[KineJapan] RIP Roger Macy

Fri Oct 24 19:02:22 EDT 2025

Very shocked to hear this terribly sad news.

I actually first met Roger at a subtitling conference in London many years ago where he grilled me about all things subtitling. I soon realised he was a familiar face from many of my film screenings in London, and from then on he came to almost everything I curated.

Earlier this year, I very randomly met his daughter at an event in Tokyo. I didn't know the connection at first until she told me, "My dad's a massive cinephile, goes to loads of film festivals and he knows everything about Japanese cinema. Maybe you know him." I then realised she was talking about Roger. We've stayed in touch and I still see her now and again.

Roger will be truly missed. RIP.

______________________________________________
Sonali Joshi (she/her)
Founder & Director, Day for Night
www.day-for-night.org

- curatorial projects & film distribution -
- access: subtitles | audio-description | screen translation -
______________________________________________

On Sat, 25 Oct 2025, at 00:36, Caitlin Casiello via KineJapan wrote:
> Dear all, 
> 
> Joining all of you in grief and gratitude for Roger’s exuberant contributions to Japanese film studies and this listserv. 
> 
> I first met him at the Kinema Club at Yale in 2019. I was quite intimidated to meet so many of you big names from the list. He was very kind and happy to talk to a young scholar like me. He’ll certainly be missed. 
> 
> Are there any plans being considered to celebrate/memorialize his work in Japanese film? 
> 
> Best,
> Caitlin 
> 
> On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 10:54 AM Rea Amit via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>> Thank you, Alex, for bringing us the sad news, and everyone for sharing your thoughts and memories. 
>> 
>> It might be a cliche to say that you only realize how important someone is after they are gone, but it feels especially true in Roger’s case. I first met him in person in Japan, probably more than fifteen years ago. The last time was when Lauri Kitsnik and Alex Jacoby organized a symposium at the Sainsbury Institute, almost a decade ago now. I remember Roger asking me very specific questions after my talk about one of the references I had mentioned. In his own way, he was more of a scholar than many who hold academic positions.
>> 
>> Despite not interacting with him directly more recently, thanks to this mail list, it always felt like Roger was never too far away. He was a core member of this community, which, as a collective, will never be the same without him. 
>> 
>> With best regards,
>> Rea
>> 
>> On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 9:35 AM Florian Höhr via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>>> Dear all,
>>> 
>>> Very sad news indeed. I had the pleasure of meeting Roger many times at Nippon Connection over the past ten years, and his pure enthusiasm and passion — both for the festival and for Japanese cinema in general — left a lasting impression on me. He was never shy about voicing his strong opinions on our programming, and while I didn’t always agree with his views, I deeply admired his honesty. Thanks to his wit, even his most controversial remarks were a joy to read. During the many Q&As I hosted after festival screenings, whenever Roger raised his hand, I was looking forward to hearing what he had to say, knowing his question would be interesting. Especially after screenings of more niche films, when the audience was often too shy to speak up, Roger was always there to come to the rescue. I’ll miss having him around at future festivals.
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> Florian
>>> --
>>> 
>>> Program Director
>>> 
>>> Nippon Connection
>>> ** * *
>>> 26th Japanese Film Festival
>>> June 2 – 7, 2026
>>> Frankfurt am Main, Germany
>>> 
>>> Office: Nippon Connection e.V., c/o Atelierfrankfurt
>>> Schwedlerstr. 1-5, 60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany <https://www.google.com/maps/search/Schwedlerstr.+1-5,+60314+Frankfurt+am+Main,+Germany?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>> Phone: +49 69 847 765 65, Fax: +49 69 847 765 66
>>> Florian at NipponConnection.com
>>> NipponConnection.com
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Am Fr., 24. Okt. 2025 um 22:55 Uhr schrieb Peter Larson via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>:
>>>> Well, this is sad to me, I've lurked here for decades, but Roger's enthusiastically odd posts were always a welcome part of this place. I am shocked to hear this and saddened, even though I never met him and never saw his face. 
>>>> 
>>>> I think that while this group wears a sort of academic veneer (not a bad thing!), there is a lot of fandom here, and Roger sort of embodied that very positive part of it.  
>>>> 
>>>> Pete
>>>> 
>>>> On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 9:22 AM Dolores Martinez via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>>>>> Dear all, Roger was always happy to add to, correct,  and even be corrected on Japanese film (we had an interesting exchange about Ikiru and A Matter of Life and Death — whether Kurosawa had ever met Powell, and it turned out he had — for once I was right!). He was always kind and generous with what he knew and pursued film festivals and conferences with great passion.  I shall miss chatting and, occasionally, emailing with him.
>>>>> Lola
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> *From:* KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Bernardi, Joanne via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
>>>>> *Sent:* 24 October 2025 14:14
>>>>> *To:* kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
>>>>> *Cc:* Bernardi, Joanne <joanne.bernardi at rochester.edu>
>>>>> *Subject:* Re: [KineJapan] RIP Roger Macy
>>>>>  
>>>>> I regret I never met Roger (we had a brief exchange only as small Zoom windows during an online conference), but I certainly benefited from reading his posts. I always marveled at his degree of enthusiasm for Japanese cinema, which was evident from the frequency, length, and relentless detail of his posts. I’m grateful to fellow list members who’ve posted their recollections of a memorable individual, and I’m reminded of the sense of community this listserv provides. This is true now, more than ever, when our community of film enthusiasts stretches across a world fraught with challenges potentially more disruptive than geographical distance.
>>>>> 
>>>>>  
>>>>> 
>>>>>  
>>>>> 
>>>>> Joanne
>>>>> 
>>>>>  
>>>>> 
>>>>> Joanne Bernardi
>>>>> 
>>>>> University of Rochester
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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