PROGRAM E the first person voice
With the spread of smaller cameras and cheaper equipment, filmmaking has become as close to home as using a pen. Many filmmakers use the first person voice as their alibi to the personalized filmmaking process.
Much can be learned from the filmmaker’s first person voice. Using tone and tempo, speech and humor, filmmakers can offer the audience a peek at their self-image and draw us into their close and private circle. In Suzuki Shirouyasu’s films, you will even get to feel his breathing up close. Correspondence 10’s exchange of written first person text between two old friends, exchanged like renga (linked Japanese poems), is simple and moving. In Lucky Jack, the narration’s self-depreciating wit and earnest tone invites us to accompany the filmmaker’s carefree journey of the mind. In After All, I’m 70 Years Old, metaphors like “the chaotic garden is the mirror of my mind” are each so poetic and personal, you cannot but be charmed.
These three lighthearted films by experienced filmmakers could not have been made by the insecure and arrogant young.
Correspondence 10
(“Eizo shokan 10”)- JAPAN / 2005 / Japanese / Color / Video / 36 min
Directors, Source: Kawanaka Nobuhiro, Hagiwara Sakumi
Editing: Kimura Kazuyo
Music: Fujisawa Michio
Song: Nagisa Yoko
Assistance: Shirao Kazuhiro
Tenth in a series of video letter exchanges between two artists since 1979. Over the course of sending each other footage from their daily life, aging and the death of loved ones emerge as themes.
Kawanaka Nobuhiro
Born in 1941, Kawanaka Nobuhiro began experimental filmmaking in the early 1960s. One of the founders of Image Forum, he is currently a professor at Tokyo Zokei University. Major works include Switch Back (1976), Correspondence 1–9 (collaboration with Hagiwara Sakumi, 1979–2003) and Drunken Diary (2004). 
Hagiwara Sakumi
Born in 1946. Filmmaker, stage director and essayist, Hagiwara Sakumi began production work in theater, experimental film, video art and writing in the late 1960s. Currently a professor at Tama Art University, major films include TIME (1971), KIRI (1972), Feb. 20 (1988) and Closed Glass (1991). |
Lucky Jack—Three Attempts to Stop Smoking
Hans im Glück—drei Versuche, das Rauchen loszuwerden
SWITZERLAND / 2003 / German, Swiss-German / Color / 35mm / 90 min
Director, Script, Photography, Producer: Peter Liechti
Editing: Tania Stöcklin
Sound: Dieter Lengacher
Music: Norbert Möslang, Voice Crack, Fredy Studer
Production Companies: Liechti Filmproduktion, Schweizer Fernsehen DRS
Source: SWISS FILMS
The filmmaker takes three walking trips to rid himself of his smoking habit. The journey takes him on an exploration of his inner self, his personal history and a rediscovery of the Swiss land.
Peter Liechti
Born 1951 in St. Gallen, Peter Liechti began filmmaking in 1984, making experimental and essay films including a collaborative work with Nam June Paik. He is currently active in Zürich as an independent author, director, cameraman and producer. |
After All, I’m 70 Years Old
(“Kyokushiteki ni tsui ni koki”)- JAPAN / 2005 / Japanese / Color / Video / 35 min
Director, Photography, Editing, Source: Suzuki Shirouyasu
Music: Kenmoku Hisawo
Appearance: Suzuki Shirouyasu, Suzuki Mari, Akita Yuki, Nogami Kinuyo, Yamamoto Yuko (voice), Tama Art University Drama Performance Jiraiya cast
Going on seventy, the filmmaker begins daily exercises to combat aging. Appreciating the flowers in his garden each day, he starts to feel invigorated. The latest video work by a pioneer of the Japanese personal film.
Suzuki Shirouyasu
Born 1935 in Tokyo, Suzuki Shirouyasu began writing poems in 1952. He worked for NHK as a 16mm movie cameraman from 1961 to 1977, and has published twenty-two books of poetry and completed forty-seven films including personal films he began in 1966. |
| SWISS FILMS
SWISS FILMS is an association dedicated to promoting the Swiss Cinema and to consolidating commercial and cultural activities. It fosters the presence of current independent filmmaking and the preservation of the Swiss audiovisual tradition at home and abroad. It is a partner for Swiss producers and filmmakers in the development of promotional strategies for their films, cultivates the image of Swiss filmmaking, and provides information about new films and developments in the Swiss film industry. SWISS FILMS compiles essential data on Swiss films, and maintains a reserve of prints that is instrumental in promoting the presence of Swiss filmmaking abroad. URL: http://www.swissfilms.ch/ (French, English) |
| Pro Helvetia—Arts Council of Switzerland
Pro Helvetia (PH)—Arts Council of Switzerland, is financed by the Swiss federal government to promote the country’s diverse culture both domestically and abroad. Pro Helvetia’s work centers on the forging of lasting networks between Swiss and foreign artists and cultural establishments. Under the banner “0406 Swiss Contemporary Arts in Japan,” Pro Helvetia is realizing an exciting cultural program in close collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan. From October 2004 to autumn 2006, a steady flow of Swiss contemporary arts—including film, painting, photography, music, theater, dance, literature, design, comics and web art—will increase exposure and interest in contemporary Switzerland among the people of Japan. For further information, please visit the following websites: |