Led by researcher and curator Go Hirasawa, this screening introduced a series of Japanese experimental films from the 1960s, including those characterized as zen'ei eiga (avant-garde film), undāguraundo eiga (underground film), jikken eiga (experiment film), and others. Though influential at their time of creation, the films had only recently been digitally restored for audience viewing. The screening was followed by a free workshop at the Harvard Film Archive on the preservation and circulation of noncorporate film and with the "Hachimiri Madness!" Program.
Film Series
Three Radical Japanese Filmmakers
Curated by GO HIRASAWA, Meiji Gakuin University
and presented with ALEXANDER ZAHLTEN, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Gewaltopia Trailer (Motoharu Jonouchi, 1969)
Shinjuku Station (Motoharu Jonouchi, 1969)
Great Society (Masanori Oe and Marvin Fishman, 1967)
Phenomenology of Zeitgeist (Rikuro Miyai, 1967)
Click HERE for more information.
Workshop
Shifting of the Materialities of Film: Projection, Preservation, and Research
Ann Adachi, Collaborative Cataloging Japan Initiative
Haden Guest, Director of the Harvard Film Archive
Go Hirasawa, Meiji Gakuin University
Alexander Zahlten, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
The workshop addressed the shifts taking place in the way moving images from Japan are preserved and presented while exploring their consequences on film as an art and as an object of research. Presented by four central figures involved in Japanese film studies, the workshop addressed questions such as the preservation and accessibility of film from Japan, as well as the role and challenges of experimental film within the Japanese film industry.
The recorded talk and transcript can be found HERE.
Harvard Film Archive Series co-sponsored by the Reischauer Institute