The Creative Treatment of Grierson in Wartime Japan
with the generous support of Kinoshita Group
• October 12–14 [Venue] Yamagata Museum of Art 1
When the term “documentary” arrived in Japan, what was it contemporary filmmakers meant when they debated the “creative treatment of actuality”? Kinship with the origin of this idea—the British Documentary Film Movement, represented here by John Grierson’s pioneering work Drifters—may be seen in the lyricism of People Burning Coal, while the dynamic sound recorded on location for Train C57 and Unknown People resonates with Shipyard. Also screened will be Kobayashi Issa, that speaks of daily life in haiku, Record of a Nursery, made together with its subjects, and Turksib, also a model for Japanese documentary filmmakers of the era. A broad palette of wartime film experiments unearths an eloquence that still speaks to us today.
- The Pulse of the Workplace
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Shipyard Dir: Paul Rotha / UK / 1935 / 24 min
Train C57 Dir: Imaizumi Yoshitama / JAPAN / 1940 / 45 min
Unknown People Dir: Asano Tatsuo / JAPAN / 1940 / 12 min
Talk: Markus Nornes (Professor, University of Michigan) • Oct. 12 10:50
Depicting Labor-
People Burning Coal Dir: Atsumi Teruo / JAPAN / 1940 / 19 min
The Ama Divers of Wagu Dir: Ueno Kozo / JAPAN / 1940 / 25 min
Drifters Dir: John Grierson / UK / 1929 / Silent / 48 min
Violin: Suzuki Takashi (Composer) • Oct. 13 10:50
Land and Rail-
Hakumo-sen Dir: Morii Teruo / JAPAN / 1941 / 21 min *Partial version
Turksib Dir: Victor A. Turin / USSR / 1929 / Silent / 74 min
Violin: Suzuki Takashi (Composer)
Talk: Anastasia Fedorova (Associate Professor, National Research University Higher School of Economics (Russia)) • Oct. 13 13:40
Words / Sound / Rhythm-
Coal Face Dir: Alberto Cavalcanti / UK / 1935 / 11 min
Night Mail Dir: Harry Watt, Basil Wright / UK / 1936 / 24 min
Kobayashi Issa Dir: Kamei Fumio / JAPAN / 1941 / 27 min
Living by the Earth Dir: Miki Shigeru / JAPAN / 1941 / 9 min *Partial version
Village of Stone Dir: Kyogoku Takahide / JAPAN / 1940 / 10 min • Oct. 13 16:40
Filming Life-
Housing Problems Dir: Arthur Elton, E. H. Anstey / UK / 1935 / 15 min
Village Without a Doctor Dir: Ito Sueo / JAPAN / 1940 / 13 min
Renovating Farm Houses Dir: Noda Shinkichi / JAPAN / 1941 / 20 min *Postwar version
Record of a Nursery Dir: Mizuki Soya / JAPAN / 1941 / 35 min *Postwar version
Talk: Okada Hidenori (Curator, National Film Archive of Japan) • Oct. 14 10:50