Behind this room were the bathrooms, and more secret corners where people would stand and chat. [image: 2019 Komian-2-1_small.jpg] By 11:00, every nook and cranny was filled with people from around the world. Staff brought out big pots of *imoni,* a luscious potato soup Yamagata people cook every fall. Some people would station themselves at a particular corner. Others circulated from room to room, conversation to conversation. Still others held court at one of the tables as friends played musical chairs. It was a wonderful, moving spectacle. *But what was truly special about Komian is that it was open to anyone with a 500 yen coin. *Every night all the filmmakers, programmers, scholars, film fans and citizens of Yamagata?the entire festival?converged on this traditional pickle factory. Of course, there were still hierarchies because we?re human; but through Komian, the festival created a temporary space where everyone was in it together. They watched films all day and then talked about them all night at Komian Club. [image: 2017-Komian-1-1_small.jpg] Strangers met, created relationships, and in this way Yamagata helped spin a vast network of connections between independent artists and producers across Asia and beyond to the world. Tragically, Maruhachi Yatarazuke became a victim of the pandemic. In 2020, after 135 years in business, they closed their doors. Incredibly, the new owners tore down the beautiful old building, to be replaced by an apartment block. A boring one, I?m sure. But I?m told that the festival staff are hunting for a new space to gather in 2023. Sato Koichi?s lovely film memorializes both the pickle factory and its special role at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. He also introduces us to the spectacular mountains of Yamagata and a bit of its food culture. It?s a film that, yes, everyone should watch! [image: 1999-Komian-2-1_small.jpg][image: 2019 Komian-?????-1_small.jpg] --- *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* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 2019 Komian-2-1_small.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 649028 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 1999-Komian-1_small.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 398294 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: 2019 Komian-?????-1_small.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 508753 bytes Desc: not available URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 1 15:15:12 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 15:15:12 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?b?NS824oCUMTAgRnJvbSBZSURGRuKAlFN0b3J5dGVs?= =?utf-8?q?lers?= Message-ID: Hi everyone, I hope it didn't escape your notice that dafilms.com is streaming 10 key Japanese documentaries that launched from Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. https://asia.dafilms.com/spotlight-on/1129-yamagata2021 The festival asked me to write up some blog posts about both the films vis-a-vis the festival. I contributed six short essays, and since they were only distributed by Facebook, I thought I'd post them here as well. Cheers, Markus ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *Storytellers* *Storytellers *(2013) works a special kind of magic. I?ll explain the trick behind the magic below, but first a word or two about the film. It?s the third installment in what has come to be called the ?Tohoko Trilogy? directed by Sakai Ko and Hamaguchi Ryusuke, Tohoko being the northern region of the main island of Japan. The first two films are *The Sound of Waves* (*Nami no oto,* 2012) and *Voices from the Waves* (*Nami no koe,* 2013). They are three of the most interesting films made in the wake of the triple disaster of 311. *Storytellers* doesn?t address the earthquake and tsunami directly, but it?s all the more powerful when experienced in the context of the earlier two films centered on 311 survivors. As it happens, Yamagata is directly to the west of the tsunami zone. A mountain chain lies between the two, but it?s only 70 miles as the radiation flew from the Fukushima plant to the theaters of Yamagata City. Aside from taking in more refugees than any other prefecture, the disaster packed a psychic hit for its citizens. The Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival takes place every other year, but the staff run screening events all year, every year. After 311, they packed up their projectors, screens and generators and drove into the disaster zone, setting up screenings of Ghibli and other entertainment films for the victims of the disaster. And at the film festival itself, they organized a large sidebar of 311 films entitled ?Cinema With Us.? The 2021 festival featured the sixth edition in this series. Over the years, Yamagata has collected every 311 documentary they could. There are now hundreds of titles among the 8,000 films in their archive (https://www.yidff.jp/library/library-e.html). Looking over my notes, I watched roughly 300 of them for a project I never finished?because it just became too distressing. Among all these films, the Tohoku Trilogy stands out above most of the others, thanks to its indirectness, its quiet emotional power, and a unique formal device. Hamaguchi was the first to go to Tohoku. The Sendai Mediateque had started a project to record every aspect of the triple disaster, both by collecting media produced by victims and shooting their own records and interviews ( https://recorder311-e.smt.jp). Hamaguchi heard about a call for cameramen through his old school, the Tokyo University of the Arts. He went in May and convinced his old classmate Sakai to join him that summer. They found themselves frustrated by the set format of the interviews, which forced people into a box where all questions and answers were framed by their victimhood. The recorded conversations were inevitably stilted and overly formal. Indeed, while conventional documentary positions the interview as a fount of truth, it is actually as constructed as the most experimental of films. There is nothing natural about it. In contrast to this conventional approach, Sakai and Hamaguchi completely rethought the documentary interview in the three films of the Tohoku Trilogy. To this end, they drew on past experience. Hamaguchi had only recently shot *Intimacies *(*Shinmitsusa, *2012), a feature film about the mounting of a theatrical play. He tried many cinematic techniques to create a sense of intimacy, shooting actors frontally and also drawing on the conventions and techniques of documentary. He ended up feeling like it was a laboratory for learning lessons on documentary. For their Tohoku Trilogy films, they created a strategy to *capture intimacy*?between pairs of people and between the pairs and the audience?that centered on direct address. In documentary, direct address involves a person looking directly at the camera, which stands in for us spectators. The camera, in effect, acts as a conduit between a person ?out there? in the historical world and us. This technique is typical of broadcast television but relatively unusual in independent documentary. As Margaret Morse has pointed out, the use of direct address in television is deeply connected to the flow of power. In television news, the anchor looks directly at the camera to authoritatively speak to the audience; when they shift to a reporter on the street it?s often done with a gesture looking or turning away. As for the reporter they may look at the camera but always speaks to the anchor in the studio; in contrast, when they interview regular people, they *never* look at the camera because they are at the weak end of the power spectrum across from the anchor. The only other people on television who address the camera/audience are show hosts, heads of state, and actors in commercials. It?s all about power. Conventional documentary shares this spectrum of power. The rough equivalent of the TV anchor would be when directors overlay an all-powerful ?voice-of-God? narration over the image track. When interviews take place, subjects are powerless. They cannot address us spectators directly, and are *subjected* to the voice-of-God/director. At the same time, the documentary does its best to disavow the control the directors impose on every aspect of the film by positioning its interview subjects as the speakers of pure truth. In contrast, the direct address in *Storytellers* and their previous two films is fundamentally different. Here two people, often friends or relatives and survivors of the disaster, *speak to each other *in direct address*. *One survivor communes with another; here the camera stands in for one or the other person, while we are invited to participate from their subject positions, join the conversation as it were, and thus the communion. Sakai and Hamaguchi have crafted a gracious, respectful approach to documentary that puts its speakers at the center and generously allows them to talk at their own pace, in their own way, about what they feel is valuable and important. The effect of this direct address between two speakers is uncanny at first and one feels like an interloper, but then it transforms into a *new mode of listening* in cinema. As we slowly come to watch the film on its own terms, we take the position of the listener, with the speaker addressing *us. *Directly. Intimately. It?s quite extraordinary. Indeed, the Tohoku Trilogy?s stunning use of the human face ranks up there with Dreyer?s *Passion of Joan of Arc *(*La Passion de Jeanne d?Arc,* 128) and Bergman?s *Persona * (1966). I have more to say about this technique, but this requires explaining how they pulled it off. Usually, spoilers are about plot. The spoiler below is technical. If you haven?t seen any of the films, go and watch *Storytellers* on DAFilms (https://dafilms.com/film/14099-storytellers) and come back to finish this musing! To capture intimacy in documentary, one must have intimacy in the first place. Some filmmakers like Ogawa Shinsuke spend years living with their subjects. They achieve intimacy through fraternity and friendship, in effect rubbing out the typical gulf between filmmaker and subject. This takes time, money and a certain temperament; I suspect Sakai and Hamaguchi lacked all three. So their first choice was to have subjects talk to each other, not the directors, and hold a conversation, tell stories. They do interview the folklorist Ono Kazuko over the course of *Storytellers, *but those interviews take place in moving cars and a bus where everyone is facing the same direction. Many people, and perhaps most Japanese, are unaccustomed to looking interlocutors directly in the eye during conversations of any duration. The directors were highly self-conscious of this, and it led to the choices they made in not only these face-forward interviews with Ono but also the storytelling scenes at the heart of the film. Next, while Sakai and Hamaguchi were new to these people?s lives, Ono has known the storytellers for decades. Likewise, the conversations in the first two films were usually between family members or friends. They were clearly comfortable with each other. However, they were as uncomfortable with cameras as anyone. To overcome this, they allowed the people to talk to each other without cameras present until they thought people were in the groove of things and would speak honestly. Only then did they bring out the cameras, deploying them in the conventional camera set-ups of fiction filmmaking. In two-shots, the subjects face each other, sitting in chairs in a relatively open space. As their conversation begins, we see them in the traditional shot-reverse shot figure, photographed at 45-degree angles. Suddenly, the shot-reverse shots shift to direct address and the experience of watching and listening utterly transforms. In actuality, there has been a break. After restarting the conversation with cameras positioned at 45-degrees, they allowed their subjects to chat until they were accustomed to being shot. At some point, it would become necessary to switch tapes or take a break, and they took that opportunity to explain their new shooting method. Chairs were moved slightly sideways. Cameras were placed next to each chair, pointed across at the other person. Now their conversation partner was seated slightly at the diagonal, and directly across from them was a camera pointed directly at them. To make people feel slightly more comfortable, they gave each speaker a bit of white tape and asked them to draw the eye of the other person. These eyes were placed on the lens hood of the camera across from them. After this, the conversation would continue with each person *speaking to their partner but looking at the camera/eye.* As an aside, I?ve heard many people invoke Ozu in explaining the Tohoku Trilogy. The comparison is interesting but all wrong. Hamaguchi and Sakai shoot their subjects straight on. Ozu had his actors face away from the camera, but twist their torsos to face the camera. David Bordwell called this ?torquing.? Furthermore, their faces may be full frontal, but their eyelines never quite meet the axis of the camera lens so they are looking just off to the side, not at the audience. I once spoke to actor Okada Mariko about performing for Ozu in *An Autumn Afternoon* (*Sanma no aji,* 1959) and *Late Autumn *(*Akibiyori,* 1960). She described Ozu directing her to torque her body with minute precision (see the photo above). When he got what he liked, he held up a stick with a hand-drawn eye attached to the tip. Okada would look at the eye while the director waved his wand until her eyeline hit the exact direction he wanted. She would have to hold that position and deliver her lines or they?d have to start from scratch. Except for the hand-drawn eye, this has nothing to do with the technique developed by Sakai and Hamaguchi. [image: Storytellers_Ozu.jpeg] The two arrived at this method through some trial and error, but once they figured it out the effect was magical. They found that when speakers became accustomed to speaking to their interlocutor but looking at the camera, they could say things they might otherwise keep to themselves. Sometimes, it felt like the camera was capturing a new stage in a couple?s relationship. When audiences get over the shock of the conversations in direct address, the films transform. One experiences a strange intimacy with the speakers, while simultaneously knowing it?s a specifically cinematic, artificial experience. The shots are very long, so one has plenty of time to gaze at the beautiful faces with their every twitch, smile and grimace. This is both storytelling and testimony, and we are inclined to accept their utterances as truth as in any documentary. At the same time, one becomes self-conscious that not everything can be said. There are other stories hidden in the ones captured by the cameras. This is particularly true of the first two films, where people reminisce about the horrors of 311. *Storytellers* is a fit closing to the trilogy, as it is the inverse of the first two films. *The Sound of Waves* and *Voices from the Waves* capture true stories while *Storytellers *captures folk tales; but both secret dark realities deep inside their narratives. The last film invites one to wonder about the fictions of the first films, while asking what truths compel people to hand these stories down through generations. It becomes clear that the first two films are performing a new set of 311 stories that will echo through new generations. Around the time *Storytellers* was released, I recall the former Yamagata Documentary Film Festival Director, Fujioka Asako, wondering aloud how well the films would work with subtitles. I recalled this comment while re-watching the films this week. I find myself agreeing with her, and would take things a step further: *Storytellers*is all but untranslatable. Of course, there are English subtitles on the streamed version. But there are unfortunate, insurmountable problems. First of all, the elderly storytellers are all speaking in the dialects of Tohoku. I?m actually grateful for the subtitles, because the original language is extremely hard to follow for someone trained in the ?standard? Japanese of Tokyo. But the issue is not merely semantic. The musical cadence and sing-song melodies of the storytellers? delivery are familiar to anyone who has spent time with old folk in the north. Unfortunately, the subtitles render meaning completely transparent and devoid of accent. What?s more, the subtitles force one to glance up and down the entire film, making it impossible to truly tune into a storyteller?s very being. That is because the musical language of the storytellers is inextricable from their beautiful faces. [image: Storytellers1.png] [image: Storytellers2.png] --- *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* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Storytellers1.png Type: image/png Size: 2675394 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Storytellers2.png Type: image/png Size: 2873539 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Storytellers_Ozu.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 181995 bytes Desc: not available URL: From mbsas at berkeley.edu Tue Feb 1 16:01:39 2022 From: mbsas at berkeley.edu (Miryam Sas) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 13:01:39 -0800 Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car In-Reply-To: <598934507.7271140.1643740449203@mail.yahoo.com> References: <598934507.7271140.1643740449203@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: It looks like the series of talks is being recorded--at least from what I can gather from the recordings of the previous symposia in the series. On Tue, Feb 1, 2022 at 10:37 AM Roger Macy via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > I agree that the audition scenes are striking, particularly that of the > signing mute character, but my memory is that Hamaguchi allowed himself > some medium close-ups there. I?m pretty sure I would have walked out of > the (diegetically) ?real? theatre performance if confronted with an > enormous screen for the surtitles with two very small actors at the bottom > of it, who weren?t ?speaking? a common language. > > 5 pm PST is pretty late in old Europe but I?d be interested whether > Hamaguchi felt a detachment, or commitment, to that style of theatre > direction. > > Roger > > > On Tuesday, 1 February 2022, 17:28:25 GMT, Goddard, Timothy via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > > Dear Marcus, > > > > Glad to hear that you liked the film so much. I saw it at Lincoln Center > in New York back in early December, and it had a similar effect on me. > > > > Hamaguchi will be participating in a webinar organized by Japan House Los > Angeles this evening that might be of interest to you and other KineJapan > members: > > > > https://www.japanhousela.com/events/ma-in-japanese-film/ > > > > He?ll be joined in conversation by Hitoshi Abe of UCLA and Ken Tadashi > Oshima of UW. > > > > ?Tug > > > > ? > > Dr. Timothy Unverzagt Goddard ??? > > Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures > > Yale University > > 320 York Street, Room 112 > > New Haven, CT 06511 > > https://eall.yale.edu/people/timothy-unverzagt-goddard > > > > *From: *KineJapan on behalf of > Markus Nornes via KineJapan > *Date: *Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 12:11 PM > *To: *Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum > *Cc: *Markus Nornes > *Subject: *[KineJapan] Drive My Car > > I finally saw Drive My Car the other day. It's one of those films that > dwells inside you long afterwards. Loved it. > > > > The rhythm and pace of the film is really special. Actors deliver lines in > a slightly flat tone and regular cadence. They break into "acting" when > they audition, in advanced rehearsal or on stage, which is probably what > makes those scenes so striking. I have to admit I hate films-about-theater, > and one reason is the style of performance comes off as so stilted and > wrong (have yet to see Hamaguchi's Intimacies, but I'd probably dislike > it). But this was one film-about-theater that quite mysteriously _worked_. > > > > Hamaguchi builds a curious self-reflexivity into *Drive My Car.* The > weird style of rehearsal built into the narrative was also what he > subjected his actors to in preproduction. And, judging from comments by a > couple of them, they really didn't know what to make of it (the actors are > disciplined if they deliver lines with any degree of emoting). > > > > There is a key line delivered by a mute character to the theater director > that goes something like, "Unlike the others, I always have to struggle > with words and communicating meaning, so I understand how what matters is > not always in the words. I understand what you are doing." This is > definitely what's going on in this film; at the same time, I couldn't help > noticing the climax is ultimately...wordy. > > > > So this got me wondering. * Drive My Car* would seem to embody the legacy > of what Aaron called the "detached style" of 90s/turn of the century > Japanese film?films like *Eureka,* another quiet film about trauma, > memory, and healing. I won't rehearse Aaron's argument here (if you haven't > encountered it, here is a nice gloss > ) > But I suspect Aaron has something to say about this? > > > > I'm very curious about how other people are experiencing this film. > > > > Fun Fact: I drove that very car back in the late 80s, and sold it to none > other than Darrell Davis. > > > > 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* > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -- *Miryam Sas* Professor, Comparative Literature, Film & Media, Japanese Arts University of California, Berkeley *Feeling Media: Potentiality and the Afterlife of Art *(Duke University Press, forthcoming Fall 2022 ) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jtj53213 at gmail.com Tue Feb 1 20:38:00 2022 From: jtj53213 at gmail.com (John Junkerman) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2022 10:38:00 +0900 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?b?MS824oCUMTAgRnJvbSBZSURGRuKAlEEgTW92aWUg?= =?utf-8?q?Capital?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thanks, Markus. I pasted these into a Word file for easier reading (though without the evocative photos). Landscape orientation was the best I could do. John On Wed, Feb 2, 2022 at 5:13 AM Markus Nornes via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > I hope it didn't escape your notice that dafilms.com is streaming 10 key > Japanese documentaries that launched from Yamagata International > Documentary Film Festival. > > https://asia.dafilms.com/spotlight-on/1129-yamagata2021 > > The festival asked me to write up some blog posts about both the films > vis-a-vis the festival. I contributed six short essays, and since they were > only distributed by Facebook, I thought I'd post them here as well. > > Cheers, > > Markus > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > > How appropriate that this series kicks off with Ogawa Productions? *A > Movie Capital *(*Eiga no miyako, *1989), an unconventional PR film for > the first Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 1989. Looking > back at that moment?on the very pivot from Cold War to post-Cold War?we can > appreciate this film as the record of a turning point in the history of > Asian documentary. > > I first met the great director Ogawa Shinsuke at the 1988 Hawai?i > International Documentary Film Festival, where I was working as an intern. > He was there showing his collective?s last major film, *Magino Village > Story: Sundial Carved with a Thousand Years of Notches *(*Magino-mura > monogatari: Sennen kizami no hidokei, *1987). One of my jobs was minding > Ogawa, leading him from screening to screening and making sure he was > happy. That was no problem. He was endlessly optimistic and enthusiastic > and we swiftly became friends. I loved his film and was entranced by his > many stories; he took to me, I learned later, because he couldn?t believe > there was an American who did not possess a credit card. Apparently, I > scored points in his book for my poverty. > > He told me many stories about his exploits over the decades, but he was > most excited about a new project: the Yamagata International Film Festival. > Everywhere he went, he carried a handful of festival applications and > pressed them into the hands of the filmmakers he met. I vividly recall the > gap between my first impression and his bright enthusiasm for the Yamagata > festival. He was a charismatic talker, so it sounded absolutely splendid. > However, I was not the only person that thought, ?A festival in Yamagata? > ?where?s Yamagata?? I had to look on a map, and when I saw how far it was > from the cultural hub of Tokyo I must confess I had my doubts about Ogawa?s > grand vision. Little did I know that YIDFF would most definitely put > Yamagata on the map. > > Sometime after we returned to our respective homes, I contacted Ogawa. I > was considering a gap year between my MA and PhD and perhaps Ogawa knew of > possibilities for me in Japan? I was actually hoping he?d invite me to work > with his collective in one capacity or another, although I was too modest > to come right out and ask. To my delight, he immediately responded and > within months I unexpectedly found myself in Japan interviewing for a > programming position at the Yamagata International Documentary Film > Festival. I glimpsed their operation close-up, noting what seemed to be a > chasm between their relatively modest resources and their grand ambitions. > Nevertheless, they brought me on as a coordinator, and it?s no exaggeration > to say the festival changed my life just as it changed Asian documentary. > It turned out those ambitions were quite realistic. As I will explain > below, it had everything to do with the historical moment. > > I started working at Yamagata in 1990, and much of the time I was living > in an apartment Ogawa Productions kept near their office. My roommate was > Iizuka Toshio, the director of *A Movie Capital. *It was a tiny one-room > apartment with tatami floors. The bathtub had been converted to storage and > was filled with cardboard boxes packed with filmmaking detritus. So at the > end of every day Iizuka and I would plod over to a nearby public bath to > wash away our weariness, and on the way home we?d pick up beers at a > convenience store. We would sit on the tatami, enjoying the day?s end > drinks and trading stories. > > Iizuka was in the middle of editing *A Movie Capital. *The editing was > being done just down the street at Ogawa Productions? Ogikubo studio. That > sounds splendid, but it was actually a typical Japanese apartment converted > into a jury-rigged post-production studio. There was a kitchen just big > enough to stand in. A back bedroom had a 16mm editing station. The space > in-between had been converted into a projection booth, transforming this > modest living room into a screening room. Over a season, I dropped in to > see the Ogawa Pro team editing away, and at night Iizuka updated me on > their progress?or lack thereof. > > Iizuka was always circumspect, taking care not to criticize Ogawa. But he > felt vexed by the mountain of footage they had accumulated during the > festival. Every time he took a crack at giving it form, Ogawa knocked him > down and he had to start again. It was clearly frustrating. I recall > sitting in the screening room more than once when Ogawa was intensely > critiquing the editing. The director?s words were too rapid for me to > really grasp, but the disappointment was unmistakable. One night, Iizuka > informed me that Ogawa was ?helping him edit the film? and it finally > approached completion. When it was done, they asked me to translate the > subtitles; I was surely not the best choice, but I was cheap. > > I wasn?t sure what to make of that whole experience until much later, when > I found out this was Ogawa?s MO whenever one of his staff tried to direct > his own film. The idea of masters giving their apprentices the chance to > come into their own as an artist was as true of cinema as the traditional > arts, and surely Ogawa felt compelled to support his key collective members > in this way. But the three times he did this, he ended up severely > criticizing his staff and ultimately taking over the post production > process. It happened when Assistant Director Fukuda Katushiko made *Filmmaking > and the Way to the Village *(*Eigazukuri to mura e no michi, *1973), > leading to Fukuda?s departure from the collective and Iizuka?s ascension > the role of assistant director. It happened just after that when his other > assistant director Yumoto Mareo directed *Dokkoi! Songs from the Bottom *(*Dokkoi! > Ningenbushi?Kotobukicho: Jiyu rodosha no machi, *1975); in this case, > Ogawa so severely criticized Yumoto that he left the collective never to be > heard of again. > > Thankfully, Iizuka stuck in there, and went on to forge a career of his > own as a director. The film about the festival that finally came of their > collective efforts is a fascinating account of both the first outing and > the times. For those lucky enough to have visited the festival over the > years, many of the rooms, theaters, and faces will look familiar. The > continuity from then to now is striking. > > But this was also a very special year. The spectre of June 4 and the fall > of the Berlin Wall hung over the festival, especially since China prevented > director Tian Zhuangzhuang from traveling to Japan to serve on the jury (a > key sequence in the film). The scene where Ogawa intensely engages Polish > director Andrzej Marek Drazewski about the future of socialism vividly > captures the moment. The world was teetering on the brink of something new, > and the space of the film festival lent itself to heady discussions about > future directions. Another transition is striking: the film opens with the > death of Joris Ivens?one of the original founders of the documentary > form?who was scheduled to show his new film in person. Sadly, Marceline > Loridan had to visit alone. But she sets the tone for both the film and the > festival when she said, > > For us the most important thing was to find a new cinematic form and > method. We didn?t want to work with the old methods. To find a new form, > you must liberate yourself. You must be free. You must be bold. You must > express yourself in the film. > > This captures the spirit of the festival in 1989. Japan was unique in Asia > for a tradition of documentary that started in the 1920s and regularly > brought the avant-garde and documentary into dialogue; however, by the > 1980s most people associated nonfiction with conventional television and > Yamagata dedicated itself to being free and bold and exploding audiences? > preconceptions about documentary. > > More importantly, the 1989 YIDFF also marked a turning point for Asian > documentary, broadly construed. Most countries in the region suffered under > dictatorships and illiberal governments where freedom of expression was > unavailable?or dangerous. Furthermore, 16mm film stock was so expensive > that only governments, large businesses and television networks could > afford to make documentaries. However, right around this time, > dictatorships fell, social movements looked to new forms of expression and > video emerged as a form of low-budget production. Shocked that there were > no Asian films for their competition section, the festival gathered these > independent filmmakers and critics from across the region for its 1st Asia > Symposium. *A Movie Capital* captures some of their discussions about the > difficulties and dreams of Asian producers. At the end of the symposium, > the great Filipino filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik drafted a manifesto which the > assembled filmmakers signed. It ended with a reference to Ivens? new film: > > > We the Asian Filmmakers present here, declare our commitment to maintain a > network of Asian Filmmakers sharing of our visions, as well as our problems > and solutions. We dramatize her, our desire to plant the seeds for the > renaissance of independent documentary filmmaker in our region. We affirm > here with optimism, our determination to seek, develop and implement > approaches to deal with the obstacles, so that future international events > like YIDFF will not be short of good Asian films. We declare here, the > SPIRIT of the independent Asian documentary filmmakers is alive! And will > one day, soar with the wind! > > Indeed, this is exactly what happened. Every two years, more and more > Asian filmmakers came to Yamagata to show their work. They got to know > their colleagues, and an intricate network quickly developed. Through > Yamagata?s extensive historical retrospectives they were able to see the > classics of Japanese and world documentary, which was particularly precious > before the age of Youtube and the home video. And in this way Yamagata > became a vibrant hub for Asian filmmakers, a role it plays to the present > day. > > *A Movie Capital* is a valuable record of this unique moment in film > history. Although it was the first film of Iizuka Toshio?s long career, it > became the last film of Ogawa Productions. Sadly, while Ogawa helped birth > this consequential international event, cancer had taken root deep in his > body. He would be unable to attend the 1991 festival, though many Asian > filmmakers visited his sick bed on their way to and from Yamagata. Those > filmmakers and the ones that followed in their footsteps circulated between > their homes and the biennial movie capital of Yamagata. And over these 30 > years of festivals, Asian documentary has flourished, soaring with the wind. > > > > > --- > > *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* > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -- John Junkerman jtj53213 at gmail.com 2-18-6 Ehara-cho, Nakano Tokyo 165-0023 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Markus notes 10 from YIDFF.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 46460 bytes Desc: not available URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 1 21:17:59 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2022 21:17:59 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?b?MS824oCUMTAgRnJvbSBZSURGRuKAlEEgTW92aWUg?= =?utf-8?q?Capital?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thanks John! I guess I could have done that from the get go. I just realized that I failed to make an important revision to the *A Movie Capital* piece. I wrote that "there were no Asian films in the competition," which has been the festival schtick every since the first Asia Symposium in 1989. One still hears that phrase today. Ogawa often couched his commitment to young Asian filmmakers in terms of getting Asian films into the main international competition. The thing is, there *was* a film by an Asian filmmaker in the 1989 competition. The filmmaker was Tezuka Yoshiharu, a professor at Komazawa University, author of* Japanese Cinema Goes Global* and I think he's even a member of KineJapan. The film was *Over the Threshold *(and you can see it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/OIg7gmamZis). Obviously, Tezuka didn't count as Japanese because he was studying abroad. Ridiculous. Apologies to Tezuka-san! 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* On Tue, Feb 1, 2022 at 8:41 PM John Junkerman via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > Thanks, Markus. > I pasted these into a Word file for easier reading (though without the > evocative photos). Landscape orientation was the best I could do. > John > > On Wed, Feb 2, 2022 at 5:13 AM Markus Nornes via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > >> Hi everyone, >> >> I hope it didn't escape your notice that dafilms.com is streaming 10 key >> Japanese documentaries that launched from Yamagata International >> Documentary Film Festival. >> >> https://asia.dafilms.com/spotlight-on/1129-yamagata2021 >> >> The festival asked me to write up some blog posts about both the films >> vis-a-vis the festival. I contributed six short essays, and since they were >> only distributed by Facebook, I thought I'd post them here as well. >> >> Cheers, >> >> Markus >> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ >> >> >> How appropriate that this series kicks off with Ogawa Productions? *A >> Movie Capital *(*Eiga no miyako, *1989), an unconventional PR film for >> the first Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 1989. Looking >> back at that moment?on the very pivot from Cold War to post-Cold War?we can >> appreciate this film as the record of a turning point in the history of >> Asian documentary. >> >> I first met the great director Ogawa Shinsuke at the 1988 Hawai?i >> International Documentary Film Festival, where I was working as an intern. >> He was there showing his collective?s last major film, *Magino Village >> Story: Sundial Carved with a Thousand Years of Notches *(*Magino-mura >> monogatari: Sennen kizami no hidokei, *1987). One of my jobs was minding >> Ogawa, leading him from screening to screening and making sure he was >> happy. That was no problem. He was endlessly optimistic and enthusiastic >> and we swiftly became friends. I loved his film and was entranced by his >> many stories; he took to me, I learned later, because he couldn?t believe >> there was an American who did not possess a credit card. Apparently, I >> scored points in his book for my poverty. >> >> He told me many stories about his exploits over the decades, but he was >> most excited about a new project: the Yamagata International Film Festival. >> Everywhere he went, he carried a handful of festival applications and >> pressed them into the hands of the filmmakers he met. I vividly recall the >> gap between my first impression and his bright enthusiasm for the Yamagata >> festival. He was a charismatic talker, so it sounded absolutely splendid. >> However, I was not the only person that thought, ?A festival in Yamagata? >> ?where?s Yamagata?? I had to look on a map, and when I saw how far it was >> from the cultural hub of Tokyo I must confess I had my doubts about Ogawa?s >> grand vision. Little did I know that YIDFF would most definitely put >> Yamagata on the map. >> >> Sometime after we returned to our respective homes, I contacted Ogawa. I >> was considering a gap year between my MA and PhD and perhaps Ogawa knew of >> possibilities for me in Japan? I was actually hoping he?d invite me to work >> with his collective in one capacity or another, although I was too modest >> to come right out and ask. To my delight, he immediately responded and >> within months I unexpectedly found myself in Japan interviewing for a >> programming position at the Yamagata International Documentary Film >> Festival. I glimpsed their operation close-up, noting what seemed to be a >> chasm between their relatively modest resources and their grand ambitions. >> Nevertheless, they brought me on as a coordinator, and it?s no exaggeration >> to say the festival changed my life just as it changed Asian documentary. >> It turned out those ambitions were quite realistic. As I will explain >> below, it had everything to do with the historical moment. >> >> I started working at Yamagata in 1990, and much of the time I was living >> in an apartment Ogawa Productions kept near their office. My roommate was >> Iizuka Toshio, the director of *A Movie Capital. *It was a tiny one-room >> apartment with tatami floors. The bathtub had been converted to storage and >> was filled with cardboard boxes packed with filmmaking detritus. So at the >> end of every day Iizuka and I would plod over to a nearby public bath to >> wash away our weariness, and on the way home we?d pick up beers at a >> convenience store. We would sit on the tatami, enjoying the day?s end >> drinks and trading stories. >> >> Iizuka was in the middle of editing *A Movie Capital. *The editing was >> being done just down the street at Ogawa Productions? Ogikubo studio. That >> sounds splendid, but it was actually a typical Japanese apartment converted >> into a jury-rigged post-production studio. There was a kitchen just big >> enough to stand in. A back bedroom had a 16mm editing station. The space >> in-between had been converted into a projection booth, transforming this >> modest living room into a screening room. Over a season, I dropped in to >> see the Ogawa Pro team editing away, and at night Iizuka updated me on >> their progress?or lack thereof. >> >> Iizuka was always circumspect, taking care not to criticize Ogawa. But he >> felt vexed by the mountain of footage they had accumulated during the >> festival. Every time he took a crack at giving it form, Ogawa knocked him >> down and he had to start again. It was clearly frustrating. I recall >> sitting in the screening room more than once when Ogawa was intensely >> critiquing the editing. The director?s words were too rapid for me to >> really grasp, but the disappointment was unmistakable. One night, Iizuka >> informed me that Ogawa was ?helping him edit the film? and it finally >> approached completion. When it was done, they asked me to translate the >> subtitles; I was surely not the best choice, but I was cheap. >> >> I wasn?t sure what to make of that whole experience until much later, >> when I found out this was Ogawa?s MO whenever one of his staff tried to >> direct his own film. The idea of masters giving their apprentices the >> chance to come into their own as an artist was as true of cinema as the >> traditional arts, and surely Ogawa felt compelled to support his key >> collective members in this way. But the three times he did this, he ended >> up severely criticizing his staff and ultimately taking over the post >> production process. It happened when Assistant Director Fukuda Katushiko >> made *Filmmaking and the Way to the Village *(*Eigazukuri to mura e no >> michi, *1973), leading to Fukuda?s departure from the collective and >> Iizuka?s ascension the role of assistant director. It happened just after >> that when his other assistant director Yumoto Mareo directed *Dokkoi! >> Songs from the Bottom *(*Dokkoi! Ningenbushi?Kotobukicho: Jiyu rodosha >> no machi, *1975); in this case, Ogawa so severely criticized Yumoto that >> he left the collective never to be heard of again. >> >> Thankfully, Iizuka stuck in there, and went on to forge a career of his >> own as a director. The film about the festival that finally came of their >> collective efforts is a fascinating account of both the first outing and >> the times. For those lucky enough to have visited the festival over the >> years, many of the rooms, theaters, and faces will look familiar. The >> continuity from then to now is striking. >> >> But this was also a very special year. The spectre of June 4 and the fall >> of the Berlin Wall hung over the festival, especially since China prevented >> director Tian Zhuangzhuang from traveling to Japan to serve on the jury (a >> key sequence in the film). The scene where Ogawa intensely engages Polish >> director Andrzej Marek Drazewski about the future of socialism vividly >> captures the moment. The world was teetering on the brink of something new, >> and the space of the film festival lent itself to heady discussions about >> future directions. Another transition is striking: the film opens with the >> death of Joris Ivens?one of the original founders of the documentary >> form?who was scheduled to show his new film in person. Sadly, Marceline >> Loridan had to visit alone. But she sets the tone for both the film and the >> festival when she said, >> >> For us the most important thing was to find a new cinematic form and >> method. We didn?t want to work with the old methods. To find a new form, >> you must liberate yourself. You must be free. You must be bold. You must >> express yourself in the film. >> >> This captures the spirit of the festival in 1989. Japan was unique in >> Asia for a tradition of documentary that started in the 1920s and regularly >> brought the avant-garde and documentary into dialogue; however, by the >> 1980s most people associated nonfiction with conventional television and >> Yamagata dedicated itself to being free and bold and exploding audiences? >> preconceptions about documentary. >> >> More importantly, the 1989 YIDFF also marked a turning point for Asian >> documentary, broadly construed. Most countries in the region suffered under >> dictatorships and illiberal governments where freedom of expression was >> unavailable?or dangerous. Furthermore, 16mm film stock was so expensive >> that only governments, large businesses and television networks could >> afford to make documentaries. However, right around this time, >> dictatorships fell, social movements looked to new forms of expression and >> video emerged as a form of low-budget production. Shocked that there were >> no Asian films for their competition section, the festival gathered these >> independent filmmakers and critics from across the region for its 1st Asia >> Symposium. *A Movie Capital* captures some of their discussions about >> the difficulties and dreams of Asian producers. At the end of the >> symposium, the great Filipino filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik drafted a manifesto >> which the assembled filmmakers signed. It ended with a reference to Ivens? >> new film: >> >> We the Asian Filmmakers present here, declare our commitment to maintain >> a network of Asian Filmmakers sharing of our visions, as well as our >> problems and solutions. We dramatize her, our desire to plant the seeds for >> the renaissance of independent documentary filmmaker in our region. We >> affirm here with optimism, our determination to seek, develop and implement >> approaches to deal with the obstacles, so that future international events >> like YIDFF will not be short of good Asian films. We declare here, the >> SPIRIT of the independent Asian documentary filmmakers is alive! And will >> one day, soar with the wind! >> >> Indeed, this is exactly what happened. Every two years, more and more >> Asian filmmakers came to Yamagata to show their work. They got to know >> their colleagues, and an intricate network quickly developed. Through >> Yamagata?s extensive historical retrospectives they were able to see the >> classics of Japanese and world documentary, which was particularly precious >> before the age of Youtube and the home video. And in this way Yamagata >> became a vibrant hub for Asian filmmakers, a role it plays to the present >> day. >> >> *A Movie Capital* is a valuable record of this unique moment in film >> history. Although it was the first film of Iizuka Toshio?s long career, it >> became the last film of Ogawa Productions. Sadly, while Ogawa helped birth >> this consequential international event, cancer had taken root deep in his >> body. He would be unable to attend the 1991 festival, though many Asian >> filmmakers visited his sick bed on their way to and from Yamagata. Those >> filmmakers and the ones that followed in their footsteps circulated between >> their homes and the biennial movie capital of Yamagata. And over these 30 >> years of festivals, Asian documentary has flourished, soaring with the wind. >> >> >> >> >> --- >> >> *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* >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> KineJapan mailing list >> KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu >> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan >> > > > -- > John Junkerman > jtj53213 at gmail.com > 2-18-6 Ehara-cho, Nakano > Tokyo 165-0023 > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From timothyunverzagt.goddard at yale.edu Tue Feb 1 21:20:54 2022 From: timothyunverzagt.goddard at yale.edu (Goddard, Timothy) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2022 02:20:54 +0000 Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car In-Reply-To: References: <598934507.7271140.1643740449203@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: For those of you who were interested in tonight?s webinar but were unable to attend, an edited recording will be available here: https://www.japanhousela.com/happenings/events/ ?Tug ? Dr. Timothy Unverzagt Goddard ??? Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures Yale University 320 York Street, Room 112 New Haven, CT 06511 https://eall.yale.edu/people/timothy-unverzagt-goddard From: KineJapan on behalf of Miryam Sas via KineJapan Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 4:04 PM To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum Cc: Miryam Sas Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Drive My Car It looks like the series of talks is being recorded--at least from what I can gather from the recordings of the previous symposia in the series. On Tue, Feb 1, 2022 at 10:37 AM Roger Macy via KineJapan > wrote: I agree that the audition scenes are striking, particularly that of the signing mute character, but my memory is that Hamaguchi allowed himself some medium close-ups there. I?m pretty sure I would have walked out of the (diegetically) ?real? theatre performance if confronted with an enormous screen for the surtitles with two very small actors at the bottom of it, who weren?t ?speaking? a common language. 5 pm PST is pretty late in old Europe but I?d be interested whether Hamaguchi felt a detachment, or commitment, to that style of theatre direction. Roger On Tuesday, 1 February 2022, 17:28:25 GMT, Goddard, Timothy via KineJapan > wrote: Dear Marcus, Glad to hear that you liked the film so much. I saw it at Lincoln Center in New York back in early December, and it had a similar effect on me. Hamaguchi will be participating in a webinar organized by Japan House Los Angeles this evening that might be of interest to you and other KineJapan members: https://www.japanhousela.com/events/ma-in-japanese-film/ He?ll be joined in conversation by Hitoshi Abe of UCLA and Ken Tadashi Oshima of UW. ?Tug ? Dr. Timothy Unverzagt Goddard ??? Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures Yale University 320 York Street, Room 112 New Haven, CT 06511 https://eall.yale.edu/people/timothy-unverzagt-goddard From: KineJapan > on behalf of Markus Nornes via KineJapan > Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 12:11 PM To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum > Cc: Markus Nornes > Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car I finally saw Drive My Car the other day. It's one of those films that dwells inside you long afterwards. Loved it. The rhythm and pace of the film is really special. Actors deliver lines in a slightly flat tone and regular cadence. They break into "acting" when they audition, in advanced rehearsal or on stage, which is probably what makes those scenes so striking. I have to admit I hate films-about-theater, and one reason is the style of performance comes off as so stilted and wrong (have yet to see Hamaguchi's Intimacies, but I'd probably dislike it). But this was one film-about-theater that quite mysteriously _worked_. Hamaguchi builds a curious self-reflexivity into Drive My Car. The weird style of rehearsal built into the narrative was also what he subjected his actors to in preproduction. And, judging from comments by a couple of them, they really didn't know what to make of it (the actors are disciplined if they deliver lines with any degree of emoting). There is a key line delivered by a mute character to the theater director that goes something like, "Unlike the others, I always have to struggle with words and communicating meaning, so I understand how what matters is not always in the words. I understand what you are doing." This is definitely what's going on in this film; at the same time, I couldn't help noticing the climax is ultimately...wordy. So this got me wondering. Drive My Car would seem to embody the legacy of what Aaron called the "detached style" of 90s/turn of the century Japanese film?films like Eureka, another quiet film about trauma, memory, and healing. I won't rehearse Aaron's argument here (if you haven't encountered it, here is a nice gloss) But I suspect Aaron has something to say about this? I'm very curious about how other people are experiencing this film. Fun Fact: I drove that very car back in the late 80s, and sold it to none other than Darrell Davis. Markus --- [https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1YYQZdrswh1HD_xCKXSzMs3lLalKxLVgs&revid=0By9QGX7UmiKRSEdLZ0xoVDNEM2xLclB3R0pDbk93ek8yeEtVPQ] 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 _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -- Miryam Sas Professor, Comparative Literature, Film & Media, Japanese Arts University of California, Berkeley Feeling Media: Potentiality and the Afterlife of Art (Duke University Press, forthcoming Fall 2022 ) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jtj53213 at gmail.com Tue Feb 1 22:41:45 2022 From: jtj53213 at gmail.com (John Junkerman) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2022 12:41:45 +0900 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?q?NHK_doc_about_Kawase_Naomi=E2=80=99s_Olymp?= =?utf-8?q?ic_doc?= In-Reply-To: References: <89F3EC94-8015-4C19-BFD0-DC14AB5DC625@yale.edu> Message-ID: This controversy continues to fester. NHK held a couple of press conferences in the days after these posts, one to address whether the telops (which claimed the interviewee had participated in an anti-Olympic protest, and that he revealed he had been paid to protest) had been confirmed with the interviewee (they had not), and another to clarify that responsibility for the telops lay with NHK and not with Kawase or her second-unit director, Shimada Kakuei. It was also announced that a special committee had been set up to examine the incident. In addition to the telops, a number of free-speech citizens' groups have pointed to two other moments in the program. In one, after the scene with the telops, Shimada tells the NHK director, "There are professional protestors, and protestors who are seriously concerned, so it's hard to generalize about the opposition." Shimada denies telling NHK that the interviewee was paid, but he certainly implies as much, and it appears he went out of his way to set up the interview with the man (was he looking for a "Gotcha!" scene?). The other moment involves Kawase, who was filming a protest outside the JOC offices by Tokyo school teachers, objecting to plans to mobilize students to attend the Games during the pandemic. Kawase commented to the NHK camera, "The people involved with the Olympics are working so hard here, it's only natural, as a human being, to sympathize with them (??????????????????)." The teachers' group protested to NHK, pointing out that this "gave the impression that our 'opposition to the Olympics' was not something a human being would do." The program is not available to be seen, so we can't confirm these reports or see them in context, but they do call into question Kawase's professed commitment to impartiality. I imagine (and hope) she will be more careful in her presentation. John Junkerman jtj53213 at gmail.com 2-18-6 Ehara-cho, Nakano Tokyo 165-0023 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Wed Feb 2 12:38:13 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2022 12:38:13 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Onchi Hideo Message-ID: <9D8FDEED-E5D6-43E7-A614-FCB4EBA9F785@yale.edu> The Japanese film and TV director Onchi Hideo has passed away at age 88. Onchi started out at Toho in the 1950s and debuted as a director in 1961, becoming known for his work on Toho youth films. He directed both animated films and award-winning social problem films, but he is also known for his work on TV, especially on memorable series such as Kizudarake no tenshi. https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/202202020001220.html Aaron Gerow A. Whitney Griswold Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and Film and Media Studies Chair, East Asian Languages and Literatures Yale University 320 York Street, Room 108 PO Box 208201 New Haven, CT 06520-8201 USA Phone: 1-203-432-7082 Fax: 1-203-432-6729 e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu website: www.aarongerow.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Wed Feb 2 12:49:38 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2022 12:49:38 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Kinema Junpo Best Message-ID: Kinema Junpo did a live announcement of the number 1 film in its annual Best Ten, as well as of the individual awards. Drive My Car came away with best film plus best director and screenplay. Best actor was Yakusho Koji and best actress Ono Machiko. Best documentary went to Hara Kazuo's Minamata mandala. A special career award was given to the film critic Sato Tadao. https://www.kinejun.com/2022/02/02/post-8515/ Aaron Gerow A. Whitney Griswold Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and Film and Media Studies Chair, East Asian Languages and Literatures Yale University 320 York Street, Room 108 PO Box 208201 New Haven, CT 06520-8201 USA Phone: 1-203-432-7082 Fax: 1-203-432-6729 e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu website: www.aarongerow.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nornes at umich.edu Wed Feb 2 13:39:18 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2022 13:39:18 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Kinema Junpo Best In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Here is a link to the ceremony. It looked like the audience was only cast and crew members of the winning film. https://youtu.be/z4yoXBcWbJ0 Sato-san gave a quick video greeting. He's hanging in there at 91. Hasn't changed much since I last met him about 4 or 5 years ago. 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* On Wed, Feb 2, 2022 at 12:51 PM Gerow Aaron via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > Kinema Junpo did a live announcement of the number 1 film in its annual > Best Ten, as well as of the individual awards. Drive My Car came away with > best film plus best director and screenplay. Best actor was Yakusho Koji > and best actress Ono Machiko. Best documentary went to Hara Kazuo's > Minamata mandala. A special career award was given to the film critic Sato > Tadao. > > https://www.kinejun.com/2022/02/02/post-8515/ > > > > Aaron Gerow > A. Whitney Griswold Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and > Film and Media Studies > Chair, East Asian Languages and Literatures > Yale University > 320 York Street, Room 108 > PO Box 208201 > New Haven, CT 06520-8201 > USA > Phone: 1-203-432-7082 > Fax: 1-203-432-6729 > e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu > website: www.aarongerow.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From eija at helsinkicineaasia.fi Thu Feb 3 03:57:55 2022 From: eija at helsinkicineaasia.fi (Eija Niskanen) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2022 10:57:55 +0200 Subject: [KineJapan] genre in anime and recent anime hits Message-ID: How would you define or discuss genre in anime in relation to the recent huge hits Demon Slayer, Hero Academy and Sword Art Online. It seems to me they are hybrid, combinign elements of sci-fi, fantasy etc. I see even some scenes in Hosoda's Belle moving towards this kind of popular type of anime. Any hints on articles discussing this are welcome! Eija Niskanen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From lorenzojavier.torres.hortelano at urjc.es Thu Feb 3 04:19:19 2022 From: lorenzojavier.torres.hortelano at urjc.es (Lorenzo Javier Torres Hortelano) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2022 09:19:19 +0000 Subject: [KineJapan] genre in anime and recent anime hits In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Not focused in those specific examples, but discussing those generes related to hybridation: https://www.mdpi.com/books/pdfdownload/book/1386 Japanese Media Cultures in Japan and Abroad Arts 2019, 8,57 is the way anime and manga are treated as monolithic entities that embody many other values; for example, their serial nature, their relationship with the Japanese visual arts, etc. www.mdpi.com ? Best, [cid:fcca243b-3ece-4cc9-9291-883731afba7a] Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano Vicedecano de Extensi?n Universitaria y Relaciones Internacionales Vice-Dean of University Extension and International Relations Profesor Titular/Professor Universidad Rey Juan Carlos Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicaci?n Departamento de Ciencias de la Comunicaci?n y Sociolog?a Edificio de Gesti?n - Decanato Camino del Molino s/n, 28943 Fuenlabrada +34 91 488 73 11 lorenzojavier.torres.hortelano at urjc.es gestion2.urjc.es/pdi/ver/lorenzojavier.torres.hortelano researchgate.net/profile/Lorenzo_Torres Lorenzo Torres Academia.edu IP proyecto Europa Creativa http://theylive.eu/ ________________________________ De: KineJapan en nombre de Eija Niskanen via KineJapan Enviado: jueves, 3 de febrero de 2022 9:57 Para: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum Cc: Eija Niskanen Asunto: [KineJapan] genre in anime and recent anime hits How would you define or discuss genre in anime in relation to the recent huge hits Demon Slayer, Hero Academy and Sword Art Online. It seems to me they are hybrid, combinign elements of sci-fi, fantasy etc. I see even some scenes in Hosoda's Belle moving towards this kind of popular type of anime. Any hints on articles discussing this are welcome! Eija Niskanen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Outlook-0at1i11f.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 44329 bytes Desc: Outlook-0at1i11f.jpg URL: From amanda at amandakennell.net Thu Feb 3 09:20:41 2022 From: amanda at amandakennell.net (Amanda Kennell) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2022 14:20:41 +0000 Subject: [KineJapan] genre in anime and recent anime hits In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: It's not specific to the titles you mention, but Rayna Denison's Anime: A Critical Introduction does a great job of using the concept of genre to examine anime. You might look at the first chapter, which drills down into why genre is so useful when discussing anime in particular, and the last one, which discusses horror at a point where it too seemed hybrid. -Amanda Kennell ________________________________ From: KineJapan on behalf of Eija Niskanen via KineJapan Sent: Thursday, February 3, 2022 3:57 AM To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum Cc: Eija Niskanen Subject: [KineJapan] genre in anime and recent anime hits How would you define or discuss genre in anime in relation to the recent huge hits Demon Slayer, Hero Academy and Sword Art Online. It seems to me they are hybrid, combinign elements of sci-fi, fantasy etc. I see even some scenes in Hosoda's Belle moving towards this kind of popular type of anime. Any hints on articles discussing this are welcome! Eija Niskanen -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mekerpan2 at gmail.com Thu Feb 3 09:26:14 2022 From: mekerpan2 at gmail.com (Michael Kerpan) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2022 09:26:14 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] genre in anime and recent anime hits In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: My guess is that "hybrid" is pretty common -- even in shows that are not massive super-hits. For example, I just finished watching ReLIFE -- a series (2016 and 2018) about NEETS being given a chance to re-start by becoming 10 years younger and re-doing one year of high school (after which everyone but the subject and the entity in charge will forget all about what happened). While all the trappings are presented as "scientific" -- the premise (that this can all be done with drug pills) is clearly much closer magic in a fantasy story. (For the record, this is an utterly lovely slice of life -- with excellent characters). SSSS Dynazenon (2021) looks like a mecha series (bu actually is as much a slice of life in some ways) -- yet an underlying element is that some of the characters are reincarnations of people who lived in ancient Egypt (in the time of the pharaohs). Not certain this is new -- looking back to Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006, 2009) and Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010), how does one characteize this -- science fiction or fantasy -- or some of both. I wonder if the literary concept of "science fiction" in the Japan might be less rigid than in the West (or at least the USA)? For instance, the manga (2005-2016) on Which And Yet the Town Moves (2010) won a prestigious science fiction award (Seiun Awards) -- despite being 90 percent slice of life and 9.9 percent (roughly) "fantasy" (afterlife and return therefrom, among other things, I'm reluctant to provide much detail) and maybe .1 percent "typical" science fiction (some flying saucers). If these are at all useful -- and you want some other examples, I'll try to dredge more up from my memory. Michael Kerpan Boston On Thu, Feb 3, 2022 at 3:58 AM Eija Niskanen via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > How would you define or discuss genre in anime in relation to the recent > huge hits Demon Slayer, Hero Academy and Sword Art Online. It seems to me > they are hybrid, combinign elements of sci-fi, fantasy etc. I see even some > scenes in Hosoda's Belle moving towards this kind of popular type of anime. > Any hints on articles discussing this are welcome! > > Eija Niskanen > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mekerpan2 at gmail.com Thu Feb 3 10:12:54 2022 From: mekerpan2 at gmail.com (Michael Kerpan) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2022 10:12:54 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Aoi Miyazaki in Kaurismaki-Land???? Message-ID: Not exactly JAPANESE cinema -- but sort of related and "interesting" -- I think... Aoi Miyazaki has been one of my favorite young actresses ever since I first encountered her in Eureka (2000). I just happened on a collection of commercials she did for Earth, Music and Ecology (a recycled clothing company). The first little segment has her singing a Blue Hearts song -- but even more interesting is a sequence starting around 6:27 in where she appears to be in Finland (and speaking Finnish) -- and the content is VERY Kaurismaki-esque. Was he moonlighting doing commercials for Japan in 2011-2016? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LZbi_yuLdc Michael Kerpan Boston -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From eija at helsinkicineaasia.fi Thu Feb 3 11:07:08 2022 From: eija at helsinkicineaasia.fi (Eija Niskanen) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2022 18:07:08 +0200 Subject: [KineJapan] Aoi Miyazaki in Kaurismaki-Land???? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Oh yes, they even filmed a couple of these in Kaurismaki's bar Corona and the attached Moscow Bar (they don't exist any more). Eija to 3. helmik. 2022 klo 17.13 Michael Kerpan via KineJapan ( kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu) kirjoitti: > Not exactly JAPANESE cinema -- but sort of related and "interesting" -- I > think... > > Aoi Miyazaki has been one of my favorite young actresses ever since I > first encountered her in Eureka (2000). I just happened on a collection of > commercials she did for Earth, Music and Ecology (a recycled clothing > company). The first little segment has her singing a Blue Hearts song -- > but even more interesting is a sequence starting around 6:27 in where she > appears to be in Finland (and speaking Finnish) -- and the content is VERY > Kaurismaki-esque. Was he moonlighting doing commercials for Japan in > 2011-2016? > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LZbi_yuLdc > > Michael Kerpan > Boston > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From caitlin.casiello at yale.edu Thu Feb 3 11:48:50 2022 From: caitlin.casiello at yale.edu (Caitlin Casiello) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2022 11:48:50 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] genre in anime and recent anime hits In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I think with anime, it?s important to recall there are a number of genres beyond or within ?science fiction?/?fantasy? which might operate more strongly on audience expectations than the broader categories SFF. If we think of genre as a set of shared tropes which can be used to shape audience expectations, this might be more useful. With Demon Slayer, I would call it fantasy/historical but I also know its ?demographic? genre is sh?nen which tells me more what to expect from the series than just fantasy. With Sword Art Online, it fits into the fantasy anime genre of ?video game reality,? somewhat related to isekai (the protagonist moves into a different world) and in the vein of .hack etc; knowing that context from anime history gives me more of an idea of what?s going on. With something like Haruhi, ?school setting? and ?otaku-aimed highly referential? might be just as significant genre descriptors as sci-fi/fantasy. This is to say that I think part of the reason anime seem to have highly hybridized genres is because there are anime(/manga/games)-specific(-ish) genres in place which have been hybridizing overarching genres for a long time. Is it useful to say mecha is science fiction (defined broadly as fiction dealing with the concerns of technology in society)? It is, but maybe it?s more useful to define mecha as its own (sub-)genre with specific concerns. On Thu, Feb 3, 2022 at 9:26 AM Michael Kerpan via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > My guess is that "hybrid" is pretty common -- even in shows that are not > massive super-hits. > > For example, I just finished watching ReLIFE -- a series (2016 and 2018) > about NEETS being given a chance to re-start by becoming 10 years younger > and re-doing one year of high school (after which everyone but the subject > and the entity in charge will forget all about what happened). While all > the trappings are presented as "scientific" -- the premise (that this can > all be done with drug pills) is clearly much closer magic in a fantasy > story. (For the record, this is an utterly lovely slice of life -- with > excellent characters). SSSS Dynazenon (2021) looks like a mecha series > (bu actually is as much a slice of life in some ways) -- yet an underlying > element is that some of the characters are reincarnations of people who > lived in ancient Egypt (in the time of the pharaohs). Not certain this is > new -- looking back to Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2006, 2009) and > Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010), how does one characteize this -- > science fiction or fantasy -- or some of both. > > I wonder if the literary concept of "science fiction" in the Japan might > be less rigid than in the West (or at least the USA)? For instance, the > manga (2005-2016) on Which And Yet the Town Moves (2010) won a prestigious > science fiction award (Seiun Awards) -- despite being 90 percent slice of > life and 9.9 percent (roughly) "fantasy" (afterlife and return therefrom, > among other things, I'm reluctant to provide much detail) and maybe .1 > percent "typical" science fiction (some flying saucers). > > If these are at all useful -- and you want some other examples, I'll try > to dredge more up from my memory. > > Michael Kerpan > Boston > > > On Thu, Feb 3, 2022 at 3:58 AM Eija Niskanen via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > >> How would you define or discuss genre in anime in relation to the recent >> huge hits Demon Slayer, Hero Academy and Sword Art Online. It seems to me >> they are hybrid, combinign elements of sci-fi, fantasy etc. I see even some >> scenes in Hosoda's Belle moving towards this kind of popular type of anime. >> Any hints on articles discussing this are welcome! >> >> Eija Niskanen >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> KineJapan mailing list >> KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu >> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan >> > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -- Caitlin Casiello Ph.D. Student Film & Media Studies and East Asian Languages & Literatures Yale University -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Thu Feb 3 16:25:56 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2022 16:25:56 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Fwd: CFP for edited volume on Eco-Disasters in Japanese Cinema References: Message-ID: <164C1D9F-FEA9-454F-A10C-B0F50C6B87C3@yale.edu> Rachel DiNitto has asked me to share this call for papers: > > Call for Proposals: Eco-Disasters in Japanese Cinema > > I am seeking original articles for an edited Asia Shorts volume titled Eco-Disasters in Japanese Cinema. The Asia Shortsbook series, published by the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) and distributed worldwide by Columbia University Press, offers concise, engagingly-written titles by highly-qualified authors that appeal to broad audiences with up-to-date scholarship on important, timely topics in Asian Studies. Topics are intended to be substantive, generate discussion and debate within the field, and attract interest beyond it. > > Cinema is an important and powerful venue for addressing environmental crises in Japan. Eco-Disasters in Japanese Cinema analyzes this environmental commentary as it coalesces around cinematic representations of disaster. Japanese cinema is filled with images of destruction. While the most obvious examples are the catastrophic spectacles of monster films, Japanese directors have also used images of disaster and destruction to produced pertinent and timely visual commentary on a multitude of environmental threats. These films exceed the bounds of any single genre or approach and range in scale from the individual to the planetary: the nuclear bombs, radiation, and oceanic pollution in Godzilla films; the rising waters of climate change in Weathering with You; and the slow violence of industrial pollution in Tsuchimoto Noriaki?s oeuvre on Minamata disease. This volume focuses the analysis on cinematic representations of disaster widely defined, as a means to examine the evolving environmental discourse in Japan, including the pollution crises of the 1970s and the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011. The volume welcomes films produced during or depicting any era, with particular interest in films that have not been analyzed in an environmental context or that challenge clich?d representations of disaster in Japanese cinema via an ecocritical approach. There are currently a number of confirmed contributors. > > Potential topics include but are not limited to: > All genres of film?documentary, live action, animated, monster films, etc. > Independent cinema and large studio productions > How different genres visualize environmental messages > All historical time periods depicted in film > Environmental harm from nuclear/radiation, industrial pollutants, or other acts of human violence or natural disasters: e.g., asbestos, mining, chemical pollution, deforestation, war, climate change, etc. > The uses of landscape and space in environmental film > Realistic/documentary films about historical environmental harm > Science fiction/speculative cinema of imagined destruction or environmental harm > Spectacular, catastrophic destruction as well as slow and often invisible violence > Disaster victims as environmental refugees > Colonial/postcolonial environmental destruction > Comparisons between/across different eras or genres of Japanese cinema > Cultural specificity of Japanese cinematic responses to environmental harm > > Given the aim of the series, all submissions should be written in jargon-free prose that is easily accessible for non-specialist. The number of endnotes should be minimal compared to more traditional scholarly publications. The word count for each article is 6,000 words inclusive of notes and bibliography. Prospective authors should email me a 250-300 word abstract and brief bio by March 31, 2022. Full papers for approved abstracts will be due on or before August 15, 2022. All submissions will be blind reviewed before being published. > > Prospective authors are welcome to contact me at: rdinitto at uoregon.edu > > Rachel DiNitto > Professor of Japanese Literature > East Asian Languages & Literatures > 301 Friendly Hall > University of Oregon > Eugene, OR > 97403-1248 > > _______________________________________________ > Jlit-l mailing list > Jlit-l at lists.purdue.edu > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/jlit-l__;!!C5qS4YX3!QOOEZ1bLO0lYnquLA-x0cKvvyBdTdDkAU-QtzwmPJbznvpy8n38N_qQNf9BbM_Rb3A$ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From reeldrew at aol.com Sat Feb 5 20:33:27 2022 From: reeldrew at aol.com (reeldrew at aol.com) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2022 01:33:27 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] wanted--information about 1927 Japanese silent on YouTube References: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> ?As I cannot read Japanese despite my strong interest in early Japanese cinema, I was wondering if anyone here could help identify a Japanese silent feature film I just came across on YouTube? The link is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-cRhZ8ssLw Other than that it was made in 1927 and is a modern or "gendai-geki" film, apparently an action adventure film, I have no idea what film it might be. Can anyone give me the title of the film in both kanji and English translation, the name of the director and the stars or principal players, along with any other information about it you might have? Many thanks in advance.?William M. Drew -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Sat Feb 5 20:56:40 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2022 20:56:40 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] wanted--information about 1927 Japanese silent on YouTube In-Reply-To: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: The film is Ogon no dangan (?????, The Golden Bullet), directed by Innami Hiroshi ???. Apparently it was his directorial debut. It was made at Toa Kinema and stars Oiwa Eijiro, Miyajima Ken?ichi, and Chikusa Yuriko. It?s a detective action film shot in Kobe. Aaron Gerow From reavolution at gmail.com Sat Feb 5 20:55:40 2022 From: reavolution at gmail.com (Rea Amit) Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2022 19:55:40 -0600 Subject: [KineJapan] wanted--information about 1927 Japanese silent on YouTube In-Reply-To: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: I don't know it, but it looks like: *Ogon no dangan *(The Golden Bullet, 1927), director INNAMI Hiroshi's (1902?1938) debut film, starring: ?IWA Eijir?, MIYAJIMA Ken'ichi, CHIGUSA Yuriko, and NAKAMURA Sonoe. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1927/bc000170.htm It's amazing the things you can find online these days... Thanks for sharing this! Best, Rea Amit On Sat, Feb 5, 2022 at 7:33 PM William M. Drew via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > As I cannot read Japanese despite my strong interest in early Japanese > cinema, I was wondering if anyone here could help identify a Japanese > silent feature film I just came across on YouTube? The link is at: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-cRhZ8ssLw Other than that it was made > in 1927 and is a modern or "gendai-geki" film, apparently an action > adventure film, I have no idea what film it might be. Can anyone give me > the title of the film in both kanji and English translation, the name of > the director and the stars or principal players, along with any other > information about it you might have? Many thanks in advance. > > William M. Drew > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From earljac at gmail.com Sat Feb 5 22:37:42 2022 From: earljac at gmail.com (Earl Jackson) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2022 11:37:42 +0800 Subject: [KineJapan] wanted--information about 1927 Japanese silent on YouTube In-Reply-To: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Golden Bullet directed by Innami Hiroshi 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, Feb 6, 2022 at 9:33 AM William M. Drew via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > As I cannot read Japanese despite my strong interest in early Japanese > cinema, I was wondering if anyone here could help identify a Japanese > silent feature film I just came across on YouTube? The link is at: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-cRhZ8ssLw Other than that it was made > in 1927 and is a modern or "gendai-geki" film, apparently an action > adventure film, I have no idea what film it might be. Can anyone give me > the title of the film in both kanji and English translation, the name of > the director and the stars or principal players, along with any other > information about it you might have? Many thanks in advance. > > William M. Drew > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From earljac at gmail.com Sat Feb 5 22:57:22 2022 From: earljac at gmail.com (Earl Jackson) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2022 11:57:22 +0800 Subject: [KineJapan] wanted--information about 1927 Japanese silent on YouTube In-Reply-To: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: thank you for letting us know it's online. I've never seen it before and it's quite compelling viewing! 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 Sun, Feb 6, 2022 at 9:33 AM William M. Drew via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > As I cannot read Japanese despite my strong interest in early Japanese > cinema, I was wondering if anyone here could help identify a Japanese > silent feature film I just came across on YouTube? The link is at: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-cRhZ8ssLw Other than that it was made > in 1927 and is a modern or "gendai-geki" film, apparently an action > adventure film, I have no idea what film it might be. Can anyone give me > the title of the film in both kanji and English translation, the name of > the director and the stars or principal players, along with any other > information about it you might have? Many thanks in advance. > > William M. Drew > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From macyroger at yahoo.co.uk Sun Feb 6 03:37:56 2022 From: macyroger at yahoo.co.uk (Roger Macy) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2022 08:37:56 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] wanted--information about 1927 Japanese silent on YouTube In-Reply-To: References: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1211540282.362777.1644136676252@mail.yahoo.com> It was shown at Pordenone in 2005. Wish I was there.Here's the catalogue entry http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/ed_precedenti/screenings_recorden.php?ID=5683So, english and italian subtitles exist somewhere ...? There are no stills in the printed catalogue.Roger On Sunday, 6 February 2022, 01:57:01 GMT, Gerow Aaron via KineJapan wrote: The film is Ogon no dangan (?????, The Golden Bullet), directed by Innami Hiroshi ???. Apparently it was his directorial debut. It was made at Toa Kinema and stars Oiwa Eijiro, Miyajima Ken?ichi, and Chikusa Yuriko. It?s a detective action film shot in Kobe. Aaron Gerow _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From matteo.boscarol at gmail.com Sun Feb 6 04:03:03 2022 From: matteo.boscarol at gmail.com (matteoB) Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2022 18:03:03 +0900 Subject: [KineJapan] wanted--information about 1927 Japanese silent on YouTube In-Reply-To: <1211540282.362777.1644136676252@mail.yahoo.com> References: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> <1211540282.362777.1644136676252@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: A couple of weeks ago, the movie was made available online (ticket: 1000?) through the Kobe Planet Film Archive. 2 versions, live narration & live music, with English subtitles for the intertitles https://ogon-no-dangan.lumiere.theater/en not sure if it is still available though Matteo On Sun, 6 Feb 2022, 17:38 Roger Macy via KineJapan, < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > It was shown at Pordenone in 2005. Wish I was there. > Here's the catalogue entry > http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/ed_precedenti/screenings_recorden.php?ID=5683 > So, english and italian subtitles exist somewhere ... There are no stills > in the printed catalogue. > Roger > > On Sunday, 6 February 2022, 01:57:01 GMT, Gerow Aaron via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > > The film is Ogon no dangan (?????, The Golden Bullet), directed by Innami > Hiroshi ???. Apparently it was his directorial debut. It was made at Toa > Kinema and stars Oiwa Eijiro, Miyajima Ken?ichi, and Chikusa Yuriko. It?s a > detective action film shot in Kobe. > > Aaron Gerow > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From macyroger at yahoo.co.uk Sun Feb 6 19:23:46 2022 From: macyroger at yahoo.co.uk (Roger Macy) Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2022 00:23:46 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] wanted--information about 1927 Japanese silent on YouTube In-Reply-To: References: <2019648891.170706.1644111207125.ref@mail.yahoo.com> <2019648891.170706.1644111207125@mail.yahoo.com> <1211540282.362777.1644136676252@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <124524802.674546.1644193426588@mail.yahoo.com> Thank you for this, Matteo ! I was more than happy to pay 1000 yen to watch this. And it gives youaccess to both renderings for your money. I?m paying ?lumiere.theater? ? Itrust that some of that money gets back to Kobe Planet Archive. I had no ideathey ever offered subtitled films online. Somehow, I can?t seem to get to a toppage for ?lumiere.theater? to see what they are offering ? too many other lumiereson Google. Roger On Sunday, 6 February 2022, 09:04:14 GMT, matteoB via KineJapan wrote: A couple of weeks ago, the movie was made available online (ticket: 1000?) through the Kobe Planet Film Archive.?2 versions, live narration & live music, with English subtitles for the intertitleshttps://ogon-no-dangan.lumiere.theater/en not sure if it is still available though Matteo On Sun, 6 Feb 2022, 17:38 Roger Macy via KineJapan, wrote: It was shown at Pordenone in 2005. Wish I was there.Here's the catalogue entry http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/ed_precedenti/screenings_recorden.php?ID=5683So, english and italian subtitles exist somewhere ...? There are no stills in the printed catalogue.Roger On Sunday, 6 February 2022, 01:57:01 GMT, Gerow Aaron via KineJapan wrote: The film is Ogon no dangan (?????, The Golden Bullet), directed by Innami Hiroshi ???. Apparently it was his directorial debut. It was made at Toa Kinema and stars Oiwa Eijiro, Miyajima Ken?ichi, and Chikusa Yuriko. It?s a detective action film shot in Kobe. Aaron Gerow _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Tue Feb 8 09:05:23 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2022 09:05:23 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car nominations Message-ID: <869585D3-FA7E-45C1-8BD2-3BF17E1FAFFC@yale.edu> Drive My Car got 4 nominations for this year's Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best International Feature. https://abc7.com/oscar-nominations-oscars-2022-best-picture-nominees-list/11544064/ Has there been a Japanese film before with so many nominations? Aaron Gerow -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 8 09:06:08 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2022 09:06:08 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Japan at the Oscars Message-ID: Oscar noms just announced. The critics might to crowbar *Drive My Car* into every category (in her "predictions," Dargis in the *Times *gave 4 of her 5 slots for Best Supporting Actress to Hamaguchi's players). In the end, *Drive My Car* ended up in competition for many of the top prizes. BEST PICTURE: DRIVE MY CAR DIRECTING: DRIVE MY CAR?Ryusuke Hamaguchi INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM: DRIVE MY CAR WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY): DRIVE MY CAR? Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe Has any other foreign language film managed this? Can't think of any. 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* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Tue Feb 8 09:12:13 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2022 09:12:13 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Japan at the Oscars In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <870CF1B0-DDF3-4325-8043-F1E8D6AECD33@yale.edu> > Has any other foreign language film managed this? Can't think of any. Roma had 10 nominations, so Drive My Car does not come close. Aaron Gerow -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From notreconciled at gmail.com Tue Feb 8 09:15:22 2022 From: notreconciled at gmail.com (Frederick Veith) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2022 23:15:22 +0900 Subject: [KineJapan] Japan at the Oscars In-Reply-To: <870CF1B0-DDF3-4325-8043-F1E8D6AECD33@yale.edu> References: <870CF1B0-DDF3-4325-8043-F1E8D6AECD33@yale.edu> Message-ID: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon also had ten. On Tue, Feb 8, 2022 at 23:12 Gerow Aaron via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > Has any other foreign language film managed this? Can't think of any. > > Roma had 10 nominations, so Drive My Car does not come close. > > Aaron Gerow > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 8 09:34:17 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2022 09:34:17 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Japan at the Oscars In-Reply-To: References: <870CF1B0-DDF3-4325-8043-F1E8D6AECD33@yale.edu> Message-ID: Right. Forgot about those! I just looked at what else they were nominated for..... Technical categories: editing, sound editing, production design, cinematography, song, etc. Hamaguchi's cinematographic choices are fascinating?washing out the colors except for red, using a tight frame, opening it all up at the end.....a friend told me the Hokkaido sequence has a red caste, but I'm color blind so I have no idea about that! In any case, it's not flashy by design, so no way it can compete in those categories. Acting categories: there is something strange and wonderful about the performances in *Drive My Car,* but the voters for these categories are all actors. But it's not hard seeing actors taking their votes elsewhere. It will be interesting seeing if the film leaves with at least one Oscar. That would be very cool. And extra special bonus: even if it doesn't win anything, it'll be a windfall for the film's American distributor Janus (and Criterion), and that means the world will be a better place. 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* On Tue, Feb 8, 2022 at 9:15 AM Frederick Veith via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon also had ten. > > On Tue, Feb 8, 2022 at 23:12 Gerow Aaron via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > >> >> Has any other foreign language film managed this? Can't think of any. >> >> Roma had 10 nominations, so Drive My Car does not come close. >> >> Aaron Gerow >> >> _______________________________________________ >> KineJapan mailing list >> KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu >> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan >> > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From caitlin.casiello at yale.edu Tue Feb 8 10:03:09 2022 From: caitlin.casiello at yale.edu (Caitlin Casiello) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2022 10:03:09 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Japan at the Oscars In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Parasite had six nominations, won BP, Director, International, and Original Screenplay. Very happy to see the Oscars have opened their minds on foreign films. On Tue, Feb 8, 2022 at 9:06 AM Markus Nornes via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > Oscar noms just announced. The critics might to crowbar *Drive My Car* > into every category (in her "predictions," Dargis in the *Times *gave 4 > of her 5 slots for Best Supporting Actress to Hamaguchi's players). In the > end, *Drive My Car* ended up in competition for many of the top prizes. > > BEST PICTURE: DRIVE MY CAR > DIRECTING: DRIVE MY CAR?Ryusuke Hamaguchi > INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM: DRIVE MY CAR > WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY): DRIVE MY CAR? Screenplay by Ryusuke > Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe > Has any other foreign language film managed this? Can't think of any. > 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 > * > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -- Caitlin Casiello Ph.D. Student Film & Media Studies and East Asian Languages & Literatures Yale University -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From I.Hayter at leeds.ac.uk Thu Feb 10 12:52:28 2022 From: I.Hayter at leeds.ac.uk (Irena Hayter) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2022 17:52:28 +0000 Subject: [KineJapan] Sasakawa MA and PhD Studentships in Japanese Studies, University of Leeds In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: With apologies for crossposting ? please post on your mailing lists and circulate widely. Sasakawa MA and PhD Studentships in Japanese Studies (closing date 04 March 2022) The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation has generously allocated up to three Postgraduate Studentships to the University of Leeds, as part of its programme to support the study of Japan in UK. The University will nominate up to three applicants and the final selection will be done by GBSF. East Asian Studies at Leeds invites applications from suitably qualified candidates who wish to pursue a taught MA programme in Film Studies with a focus on Japanese cinema, a MA by research (MAR) in Japanese Studies or a PhD in Japanese Studies starting October 2022. The Sasakawa Postgraduate Studentships are worth ?10,000 and they are tenable for one year only; it is possible, however, to reapply the following year for up to a maximum of three years (for those studying for a PhD) or four years (for students pursuing MA or MAR, and then PhD). Any aspect of Japanese studies or any discipline subject where Japan is the primary focus of the research will be considered. Prior knowledge of the Japanese language is not a condition. For eligibility, further information and how to apply, see here . For Japanese Studies research and supervision expertise in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, please see here. Informal inquiries to Dr Irena Hayter (i.hayter at leeds.ac.uk) Dr Irena Hayter Associate Professor of Japanese Studies Director of Postgraduate Research Studies School of Languages, Cultures and Societies University of Leeds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Sun Feb 13 22:38:03 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2022 22:38:03 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Shusenjo ruling and article Message-ID: <228A46C0-2C66-4C4D-8613-1AF92D5F72ED@yale.edu> As many of you know, Miki Dezaki made a documentary film entitled Shusenjo about the so-called "comfort women" issue, which used interviews with right-wing history denialists to analyze and ultimately disprove their arguments. Many know that a number of those right-wingers sued to have the film withdrawn (people posted about it on KineJapan in 2019). As some of you know, the defendants won their case a couple of weeks ago (though those who sued are talking about appealing the ruling). Now the Asahi has published a rather long and detailed account of the case and of the ruling. Most interesting is the description of the point when the quite dry ruling just can't contain itself and has to complain about the lies made by those suing. The problem is that the rightwingers probably didn't want to win?they just wanted to scare anyone that wants to go against their nationalist and revisionist history that they might get sued if they do. https://webronza.asahi.com/national/articles/2022021100001.html Aaron Gerow A. Whitney Griswold Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and Film and Media Studies Chair, East Asian Languages and Literatures Yale University 320 York Street, Room 108 PO Box 208201 New Haven, CT 06520-8201 USA Phone: 1-203-432-7082 Fax: 1-203-432-6729 e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu website: www.aarongerow.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From naguib_razak at yahoo.com Tue Feb 15 09:30:16 2022 From: naguib_razak at yahoo.com (Naguib Razak) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2022 23:30:16 +0900 Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car with Eng subtitles References: Message-ID: Dear KineJapaners, Would anyone know if it is possible to watch Drive My Car with English subtitles anywhere in Tokyo? I understand the film is still currently in theaters now here. Apologies if this has been addressed earlier. Regards, Naguib Sent from my iPhone From annekmcknight at gmail.com Tue Feb 15 11:55:00 2022 From: annekmcknight at gmail.com (Anne McKnight) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2022 08:55:00 -0800 Subject: [KineJapan] Drive My Car with Eng subtitles In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Related to the query about viewing Drive My Car in theatres is this IndieWire piece. It brought up a number of interesting things about distribution to explain the ?phenomenon.? One of which was Hamaguchi?s apparent insistence to show it only in theatres. It has come, gone, and come again to local art houses near me. An unusual pattern. https://www.indiewire.com/2022/02/drive-my-car-success-sideshow-criterion-1234698888/?fbclid=IwAR1SsMrLQZvhUQIe7b7MXF9ycjbl_coU3btdoj2yeos8L1PzeP3xpcXvBc4 My friend who is a fixer (for Japanese networks) here thought that Hamaguchi must have a hell of a publicist. That seems very possible indeed; all the press is positive, so far, in ways that are unlike attention to and praise for other arthouse films I have seen buoyed by critical praise in recent years. Departing from that industry focus, in some way, I guess I am not ready to totally succumb to looking at the industry angles in order to understand the success/appeal of a film. Obviously there is a culture-industry framework to think of, but I also think that the film taps into a sense of nomadism (perhaps there is a better word, but for lack of it at the moment and again cooked up in conversation with a friend about urban life and its transiences, new nomadism) and upheaval that is very Covid-era. I wonder if the multiple language feature also dovetails well with the drifting?from Tokyo bougie life (Minato, I think), to Hiroshima, to Hokkaido, to Korea. It?s an upgraded two-class version of Nomadland, in a way, different than a plain road movie. Highly sentimental, but open-ended, without a deterministic sense of inherited past. I didn't feel that strongly about the film, either way, but appreciated its sense of drift. The Murakami story is much more fixed, homosocially based, and its first-person narrator narrow and quite literally provincial (in its Tokyo way) in ways that, perhaps, the character in Drive My Car is not, and the film certainly is not. I was pleasantly surprised to see traces of Covid referenced in the film?masks and Covid-era shopping in the last, set-in-Korea sequence. I can?t think of a network or streaming show on US TV, or a film, that even acknowledges this basic social reality that has been with us for nearly 2 years. (I have not tried that hard, tho, to be comprehensive?). For that alone, I thought the film stood out. > On Feb 15, 2022, at 6:30, Naguib Razak via KineJapan wrote: > > Dear KineJapaners, > > Would anyone know if it is possible to watch Drive My Car with English subtitles anywhere in Tokyo? > I understand the film is still currently in theaters now here. > > Apologies if this has been addressed earlier. > > Regards, > Naguib > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nornes at umich.edu Tue Feb 15 23:19:13 2022 From: nornes at umich.edu (Markus Nornes) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2022 23:19:13 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Streaming film fest Message-ID: https://jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2022/unitedstates/?utm_source=sponsoredpost&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=hyperallergic Any recommendations? 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* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Tue Feb 15 23:46:40 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2022 23:46:40 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Streaming film fest In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <703D674A-2E1E-4B7D-BA98-EE9D28AFBB76@yale.edu> For just two suggestions of films we saw in the last year or so, we liked Itomichi (I like Yokohama Satoko in general) and Nankyoku no ryorinin. Be prepared to eat ramen after the second one. Aaron > 2/15/22 ??11:19?Markus Nornes via KineJapan ????: > > https://jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2022/unitedstates/?utm_source=sponsoredpost&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=hyperallergic > > Any recommendations? > > Markus > -- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mekerpan2 at gmail.com Tue Feb 15 23:53:14 2022 From: mekerpan2 at gmail.com (Michael Kerpan) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2022 23:53:14 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Streaming film fest In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: First report -- Ito is set in Aomori (Both Tsugaru and Aomori City) -- Here the main character is a shy young woman (ery good at playing the shamisen), who gets a job working in a maid cafe. I really liked pretty much everything about this. It's a Summer Film is a lot of fun . Two competing factions of a college film club are making movies over summer vacation. One is the official project -- the other is a "rebel" one (being made on no budget). The Aristocrats struck me as an excellent movie about the constricted lives of (very) upper class young women in Tokyo, whose lives are as controlled by their families as they would have been 100 years ago. Written and directed by women -- it really takes a look at this situation from a woman's perspective. I hope this comes out on a subbed bluray (but I doubt it will). Time of Eve is a very good science fiction anime about human-android relations. Nothing spectacular about the animation technically, but a pretty decent story (with echoes of Asimov and PK Dick). The film I most wanted to see is not being shown here (in the USA) -- Under the Open Sky. Miwa Nishikawa directing and Koji Yakusho as star sounds like a promising combination. Michael Kerpan Boston, MA On Tue, Feb 15, 2022 at 11:19 PM Markus Nornes via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > https://jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2022/unitedstates/?utm_source=sponsoredpost&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=hyperallergic > > Any recommendations? > > 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* > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From matteo.boscarol at gmail.com Wed Feb 16 01:58:31 2022 From: matteo.boscarol at gmail.com (matteoB) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 15:58:31 +0900 Subject: [KineJapan] Streaming film fest In-Reply-To: <703D674A-2E1E-4B7D-BA98-EE9D28AFBB76@yale.edu> References: <703D674A-2E1E-4B7D-BA98-EE9D28AFBB76@yale.edu> Message-ID: I second Aaron's opinion about Itomichi (the poster is so bad and misleading though) matteo On Wed, 16 Feb 2022, 13:46 Gerow Aaron via KineJapan, < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > For just two suggestions of films we saw in the last year or so, we liked > Itomichi (I like Yokohama Satoko in general) and Nankyoku no ryorinin. Be > prepared to eat ramen after the second one. > > Aaron > > 2/15/22 ??11:19?Markus Nornes via KineJapan >????: > > > https://jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2022/unitedstates/?utm_source=sponsoredpost&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=hyperallergic > > Any recommendations? > > Markus > -- > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From macyroger at yahoo.co.uk Wed Feb 16 12:23:55 2022 From: macyroger at yahoo.co.uk (Roger Macy) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 17:23:55 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] Streaming film fest In-Reply-To: References: <703D674A-2E1E-4B7D-BA98-EE9D28AFBB76@yale.edu> Message-ID: <2042927102.3667562.1645032235622@mail.yahoo.com> Hmm, Itomichi, I see, was at FEFF ?21 , whose reschedulinglast year didn?t work for me.? Since allof these are free to watch in Italyand Germany,but not the U.K.,it looks as if I have dipped on that, and on Sumodo, which was also there.I agree with Michael that Aristocrats (at N.C. ?21) was an interestingand unusual look at class, which goes to show that not every glossy film with itstalent lined up need be dross.? FloatingCastle was pulled just after the tsunami but a hit later.? It has some value but not, if classed as ?history?.Mio?s Cookbook is written on the wiki page of Kadokawa Haruki as his ?lastfilm?. Does he know something I don?t ? Roger On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 06:58:25 GMT, matteoB via KineJapan wrote: I second Aaron's opinion about Itomichi (the poster is so bad and misleading though) matteo On Wed, 16 Feb 2022, 13:46 Gerow Aaron via KineJapan, wrote: For just two suggestions of films we saw in the last year or so, we liked Itomichi (I like Yokohama Satoko in general) and Nankyoku no ryorinin. Be prepared to eat ramen after the second one. Aaron 2/15/22 ??11:19?Markus Nornes via KineJapan ????: https://jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2022/unitedstates/?utm_source=sponsoredpost&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=hyperallergic Any recommendations? Markus--? _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ferranidus at gmail.com Wed Feb 16 15:32:32 2022 From: ferranidus at gmail.com (Ferran de Vargas) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 21:32:32 +0100 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?q?Carla_Sim=C3=B3n?= Message-ID: Dear colleagues, This is Ferran de Vargas from the Open University of Catalonia. Since the Catalan filmmaker Carla Sim?n has just won the Berlinale, I would like to share with you this interview by me and professor Manuel Garin (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) in a special issue for the journal l'Atalante a couple of years ago, in which we were conversing with her and another director about the influence of Japanese cinema on their view. You can find the pdf in Spanish and English in this link: http://www.revistaatalante.com/index.php?journal=atalante&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=809 With best wishe, Ferran -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Wed Feb 16 15:39:16 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 15:39:16 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?q?Carla_Sim=C3=B3n?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1B6FCB55-376F-4450-9E25-DEB6ECE56147@yale.edu> Ferran, Thanks for this! I noticed that Wada Atsushi also got a special mention in the short film competition. https://variety.com/2022/film/festivals/berlin-film-festival-award-winners-live-1235183888/ Aaron Gerow > > Dear colleagues, > > This is Ferran de Vargas from the Open University of Catalonia. Since the Catalan filmmaker Carla Sim?n has just won the Berlinale, I would like to share with you this interview by me and professor Manuel Garin (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) in a special issue for the journal l'Atalante a couple of years ago, in which we were conversing with her and another director about the influence of Japanese cinema on their view. > > You can find the pdf in Spanish and English in this link: http://www.revistaatalante.com/index.php?journal=atalante&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=809 > > With best wishe, > > Ferran > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From eija.niskanen at gmail.com Wed Feb 16 15:49:49 2022 From: eija.niskanen at gmail.com (Eija Niskanen) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 22:49:49 +0200 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?q?Carla_Sim=C3=B3n?= In-Reply-To: <1B6FCB55-376F-4450-9E25-DEB6ECE56147@yale.edu> References: <1B6FCB55-376F-4450-9E25-DEB6ECE56147@yale.edu> Message-ID: <08FE8578-7819-4287-BCA5-B052505F8A1F@gmail.com> Bird in Peninsula is interesting. Have to try and check it another time when I can. Berlinale also had Sho Miyake?s Keiko Me wo sumasete, about a death female boxer, based on a real story. The festival itself was a showcase of how to pull a huge event in the middle of the omicron wave. FPP2 masks were mandatory in theaters, they asked us to show out vaccine certificates to receive the accreditation badges, you ha to reserve a ticket in. advance and the ticket gave a numbered seat - they sold 50% of seats. To get into press conferences you had to take antigen rapid test every day. They had free test busses in the main festival area. Eija Niskanen > Gerow Aaron via KineJapan kirjoitti 16.2.2022 kello 22.39: > > ?Ferran, > > Thanks for this! > > I noticed that Wada Atsushi also got a special mention in the short film competition. > > https://variety.com/2022/film/festivals/berlin-film-festival-award-winners-live-1235183888/ > > Aaron Gerow > >> >> Dear colleagues, >> >> This is Ferran de Vargas from the Open University of Catalonia. Since the Catalan filmmaker Carla Sim?n has just won the Berlinale, I would like to share with you this interview by me and professor Manuel Garin (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) in a special issue for the journal l'Atalante a couple of years ago, in which we were conversing with her and another director about the influence of Japanese cinema on their view. >> >> You can find the pdf in Spanish and English in this link: http://www.revistaatalante.com/index.php?journal=atalante&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=809 >> >> With best wishe, >> >> Ferran >> _______________________________________________ >> KineJapan mailing list >> KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu >> https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kclachan at umich.edu Wed Feb 16 16:13:19 2022 From: kclachan at umich.edu (Kyle LaChance) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 16:13:19 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema Message-ID: Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in Japanese animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and 4 live-action cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other key works that I might be missing? Anime: *Trinity Blood* *Blue Exorcist* *Seven Deadly Sins* Live-Action: *Vengeance is Mine* *Silence *by Shinoda Masahiro *Sea and Poison* *Violent Virgin* I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience. All the best, -- Kyle LaChance Second Year in the Masters in International and Regional Studies International Institute and Center for Japanese Studies -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From macyroger at yahoo.co.uk Wed Feb 16 16:42:06 2022 From: macyroger at yahoo.co.uk (Roger Macy) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 21:42:06 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?q?Carla_Sim=C3=B3n?= In-Reply-To: <08FE8578-7819-4287-BCA5-B052505F8A1F@gmail.com> References: <1B6FCB55-376F-4450-9E25-DEB6ECE56147@yale.edu> <08FE8578-7819-4287-BCA5-B052505F8A1F@gmail.com> Message-ID: <1688197646.3800682.1645047726230@mail.yahoo.com> Ferran, thank you. But I can only navigate to a Spanish PDF, even if I opt for 'english'. Please guide me.Roger On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 20:49:58 GMT, Eija Niskanen via KineJapan wrote: Bird in Peninsula is interesting. Have to try and check it another time when I can.?Berlinale also had Sho Miyake?s Keiko Me wo sumasete, about a death female boxer, based on a real story.?The festival itself was a showcase of how to pull a huge event in the middle of the omicron wave. FPP2 masks were mandatory in theaters, they asked us to show out vaccine certificates to receive the accreditation badges, you ha to reserve a ticket in. advance and the ticket gave a numbered seat - they sold 50% of seats. To get into press conferences you had to take antigen rapid test every day. They had free test busses in the main festival area.? Eija Niskanen Gerow Aaron via KineJapan kirjoitti 16.2.2022 kello 22.39: ? Ferran, Thanks for this!? I noticed that Wada Atsushi also got a special mention in the short film competition. https://variety.com/2022/film/festivals/berlin-film-festival-award-winners-live-1235183888/ Aaron Gerow Dear colleagues, This is Ferran de Vargas from the Open University of Catalonia. Since the Catalan filmmaker Carla Sim?n has just won the Berlinale, I would like to share with you this interview by me and professor Manuel Garin (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) in a special issue for the journal l'Atalante a couple of years ago, in which we were conversing with her and another director about the influence of Japanese cinema on their view. You can find the pdf in Spanish and English in this link: http://www.revistaatalante.com/index.php?journal=atalante&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=809 With best wishe, Ferran _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From macyroger at yahoo.co.uk Wed Feb 16 17:22:58 2022 From: macyroger at yahoo.co.uk (Roger Macy) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 22:22:58 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <616998970.3795046.1645050178226@mail.yahoo.com> Dear Kyle, Welcome to KineJapan. Your subject is potentially very broad, so it is wise to limit yourthesis to a few films. I haven?t seen Violent Virgin ? I would neverhave thought to go to Wakamatsu as a source on Catholicism so I?ll beinterested in what you make of it. It?s perfectly logical to concentrate on Shinoda?s version of Silence,as the Japanese-made one, but the problem there is that Shinoda?s wasemphatically made outside of a Catholic world, whereas Scorsese?s was very muchmade within the strictures of his Church (although there is an Anglican bishopin the story), and made much more to the later wishes of the deceased END? Sh?saku who had latterly also broughthimself more within the Church?s strictures. I make a stab at that in my reviewhere. At Kineclub XVIII at Yale, March?19, KAMIYA Makiko gave a presentation on ?Christianism? in some Japanesefilms.? The panel was related to MAKINOMasahiro?s Gate of Flesh ?48, but other films were cited. That presentationmay now be available online or written up elsewhere. How far do you want to go back ?The one Japanese feature film made with specific backing of the Catholic churchwas Junky? kesshi ~ Nihon nij?-roku seijin, 26Martyrs of Japan, 1931, directed by IKEDA Tomiyasu. I have a lot ofunpublished work on that and rejected bids on presentations (be warned!) .There is considerable published literature on it but little in english. Whatlanguages can you read ? I have my rough translations on them. Roger On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 21:13:01 GMT, Kyle LaChance via KineJapan wrote: Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in Japanese animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and 4 live-action cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other key works that I might be missing? Anime:Trinity BloodBlue ExorcistSeven Deadly Sins Live-Action:Vengeance is MineSilence by Shinoda MasahiroSea and PoisonViolent Virgin I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience. All the best, -- Kyle LaChanceSecond Year in the Masters in International and Regional StudiesInternational Institute and Center for Japanese Studies _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jalekseyeva at gmail.com Wed Feb 16 18:45:54 2022 From: jalekseyeva at gmail.com (Julia Alekseyeva) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 18:45:54 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Shusenjo screening in Philly Message-ID: Since Aaron already mentioned the recent ruling in favor of Miki Dezaki's film, I wanted to let everyone know that Penn is having a free screening and discussion of Shusenjo on Wednesday, March 2, at 5 PM at the Penn Museum's Rainey Auditorium. With Miki in person! Looking forward to being in conversation with him. More info found here: https://cinemastudies.sas.upenn.edu/events/2022/03/02/screening-discussion-miki-dezakis-shusenjo Would love to see KineJapaners at the event! Feel free to send along the info to anyone local or Philly-adjacent. Best, Julia Alekseyeva -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From caitlin.casiello at yale.edu Wed Feb 16 19:38:07 2022 From: caitlin.casiello at yale.edu (Caitlin Casiello) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 19:38:07 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: There are some nunsploitation movies like School of the Holy Beast and Sins of Sister Lucia, if you?re interested in those. Sono Sion?s Love Exposure starts with Catholicism iirc before branching out into other cults. On Wed, Feb 16, 2022 at 4:13 PM Kyle LaChance via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the > utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in Japanese > animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and 4 live-action > cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other key works that I > might be missing? > > Anime: > *Trinity Blood* > *Blue Exorcist* > *Seven Deadly Sins* > > Live-Action: > *Vengeance is Mine* > *Silence *by Shinoda Masahiro > *Sea and Poison* > *Violent Virgin* > > I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience. > > All the best, > > > -- > Kyle LaChance > Second Year in the Masters in International and Regional Studies > International Institute and Center for Japanese Studies > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -- Caitlin Casiello Ph.D. Student Film & Media Studies and East Asian Languages & Literatures Yale University -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mekerpan2 at gmail.com Wed Feb 16 19:38:17 2022 From: mekerpan2 at gmail.com (Michael Kerpan) Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2022 19:38:17 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema In-Reply-To: <616998970.3795046.1645050178226@mail.yahoo.com> References: <616998970.3795046.1645050178226@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Kyle -- Oba's Bells of Nagasaki (Nagasaki no Kane) from 1950 might be of interest. It is the story of Takasshi Nagai, a Catholic physician who did a lot of emergency work after the atomic bombing. (He wass called the Saint of Urakami eventually). Another book by Nagai was made into a movie by Kinoshita in 1983 (Leaving These Children Behind) -- but I've never seen this, so know nothing much about it. Michael Kerpan Boston, MA On Wed, Feb 16, 2022 at 5:22 PM Roger Macy via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > Dear Kyle, > > Welcome to KineJapan. > > Your subject is potentially very broad, so it is wise to limit your thesis > to a few films. I haven?t seen *Violent Virgin* ? I would never have > thought to go to Wakamatsu as a source on Catholicism so I?ll be interested > in what you make of it. > > It?s perfectly logical to concentrate on Shinoda?s version of *Silence*, > as the Japanese-made one, but the problem there is that Shinoda?s was > emphatically made outside of a Catholic world, whereas Scorsese?s was very > much made within the strictures of his Church (although there is an > Anglican bishop in the story), and made much more to the later wishes of > the deceased END? Sh?saku who had latterly also brought himself more > within the Church?s strictures. I make a stab at that in my review here > . > > At Kineclub XVIII at Yale, March ?19, KAMIYA Makiko gave a presentation on > ?Christianism? in some Japanese films. The panel was related to MAKINO > Masahiro?s *Gate of Flesh* ?48, but other films were cited. That > presentation may now be available online or written up elsewhere. > > How far do you want to go back ? The one Japanese feature film made with > specific backing of the Catholic church was Junky? kesshi ~ Nihon > nij?-roku seijin, *26 Martyrs of **Japan*, 1931, directed by IKEDA > Tomiyasu. I have a lot of unpublished work on that and rejected bids on > presentations (be warned!) . There is considerable published literature on > it but little in english. What languages can you read ? I have my rough > translations on them. > > Roger > > > On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 21:13:01 GMT, Kyle LaChance via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > > Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the > utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in Japanese > animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and 4 live-action > cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other key works that I > might be missing? > > Anime: > *Trinity Blood* > *Blue Exorcist* > *Seven Deadly Sins* > > Live-Action: > *Vengeance is Mine* > *Silence *by Shinoda Masahiro > *Sea and Poison* > *Violent Virgin* > > I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience. > > All the best, > > -- > Kyle LaChance > Second Year in the Masters in International and Regional Studies > International Institute and Center for Japanese Studies > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From desser at illinois.edu Wed Feb 16 19:42:03 2022 From: desser at illinois.edu (Desser, David M) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 00:42:03 +0000 Subject: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema In-Reply-To: References: <616998970.3795046.1645050178226@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <6A78DAE5-9AD0-4325-B0BF-632D843AC288@illinois.edu> Michael - Kinoshita?s film is available on the Criterion Channel as ?Children of Nagasaki.? Sent from my iPhone On Feb 16, 2022, at 7:38 PM, Michael Kerpan via KineJapan wrote: ? Kyle -- Oba's Bells of Nagasaki (Nagasaki no Kane) from 1950 might be of interest. It is the story of Takasshi Nagai, a Catholic physician who did a lot of emergency work after the atomic bombing. (He wass called the Saint of Urakami eventually). Another book by Nagai was made into a movie by Kinoshita in 1983 (Leaving These Children Behind) -- but I've never seen this, so know nothing much about it. Michael Kerpan Boston, MA On Wed, Feb 16, 2022 at 5:22 PM Roger Macy via KineJapan > wrote: Dear Kyle, Welcome to KineJapan. Your subject is potentially very broad, so it is wise to limit your thesis to a few films. I haven?t seen Violent Virgin ? I would never have thought to go to Wakamatsu as a source on Catholicism so I?ll be interested in what you make of it. It?s perfectly logical to concentrate on Shinoda?s version of Silence, as the Japanese-made one, but the problem there is that Shinoda?s was emphatically made outside of a Catholic world, whereas Scorsese?s was very much made within the strictures of his Church (although there is an Anglican bishop in the story), and made much more to the later wishes of the deceased END? Sh?saku who had latterly also brought himself more within the Church?s strictures. I make a stab at that in my review here. At Kineclub XVIII at Yale, March ?19, KAMIYA Makiko gave a presentation on ?Christianism? in some Japanese films. The panel was related to MAKINO Masahiro?s Gate of Flesh ?48, but other films were cited. That presentation may now be available online or written up elsewhere. How far do you want to go back ? The one Japanese feature film made with specific backing of the Catholic church was Junky? kesshi ~ Nihon nij?-roku seijin, 26 Martyrs of Japan, 1931, directed by IKEDA Tomiyasu. I have a lot of unpublished work on that and rejected bids on presentations (be warned!) . There is considerable published literature on it but little in english. What languages can you read ? I have my rough translations on them. Roger On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 21:13:01 GMT, Kyle LaChance via KineJapan > wrote: Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in Japanese animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and 4 live-action cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other key works that I might be missing? Anime: Trinity Blood Blue Exorcist Seven Deadly Sins Live-Action: Vengeance is Mine Silence by Shinoda Masahiro Sea and Poison Violent Virgin I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience. All the best, -- Kyle LaChance Second Year in the Masters in International and Regional Studies International Institute and Center for Japanese Studies _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan__;!!DZ3fjg!takdp8rDoDI6FgmTOZqiKi1ryB5TupoPEwffnnbYOGZ1wPOw41KnJ5v6f7xvLweQ$ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mostro.films at gmail.com Wed Feb 16 23:00:43 2022 From: mostro.films at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?Q?Jose_Monta=C3=B1o?=) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 13:00:43 +0900 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?q?Carla_Sim=C3=B3n?= In-Reply-To: <1688197646.3800682.1645047726230@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1B6FCB55-376F-4450-9E25-DEB6ECE56147@yale.edu> <08FE8578-7819-4287-BCA5-B052505F8A1F@gmail.com> <1688197646.3800682.1645047726230@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Dear Roger, I think this link works for the English version: http://www.revistaatalante.com/index.php?journal=atalante&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=809&path%5B%5D=597 Jose Monta?o El jue, 17 feb 2022 a las 6:41, Roger Macy via KineJapan (< kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>) escribi?: > Ferran, thank you. But I can only navigate to a Spanish PDF, even if I opt > for 'english'. Please guide me. > Roger > > On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 20:49:58 GMT, Eija Niskanen via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > > Bird in Peninsula is interesting. Have to try and check it another time > when I can. > Berlinale also had Sho Miyake?s Keiko Me wo sumasete, about a death female > boxer, based on a real story. > The festival itself was a showcase of how to pull a huge event in the > middle of the omicron wave. FPP2 masks were mandatory in theaters, they > asked us to show out vaccine certificates to receive the accreditation > badges, you ha to reserve a ticket in. advance and the ticket gave a > numbered seat - they sold 50% of seats. To get into press conferences you > had to take antigen rapid test every day. They had free test busses in the > main festival area. > > Eija Niskanen > > > Gerow Aaron via KineJapan kirjoitti > 16.2.2022 kello 22.39: > > ? > > Ferran, > > Thanks for this! > > I noticed that Wada Atsushi also got a special mention in the short film > competition. > > > https://variety.com/2022/film/festivals/berlin-film-festival-award-winners-live-1235183888/ > > Aaron Gerow > > > Dear colleagues, > > This is Ferran de Vargas from the Open University of Catalonia. Since the > Catalan filmmaker Carla Sim?n has just won the Berlinale, I would like to > share with you this interview by me and professor Manuel Garin (Universitat > Pompeu Fabra) in a special issue for the journal l'Atalante a couple of > years ago, in which we were conversing with her and another director about > the influence of Japanese cinema on their view. > > You can find the pdf in Spanish and English in this link: > http://www.revistaatalante.com/index.php?journal=atalante&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=809 > > With best wishe, > > Ferran > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -- Jose Monta?o ????????? https://eigavision.wordpress.com/ https://rikkyo.academia.edu/JoseMonta?o *orcID* https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5930-5704 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tom at midnighteye.com Wed Feb 16 23:41:21 2022 From: tom at midnighteye.com (Tom Mes) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 13:41:21 +0900 Subject: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Kyle, You may also want to look at the various incarnations of Samurai Reincarnation / Makai Tensho ???? . Two of the vengeful spirits in the story are the notable historical Christians Amakusa Shiro and Hosokawa Gracia. Speaking of the latter, I recently attended a stage play based on Gracia's final days at Osaka Castle, in which she was played by Shimada Yoko, returning to the role she played twice before, over four decades ago: in the 1978 Taiga drama Ogon no hibi ????? and (sort of) in Shogun. Best of luck with your thesis, Tom Mes On 17-02-22 06:13, Kyle LaChance via KineJapan wrote: > Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the > utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in > Japanese animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and > 4 live-action cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other > key works that I might be missing? > > Anime: > /Trinity Blood/ > /Blue Exorcist/ > /Seven Deadly Sins/ > > Live-Action: > /Vengeance is Mine/ > /Silence /by Shinoda Masahiro > /Sea and Poison/ > /Violent Virgin/ > / > / > I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience. > > All the best, > > -- > Kyle LaChance > Second Year in the Masters in International and Regional Studies > International Institute and Center for Japanese Studies > > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan From aaron.gerow at yale.edu Thu Feb 17 00:03:36 2022 From: aaron.gerow at yale.edu (Gerow Aaron) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 00:03:36 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <964DC758-447A-4DF6-B364-1F8DB260C5A1@yale.edu> I think this is evident from a number of suggestions already, but in many films, there is little effort to distinguish between Catholic or Protestant etc.?it is just some amorphous Christianity. One film you might want to look at is Nani ga kanojo o so saseta ka (What Made Her Do It?), an important tendency film that ends with the main character burning down the church which had been taking care of her. Aaron Gerow From camford1989 at yahoo.com Thu Feb 17 00:36:15 2022 From: camford1989 at yahoo.com (Sybil Thornton) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 05:36:15 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <223939946.1482555.1645076175511@mail.yahoo.com> Most of the things you will find have only the most tenuous relationship with history, such as the Nemuri Kyoshiro series starring Ichikawa Raizo as the illegitimate son of a woman raped by a Catholic priest (?????). Check anything with Takayama Ukon or Sen no Rikyu (for Ogin), as well as Hosokawa Gracia. Cheers,SAT Sybil Thornton, MA, PhD (Cantab) "Ippen Chishin," in Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism: Lives (Handbook of Oriental Studies 29) (2019). "Suffering and Deification: ?The Goddess in Night Drum," in?Dialectics of the Goddess in Japanese Audiovisual Culture,?ed. Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano et al. (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017). "The Return Song and the Myth of the Founding of the Nation in Vreme na nasilie," Athens Journal of History 2 no. 3 (October 2016), 149-167. ?Meitokuki:? Earthquakes and Literary Fabrication in the gunki monogatari.?Japan?Review 28 (October 2015): 225-234. ?Shint? Art,? in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the Arts,ed. by Frank Burch?Brown(Oxford:? Oxford University Press, 2014). On Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 08:41:35 PM PST, kinejapan-request at mailman.yale.edu wrote: Send KineJapan mailing list submissions to ??? kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit ??? https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ??? kinejapan-request at mailman.yale.edu You can reach the person managing the list at ??? kinejapan-owner at mailman.yale.edu When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of KineJapan digest..." Today's Topics: ? 1. Re: Carla Sim?n (Jose Monta?o) ? 2. Re: Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema (Tom Mes) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 13:00:43 +0900 From: Jose Monta?o To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Carla Sim?n Message-ID: ??? Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Dear Roger, I think this link works for the English version: http://www.revistaatalante.com/index.php?journal=atalante&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=809&path%5B%5D=597 Jose Monta?o El jue, 17 feb 2022 a las 6:41, Roger Macy via KineJapan (< kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>) escribi?: > Ferran, thank you. But I can only navigate to a Spanish PDF, even if I opt > for 'english'. Please guide me. > Roger > > On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 20:49:58 GMT, Eija Niskanen via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > > Bird in Peninsula is interesting. Have to try and check it another time > when I can. > Berlinale also had Sho Miyake?s Keiko Me wo sumasete, about a death female > boxer, based on a real story. > The festival itself was a showcase of how to pull a huge event in the > middle of the omicron wave. FPP2 masks were mandatory in theaters, they > asked us to show out vaccine certificates to receive the accreditation > badges, you ha to reserve a ticket in. advance and the ticket gave a > numbered seat - they sold 50% of seats. To get into press conferences you > had to take antigen rapid test every day. They had free test busses in the > main festival area. > > Eija Niskanen > > > Gerow Aaron via KineJapan kirjoitti > 16.2.2022 kello 22.39: > > ? > > Ferran, > > Thanks for this! > > I noticed that Wada Atsushi also got a special mention in the short film > competition. > > > https://variety.com/2022/film/festivals/berlin-film-festival-award-winners-live-1235183888/ > > Aaron Gerow > > > Dear colleagues, > > This is Ferran de Vargas from the Open University of Catalonia. Since the > Catalan filmmaker Carla Sim?n has just won the Berlinale, I would like to > share with you this interview by me and professor Manuel Garin (Universitat > Pompeu Fabra) in a special issue for the journal l'Atalante a couple of > years ago, in which we were conversing with her and another director about > the influence of Japanese cinema on their view. > > You can find the pdf in Spanish and English in this link: > http://www.revistaatalante.com/index.php?journal=atalante&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=809 > > With best wishe, > > Ferran > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -- Jose Monta?o ????????? https://eigavision.wordpress.com/ https://rikkyo.academia.edu/JoseMonta?o *orcID* https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5930-5704 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 13:41:21 +0900 From: Tom Mes To: Kyle LaChance via KineJapan Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese ??? cinema Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Dear Kyle, You may also want to look at the various incarnations of Samurai Reincarnation / Makai Tensho ???? . Two of the vengeful spirits in the story are the notable historical Christians Amakusa Shiro and Hosokawa Gracia. Speaking of the latter, I recently attended a stage play based on Gracia's final days at Osaka Castle, in which she was played by Shimada Yoko, returning to the role she played twice before, over four decades ago: in the 1978 Taiga drama Ogon no hibi ????? and (sort of) in Shogun. Best of luck with your thesis, Tom Mes On 17-02-22 06:13, Kyle LaChance via KineJapan wrote: > Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the > utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in > Japanese animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and > 4 live-action cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other > key works that I might be missing? > > Anime: > /Trinity Blood/ > /Blue Exorcist/ > /Seven Deadly Sins/ > > Live-Action: > /Vengeance is Mine/ > /Silence /by Shinoda Masahiro > /Sea and Poison/ > /Violent Virgin/ > / > / > I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience. > > All the best, > > -- > Kyle LaChance > Second Year in the Masters in International and Regional Studies > International Institute and Center for Japanese Studies > > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan ------------------------------ End of KineJapan Digest, Vol 45, Issue 34 ***************************************** -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jalekseyeva at gmail.com Thu Feb 17 09:17:34 2022 From: jalekseyeva at gmail.com (Julia Alekseyeva) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 09:17:34 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Carla Simon Message-ID: Not Japanese Cinema-related, but I very much recommend Carla Simon's *Summer 1993*. I watched it in theatres when it came out a few years ago and it was simply extraordinary. Easily one of my favorite films from the past decade. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From eija at helsinkicineaasia.fi Fri Feb 18 06:12:39 2022 From: eija at helsinkicineaasia.fi (Eija Niskanen) Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2022 13:12:39 +0200 Subject: [KineJapan] Streaming film fest In-Reply-To: <2042927102.3667562.1645032235622@mail.yahoo.com> References: <703D674A-2E1E-4B7D-BA98-EE9D28AFBB76@yale.edu> <2042927102.3667562.1645032235622@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Why only two EU countries (Hungary and Germany)? Eija ke 16. helmik. 2022 klo 19.24 Roger Macy via KineJapan ( kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu) kirjoitti: > Hmm, *Itomichi*, I see, was at FEFF ?21 > , whose rescheduling last year > didn?t work for me. Since all of these are free to watch in Italy and > Germany, but not the U.K., it looks as if I have dipped on that, and on > *Sumodo*, which was also there > . > I agree with Michael that *Aristocrats* (at N.C. ?21) was an interesting > and unusual look at class, which goes to show that not every glossy film > with its talent lined up need be dross. *Floating Castle* was pulled > just after the tsunami but a hit later. It has some value but not, if > classed as ?history?. *Mio?s Cookbook* is written on the wiki page of > Kadokawa Haruki as his ?last film?. Does he know something I don?t ? > Roger > > > On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 06:58:25 GMT, matteoB via KineJapan < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > > I second Aaron's opinion about Itomichi (the poster is so bad and > misleading though) > > matteo > > On Wed, 16 Feb 2022, 13:46 Gerow Aaron via KineJapan, < > kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > > For just two suggestions of films we saw in the last year or so, we liked > Itomichi (I like Yokohama Satoko in general) and Nankyoku no ryorinin. Be > prepared to eat ramen after the second one. > > Aaron > > 2/15/22 ??11:19?Markus Nornes via KineJapan >????: > > > https://jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2022/unitedstates/?utm_source=sponsoredpost&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=hyperallergic > > Any recommendations? > > Markus > -- > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From macyroger at yahoo.co.uk Fri Feb 18 07:31:15 2022 From: macyroger at yahoo.co.uk (Roger Macy) Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2022 12:31:15 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] Streaming film fest In-Reply-To: References: <703D674A-2E1E-4B7D-BA98-EE9D28AFBB76@yale.edu> <2042927102.3667562.1645032235622@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <344926755.4705864.1645187475776@mail.yahoo.com> And Spain and Italy.? But yes, Austria and Switzerland usually go with German rights. R. On Friday, 18 February 2022, 11:12:37 GMT, Eija Niskanen wrote: Why only two?EU countries (Hungary and Germany)? Eija? ke 16. helmik. 2022 klo 19.24 Roger Macy via KineJapan (kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu) kirjoitti: Hmm, Itomichi, I see, was at FEFF ?21 , whose reschedulinglast year didn?t work for me.? Since allof these are free to watch in Italyand Germany,but not the U.K.,it looks as if I have dipped on that, and on Sumodo, which was also there.I agree with Michael that Aristocrats (at N.C. ?21) was an interestingand unusual look at class, which goes to show that not every glossy film with itstalent lined up need be dross.? FloatingCastle was pulled just after the tsunami but a hit later.? It has some value but not, if classed as ?history?.Mio?s Cookbook is written on the wiki page of Kadokawa Haruki as his ?lastfilm?. Does he know something I don?t ? Roger On Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 06:58:25 GMT, matteoB via KineJapan wrote: I second Aaron's opinion about Itomichi (the poster is so bad and misleading though) matteo On Wed, 16 Feb 2022, 13:46 Gerow Aaron via KineJapan, wrote: For just two suggestions of films we saw in the last year or so, we liked Itomichi (I like Yokohama Satoko in general) and Nankyoku no ryorinin. Be prepared to eat ramen after the second one. Aaron 2/15/22 ??11:19?Markus Nornes via KineJapan ????: https://jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2022/unitedstates/?utm_source=sponsoredpost&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=hyperallergic Any recommendations? Markus--? _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jimharper666 at yahoo.co.uk Fri Feb 18 21:36:50 2022 From: jimharper666 at yahoo.co.uk (Jim Harper) Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2022 02:36:50 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1855983840.49896.1645238210898@mail.yahoo.com> The manga/light novel/anime series GHOST HUNT also features a Catholic priest as a prominent supporting character with some curious attitudes to Catholicism and the supernatural. All three of Michio Yamamoto's BLOODTHIRSTY vampire trilogy feature Christian elements, and the third one BLOODTHIRSTY ROSE is set in a Catholic school. Mari Asato's FATAL FRAME movie adaptation is also set in a Catholic school. Easily the most outrageous and entertaining anime presentation of Christianity is the HELLSING and HELLSING ULTIMATE series. These two do feature a separation between Catholicism and Protestantism, with the main human and vampire characters working for the Church of England and frequently opposed by the forces of the Vatican, their sworn enemies. Hope this helps! Jim Harper. On Thursday, 17 February 2022, 06:13:39 GMT+9, Kyle LaChance via KineJapan wrote: Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in Japanese animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and 4 live-action cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other key works that I might be missing? Anime:Trinity BloodBlue ExorcistSeven Deadly Sins Live-Action:Vengeance is MineSilence by Shinoda MasahiroSea and PoisonViolent Virgin I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience. All the best, -- Kyle LaChanceSecond Year in the Masters in International and Regional StudiesInternational Institute and Center for Japanese Studies _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From t112x at yahoo.com Fri Feb 18 22:55:24 2022 From: t112x at yahoo.com (Thomas Ball) Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2022 03:55:24 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] Fw: Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema In-Reply-To: <1855983840.49896.1645238210898@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1855983840.49896.1645238210898@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <1212369686.488706.1645242924875@mail.yahoo.com> Would Martin Scorsese's 2016 Silence film count? Silence (2016) - IMDb | | | | | | | | | | | Silence (2016) - IMDb Silence: Directed by Martin Scorsese. With Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano. In the 17t... | | | ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Jim Harper via KineJapan To: "kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu" Cc: Jim Harper ; Kyle LaChance Sent: Friday, February 18, 2022, 09:36:20 PM ESTSubject: Re: [KineJapan] Films on Catholicism/Christianity in Japanese cinema The manga/light novel/anime series GHOST HUNT also features a Catholic priest as a prominent supporting character with some curious attitudes to Catholicism and the supernatural. All three of Michio Yamamoto's BLOODTHIRSTY vampire trilogy feature Christian elements, and the third one BLOODTHIRSTY ROSE is set in a Catholic school. Mari Asato's FATAL FRAME movie adaptation is also set in a Catholic school. Easily the most outrageous and entertaining anime presentation of Christianity is the HELLSING and HELLSING ULTIMATE series. These two do feature a separation between Catholicism and Protestantism, with the main human and vampire characters working for the Church of England and frequently opposed by the forces of the Vatican, their sworn enemies. Hope this helps! Jim Harper. On Thursday, 17 February 2022, 06:13:39 GMT+9, Kyle LaChance via KineJapan wrote: Hello, I am a 2nd year Master's student writing my thesis on the utilization and presentation of Catholicism historiographically in Japanese animation and cinema. Currently I have identified 3 anime and 4 live-action cinematic works which I will list below. Are there other key works that I might be missing? Anime:Trinity BloodBlue ExorcistSeven Deadly Sins Live-Action:Vengeance is MineSilence by Shinoda MasahiroSea and PoisonViolent Virgin I appreciate any help and apologize for any inconvenience. All the best, -- Kyle LaChanceSecond Year in the Masters in International and Regional StudiesInternational Institute and Center for Japanese Studies _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan _______________________________________________ KineJapan mailing list KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From unkleque at yahoo.com.au Sat Feb 19 03:19:17 2022 From: unkleque at yahoo.com.au (quentin turnour) Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2022 19:19:17 +1100 Subject: [KineJapan] =?utf-8?q?Critical_writing_on_Tanaka_Kinuya=27s_?= =?utf-8?b?5pyI44Gv5LiK44KK44GsIC8gVHN1a2kgd2Egbm9ib3JpbnUgLyBUaGUgTW9v?= =?utf-8?q?n_Has_Risen_=281955=29=3F?= References: Message-ID: Does anyone know of a signficant, 1000-word equivalent article either in Japanese, in another language, or in English but not apparently on-line accessible, about Tanaka Kinuya?s second film? With Nikkatsu's restoration now doing the rounds - it screened as part of a package at last years? Tokyo FF, and is also being released by Carlotta in Europe and Janus in the US and elsewhere - there might have been a fresh critical appraisal in Japanese? Or something might have come out in Cinema Junpo or similar in 1955 that?s worth knowing about (- subject to any daunting republication fees, of course.) Thanks for any thoughts. Quentin Turnour National Archives of Australia / Cinema Reborn Film Festival, Sydney (all opinions are my own, etc) From t112x at yahoo.com Sat Feb 19 13:03:18 2022 From: t112x at yahoo.com (Thomas Ball) Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2022 18:03:18 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [KineJapan] Sion Sono's 2008 Ai no mukidashi aka Love Exposure References: <669226138.584916.1645293798328.ref@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <669226138.584916.1645293798328@mail.yahoo.com> Sono's film opens with the prayers of a dying mother to the Virgin Mary and, given Sono's penchant for perversity, unspirals from there. Love Exposure (2008) - IMDb | | | | | | | | | | | Love Exposure (2008) - IMDb Love Exposure: Directed by Sion Sono. With Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Sakura And?, Yutaka Shimizu. A... | | | The Japanese Christians forced to trample on Christ | | | | | | | | | | | The Japanese Christians forced to trample on Christ Many who refused were tortured, forced into boiling hot springs or suspended upside down in excrement. | | | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kclachan at umich.edu Sun Feb 20 22:54:47 2022 From: kclachan at umich.edu (Kyle LaChance) Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2022 22:54:47 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Catholicism in Anime Message-ID: Dear Dr. Gerow, Apologies for the late reply. I haven't used many mail lists through email before and it slowed down my response time. I agree that much of the Christianity in Anime is very amorphous. My thesis is currently examining and trying to argue that there are very Catholic-originating ideas of Christianity and representations of Christianity that are showcased in anime. It seems to me that when specific branches of Christianity are mentioned, it's often the Catholic Church that is chosen or a heavily modified version of such. Roger, I can read and write in Japanese as well as in English so any articles in either language would be invaluable. Any other languages I would need to find a translator to help me with. To everyone else, Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions and insights. I hope I haven't forgotten any direct responses and if so, please let me know so I can properly thank you or continue the dialogue. As I mentioned above, I haven't used many mail lists earlier in my scholarly career so if I have made any faux pas, please forgive me. Thank you, -- Kyle LaChance Second Year in the Masters in International and Regional Studies International Institute and Center for Japanese Studies -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From caitlin.casiello at yale.edu Wed Feb 23 15:46:00 2022 From: caitlin.casiello at yale.edu (Caitlin Casiello) Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2022 15:46:00 -0500 Subject: [KineJapan] Women Pioneers of Japanese Cinema Project In-Reply-To: <6DD2DB59-933E-4087-9475-0927E1F517B4@yale.edu> References: <6DD2DB59-933E-4087-9475-0927E1F517B4@yale.edu> Message-ID: Looks like a great resource! I love the article on the "scripter"?an important contribution to reframing how we think of who "makes" a film. Probably most of you are familiar with the English language Women Film Pioneers Project run by Jane Gaines at Columbia, but I wanted to share just in case: https://wfpp.columbia.edu/ Not sure if the projects are officially affiliated or anything but both are good models for accessible online film research. On Sat, Sep 25, 2021 at 10:45 AM Gerow Aaron via KineJapan < kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote: > The website of the Women Pioneers of Japanese Cinema Project, spearheaded > by Chika Kinoshita, has opened. It includes introductions to directors > Sakane Tazuko, Tanaka Kinuyo, and Hidari Sachiko, as well as to the job of > the scripter, one often occupied by women. > > https://wpjc.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ > > The website is in Japanese. > > > Aaron Gerow > Professor > Film and Media Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures > Chair, East Asian Languages and Literatures > Yale University > 320 York Street, Room 108 > PO Box 208201 > New Haven, CT 06520-8201 > USA > Phone: 1-203-432-7082 > Fax: 1-203-432-6729 > e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu > website: www.aarongerow.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > KineJapan mailing list > KineJapan at mailman.yale.edu > https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/kinejapan > -- Caitlin Casiello Ph.D. Student Film & Media Studies / East Asian Languages and Literatures Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Yale University -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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