| 2012-03-09 | | | Children’s Film Workshop was a Success! |
Children’s Film Workshop was a film course that was held at Yamagata Documentary Film Library on February 18th. At the course, being the third of its kind, the children learnt about films through hands-on experience with projectors. They also made a fancy cine-calligraphy movie with 35mm film.
Although the class time was short, it became a very energetic and productive film course. Please take a look at this “film” as it is the product of the children’s imagination and concentration!
“Let’s Draw, Project, and Animate!” (MOV format, 30MB)
| 2012-03-09 | | | Memories of Tokieda Toshie and Nunokawa Tetsuro |
Many Japanese cineastes passed away last year and just during these recent two months great filmmakers and actors/actresses have been numbered among the dead. Among them, two legendary documentarists have passed on, Tokieda Toshie and Nunokawa Tetsuro, who left behind great achievements in Japanese documentary history.
Tokieda Toshie joined Iwanami Productions during the company’s pioneer days in 1951. After becoming freelance in 1984, she kept creating fantastic films as a director. Several of her films were chosen in Kinema Junpo’s Top 10 Cultural Films rankings, and her 1977 work Edo Life Recollected in Drawings shined at first place in the following year’s Agency for Cultural Affairs’ National Arts Festival.
In YIDFF, we screened her two masterpieces: Town Politics: Mothers Who Study (1957) at YIDFF ’91; Land of the Dawn (1967) at YIDFF ’93. She also supported the production of Showa Housekeeping (2009, Dir: Koizumi Kazuko), which was screened at YIDFF2011. An interview with her was been published in Documentary Box #21 (2003, the interviewer is Imaizumi Ayako, former Iwanami director), which was included in a compilation book Documentarists in Japan (2006, Mirai-sha). It is an invaluable historical testimony covering her long path from her early days before joining Iwanami to the recent collaboration for Showa Housekeeping (original title: A Record of Housework). Documentarists of Japan, #19: Tokieda Toshie
Independent filmmaker Nunokawa Tetsuro, one generation younger than Ms.Tokieda started making films at Waseda University during the height of the New Left Movement, and formed the Japan Documentarist Union (NDU) with those such as Inoue Osamu. Since then, he made films energetically both inside and outside Japan. Unsatisfied with the posture of the Independent Film Movement led by those like Ogawa Shinsuke and Tsuchimoto Noriaki, he kept on with his stimulating film work while collating with the young filmmakers of Nakazaki-cho Documentary Space (NDS) until his death, always hoping to dramatically impact society through films.
In YIDFF, we screened several NDU 16mm films of the 1970s and 80s: In the special program at YIDFF ’95, Onikko: A Record of the Struggle of Youth Laborers (1970), Motoshinkakarannu (1971), and Bastard on the Border (1976); Palestine 1976–1983: What We Learned from the Palestinian Revolution (1983) at YIDFF ’97; Also at YIDFF 2005 “BORDERS WITHIN—What It Means to Live in Japan” program, To the Japs: South Korean A-Bomb Survivors Speak Out (1971) and Asia Is One (1973) were screened. He was also at YIDFF 2007 to present Multi Screen Project Nippon Theater—Toward Film Inspired by the Sea (2007).
Ms. Tokieda passed away on January 26, and Mr. Nunokawa on February 9. We are deeply grateful for their great support for YIDFF and may their souls rest in peace.