Associated Program
The 18th National Cultural Festival
“YAMAGATA 2003” Documentary Festival
Japanese “Dai” Panorama
- Program 1: Documentaries from Yamagata (Filmmaking Workshop)
- Program 2: Four Prominent Visual Artists Storm Yamagata!
- Program 3: Japanese Panorama
The National Cultural Festival (Kokumin Bunkasai) “YAMAGATA 2003” is a cultural version of the National Sports Festival (Kokumin Taiiku Taikai) which is held each year in a different location. Forty-four cities, towns and villages in Yamagata Prefecture will play host to a variety of cultural events featuring cinema, music, theater, art, traditional performance and much more.
This Documentary Festival is one of these events, and as its schedule overlaps with that of the YIDFF this year, diverse array of works and directors with you.
* English subtitles/translations are not provided for some films in this program.
Duration: October 10 (Friday) –13 (Monday)
Venue: Yugakukan Yamagata Prefectural Library 2F Hall
Admission: Free
Organizers: The 18th National Cultural Festival “YAMAGATA 2003” Yamagata City Organization Committe
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Program 1: Documentaries from Yamagata (Filmmaking Workshop)
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A filmmaking workshop open to the general public was held from October 2002 through August 2003. Most participants were students, with working adults joining in as well. Presented here are the seven works that were eventually completed after numerous intensive filmmaking sessions and meetings, and much wrangling, conflict, and the instructors’ judicious use of both carrot and stick.
Date/Time: October 11 (Saturday) –12 (Sunday)
Hand in Hand
Lunch Box
Knock
Kyokubushikan
Beyond Borders
Because She Cheers Us Up
Late Summer Dance
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Program 2: Four Prominent Visual Artists Storm Yamagata!
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Screenings of works by the Filmmaking Workshop; instructors Kanai Katsu, Kato Itaru, Koguchi Utako and Tsuchiya Yutaka, including their latest efforts.
Kanai Katsu (Visual Artist)
- Date/Time: October 10 (Friday) 10:45
Deserted Island (“Mujin Retto”) (Nyon International Film Festival Grand Prix)
- 1969 / B&W / 16mm / 56 min
Kanai Katsu’s debut work, intricately woven from the director’s own experiences, delusions and life after the Second World War.
Date/Time: October 13 (Monday) 14:20
Super Documentary Avant-Garde Magic (Most recent work)- 2003 / Color / Video / 33 min
Visual artist Kanai Katsu documents the everyday life of another version of himself, Kanai Katsumaru. The elderly Katsumaru, depressed by his loss of vitality, trains himself to conquer youth, creating “avant-garde magic” which brings about various miracles. Enjoy these amazing miracles, which are no mere fabrications.
Kato Itaru (Visual Artist)
- Date/Time: October 10 (Friday) 13:55
Kato Itaru: 10 works - FADE OUT 1978 / 3 min
FADE OUT II 1980 / 8 min
Go-round 1981 / 8 min
Suspension Bridge_ 1983 / 8 min
Focusing 1984 / 5 min
Wiper 1985 / 7 min
Washer 1987 / 10 min
Melt Down 1988 / 13 min
Zero-TV 1989 / 8 min
Sparkling 1991 / 10 min
A collection of ten films beginning with FADE OUT, Kato’s first 16mm work which he submitted as a student to the 100 Feet Film Festival in 1978, and rounding off with SPARKLING which looks at news reporting on the 1991 Gulf War.
Date/Time: October 13 (Monday) 13:30
Kaiseki Cuisine (Most recent work)- Co-dir: Sakurai Atsushi / 2002 / Color / Video / 16 min
This collaboration with Kyoto-based visual artist Sakurai Atsushi, focusing on “food.” In “Kodoku,” Sakurai exclusively examines the vast quantity of food additives which pass through our bodies everyday. In “Giji Kanetsu,” Kato attempts to ‘analyze’ the richness and poverty of the bento box sold at convenience stores.
Koguchi Utako (Visual Artist)
- Date/Time: October 10 (Friday) 12:10
Ophelia’s Favorite Books
<1st Night: Read Yoshiya Nobuko. 2nd Night: Read Ozaki Midori. 3rd Night: Read Sayo Sakurako>
- 1995 / Color / Video / 30 min*3=90 min
Imaginary girl’s magazine “Monthly Ophelia” explores the recreational literary worlds of three female writers born in 1896.
Tsuchiya Yutaka (Visual Artist)
- Date/Time: October 10 (Friday) 15:30
The New God (English subtitled version)
- 1999 / Color / Video / 99 min
An evocation of the emotional landscape of young people living in Japan at the end of the last century, which stunned audiences at international film festivals around the world. A highly controversial work that achieved a record run in Japanese cinemas.
Date/Time: October 13 (Monday) 10:30
PEEP “TV” SHOW (English subtitled version)- 2003 / Color / Video / 98 min
An incident that occurred between an obsessive who secretly films things, who watched the images that flooded from cathode ray tubes on the 11th of September 2001 and found them to be “beautiful,” and a young girl devoted to Lolita-style fashion who has begun to give up on herself.
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Program 3: Japanese Panorama
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Part of the YIDFF’s main program since 1991, Japanese Panorama will be presented this year as part of the National Cultural Festival program. Despite the change in format, it will continue its efforts to discover new Japanese films and directors.
- Don’t Push Me!—Record of a Truancy Girl
- Watanabe Takashi / 2002 / Video / 45 min
A young girl who has stopped going to school began to re-establish connections with people and society through theater.
My Life Is White Rice! [Breakfast, Lunch, Supper]
- Manma Sachiko / 2003 / Video / 18 min
The nostalgic kindness of white rice, expressed with comical affection and a spicy kick...
Erotic/Girl of Worldly Desire
- Yamauchi Yoko / 2002 / Video / 20 min
Father complex, feelings for her mother, friendship, and love. A pop portrait of the emotional vacillations of a young girl.
Confession of Antonio
- Honda Soichiro / 2001 / Video / 57 min
The sheer force of combat sports and the confessions of Antonio draw a clear line between static and dynamic.
A Sole Demonstration
- Ando Hisao / 2001 / Video / 94 min
At the end of a journey of self-discovery, the director is enthralled by the kindness of members of a performance theater group.
We Were Born after the War
- Araki Masato, Mathis Neuburger / 2001 / Video / 79 min
Young people from East and West directly confront issues of their generation including war, invasion, and the way in which history is taught.
Every Japanese Woman Makes Her Own Curry (English subtitled version)
- Matsue Tetsuaki / 2003 / Video / 30 min
Four days and three nights with curry rice and a woman living in Tokyo, drenched in the loneliness of life in the big city.
The Story of New Town
- Honda Takayoshi / 2003 / 16mm / 103 min
A look at issues facing the “New Towns” that sprouted one after another during Japan’s period of rapid economic growth, as well as those facing the director’s own family.
Picture Letter
- Uchida Nobuteru / 2002 / Video / 95 min
Through exchanges of picture letters with many people, a kind of warmth began to emerge.
How I Survive in Kawaguchi City (English subtitled version)
- Murakami Kenji / 2003 / Video / 30 min
I moved to Kawaguchi City for financial reasons. The city as seen through the camera lens is omniscient in the lives of its people.
Father Complex
- Samata Yumi / 2002 / Video / 27 min
The camera whirrs into action, exploring the director’s love-hate relationship with her father and deliverance from suffering.
YIDFF 2003 Information • Jury Comments • International Competition | New Asian Currents | Okinawa—Nexus of Borders: Ryukyu Reflections | Yamagata Newsreel! | New Docs Japan | Other Screenings • Schedule • Map of Venues | Tickets | Accommodation | FAQ • |