The extraordinary canon of mid-century Japanese formal experimentation, comprising well-recognized experimentalists such as Takashi Ito, Toshio Matsumoto, Takashi Nakajima, Jun'ichi Okuyama, and Hiroshi Yamazaki, is expanded and enriched in the light of the powerful and pioneering work of feminist filmmaker Mako Idemitsu, animator Keiichi Tanaami, and contemporary contributors to formal play. Collectively, these filmmakers probe the possibilities of cinematic representation, perception, linear temporality, repetition, sensory overload, forgetfulness, and delusive madness. This program makes evident a rich international dialogue between Japanese and European and American filmmakers associated with the expanded cinema and structural film movements, a daring use of sound that questions the primacy of image, and a brilliance of imagination that transforms economic and technological scarcity into visual genius.
Shiki Zoku Ze Ku (Toshio Matsumoto, 1975, 8 mins, Color, 16mm). At Santa Monica 1 (Mako Idemitsu, 1974, 6 mins, Color, 16mm, From the artist). Le Cinema (Jun'ichi Okuyama, 1975, 5 mins, B&W, 16mm). Snarl-Up!!! (Akio Okamoto, 2001, 8 mins, Color, Video). Heliography (Hiroshi Yamazaki, 1979, 6 mins, Silent, Color, 16mm). Cessna (Takashi Nakajima, 1974, 20 mins, Silent, Color, 8mm on video). Atman (Toshio Matsumoto, 1975, 11 mins, Color, 16mm). At Yukigawa 2 (Mako Idemitsu, 1974, 10 mins, B&W, 16mm, From the artist). Spacy (Takashi Ito, 1981, 10 mins, Color/B&W, 16mm). Observation (Hiroshi Yamazaki, 1975, 10 mins, Silent, B&W, 16mm). My Movie Melodies (Jun'ichi Okuyama, 1980, 6 mins, B&W, 16mm). Why? Remix (Keiichi Tanaami, 2002, 10 mins, Color, Video).