Bing Bang Zing Zang Art Class
(“Tonton gikogiko zukono jikan”)- Director: NONAKA Mariko
2001 Japanese Subtitled in - Color 16mm 80 min
Photography: NATSUUMI Kozo
Sound Design: YONEYAMA Kiyoshi
Narrator: INUYAMA Inuko
Title Animation: Office Magari
Singer: EBARA Yoko
Contact Name: Bing Bang Zing Zang Art Class Executive Committee
Phone: 81-3-3598-8505
Fax: 81-3-3598-8506
E-mail: info@tontongikogiko.com
URL: www.tontongikogiko.com
[Festivals and prizes] Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Excellent Cultural Documentary Film Award 2004, The Japanese Film Season 2005 (GB), World Panorama (Spain), Korea-Japan Children’s Images Cultural Communication (Korea)
[Synopsis]
In an art class in a public elementary school, Mr. Uchino, the art teacher, dramatically presents a bucketful of old nails to the class. At the sight of these unglamorous nails, some quite rusty and bent, children raise their voices in complaint: “They are so old!” Quite undisturbed, Mr. Uchino goes on to show them how to use a hammer.
Clonk, clonk, clonk! Bang, bang, bang! A hammer and nails can be dangerous to work with, especially in combination with a saw, but not in Mr. Uchino’s class where each face is radiant with the joy of creation. They are not especially gifted art school students. But after an hour of happy hammering and sawing, every child comes up with a nail man, nail woman, or nail animal that can keep them company. The extraordinary concentration and spontaneity with which the children work are a pleasure to watch. It is the hour of bliss and miracle. The film indeed teaches us a few things about life that we may have left in the schoolyard.
| NONAKA Mariko
Born 1959 in Tokyo. Joined TV production company Telecom Staff in 1982 and made many TV documentaries. Became freelance in 1991 and continued working in television. Made her first feature documentary Children’s Time in 2001, and released it in a small art house theater in Tokyo. It became an unprecedented hit and has been shown in more than 450 theaters throughout Japan to over 100,000 people. This is her second feature. |