Japanese Cinema: New Territories

Sat-chan Tadashi-chan: Sengo minshu-teki dokuritsu pro funtō-ki

2015

After the war, many filmmakers were expelled from the Japanese film industry due to the Toho Dispute and the Red Purge. Amid such circumstances, there were people who set up their own independent production companies and embarked on film production without relying on corporations. This documentary film focuses on the passionate "spirit of film" of directors such as Satsuo Yamamoto and Tadashi Imai, who, despite many hardships, produced a succession of masterpieces overflowing with humanism and rebellious spirit.

Bâtons d'encens pour Mizoguchi

2004

Teruo Ishii Fan Club

2006

A documentary on Teruo Ishii, the Japanese "King of Cult".

A. K.

1985

An intimate chronicle of the shooting of Ran (1985), a film directed by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.

The Erotic Empire

2002

A short documentary primarily focused on Nikkatsu's Roman Porno series.

Mikio Naruse 100th Birth Anniversary

2005

Because his style was similar to that of Yasujiro Ozu, who was already active at Shochiku, he moved to PCL (currently Toho) in 1933, where he appeared in the talkie works "My Wife, Like a Rose" and "Tsuruhachi Tsurujiro." It got attention. There were times when he was unable to make as many films as he wanted due to wartime film regulations and post-war Toho disputes, but in 1951 he revived his career with Meshi. Since then, he has released masterpieces one after another, including "Okaasan," "Lightning," "The Couple," "Wife," "Anii Mouto," "Sounds of the Mountain," and "Bangiku." The pinnacle of his work, "Floating Clouds," is Kenji Mizoguchi's "Wife." Even director Ozu was impressed, calling it a masterpiece of Japanese cinema, on par with "The Sisters of Gion." He depicted ordinary people in everyday life with an everyday realism that was not influenced by lyricism, and he consistently sought out women as his subjects.

By Player

2000

The film is a series of vignettes from Taiji Tonoyama's life and film clips, interspersed with a dialogue to camera by Nobuko Otowa, addressing the camera as if she is addressing Tonoyama himself, recollecting events in his life. The film focuses on Tonoyama's alcohol dependence and his various sexual relationships, as well as his film work with Shindo.

東京シンデレラ娘

1954

Nezumikozo Jirokichi

2023

Legendary anime director Rintaro’s (Metropolis, X/1999, Galaxy Express 999) first new work in over a decade depicts pioneering 1930s director Sadao Yamanaka and the production of his Nezumikozo Jirokichi. Despite dying before the age of 30, Yamanaka was a pivotal influence in Japanese cinema whose work would go on to inspire future generations. While most of his films have been lost to time, his scripts remain, and Nezumikozo Jirokichi recreates one of these lost films—a tale of a famous, virtuous bandit in old Edo—as imagined by Rintaro together with an all-star team including Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Memories), Taro Maki (Pluto, Millennium Actress) and Masao Maruyama (Ninja Scroll, Perfect Blue).

Red Shade

2021

Keichi Tanaamis new animation work Red Shade (2021) is based on paintings that he had produced on the premise that they will be set in motion. Each of the 80 selected scenes was given a distinct movement of its own, and the edited version of the completed work became the first film. The 80 scenes are each independently complete, and can be freely rearranged. For example, you can start from scent 80 and end in scene one, or arrange them irregularly like 1, 4, 8, 7, and so on. In other words, the essence of the work does not change no matter how the scenes are arranged. Even so, it is possible to produce a strong impact by exchanging the images for each frame, and one can also for instance, create an impression of a refreshing breeze sweeping through the green meadows.

John Cage

1966

Experimental composer John Cage tours Europe with The Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1966.

Score: A Film Music Documentary

2017

Music is an integral part of most films, adding emotion and nuance while often remaining invisible to audiences. Matt Schrader shines a spotlight on the overlooked craft of film composing, gathering many of the art form’s most influential practitioners, from Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman to Quincy Jones and Randy Newman, to uncover their creative process. Tracing key developments in the evolution of music in film, and exploring some of cinema’s most iconic soundtracks, 'Score' is an aural valentine for film lovers.

Our Family

2014

From 18-year-olds to pre-teens, ten boys are living together at the 'Family' group home. From 2002 to 2013, the boys, who were around ten years old, escaped North Korea and were separated from their families. They are living with the caretaker, Tae-hoon, who dedicates his life to the boys. The film documents an average and special one year of their lives. It doesn't overstress their situation as the defectors from NK, while cheers their new challenges as teens in South Korea. Also, it shows Tae-hoon being estranged from and reconciled with his own family, who is now supporting him and boys.

Nelson Filma

1971

The work of Nelson Pereira dos Santos guides the documentary, which traces the path taken by Cinema Novo and addresses the issues raised by the filmmaker during the filming of Brazilian Cinema classics.

Natália, a Diva Trágicómica

2011

Documentary about the life of the lyric singer Natália de Andrade.