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A Movie Capital, Again

Film festivals in Japan are being forced to cut back or fold. In 2006 the operation of Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, celebrating almost two decades of history, was transferred from the city government to an incorporated non-profit organization. Focusing on volunteer members of the YIDFF Network, who left their mark during the inaugural festival, director Iizuka Toshio films the festival staff who are caught in the dilemma of servicing the local community and maintaining the standards of an international film festival.

A Movie Capital, Again

NR 2007
Shinonome Omogo Ishizuchi

“This work was commissioned by the Kuma Museum of Art (Ehime Prefecture). It revolves around scenery in Ehime Prefecture and Matsuyama-born film director Itami Mansaku. It begins in Shinonome, the setting of a short story by poet Nakamura Kusatao which is thought to be a depiction of his friendship with Mansaku, and follows Mansaku as he return to Matsuyama from Kyoto where he has become a film director and visits Omogo and Ishizuchi.” (from the catalog of Image Forum Festival 2010)

Shinonome Omogo Ishizuchi

NR 2008
Heavy Metal Me

Heavy Metal Me is a DVD release by Japanese band Boris. It consists of live performances of "Feedbacker" and "Flood", music videos for "A Bao A Qu" and "The Evil One Which Sobs", and the titular short film Heavy Metal Me. The short film is actually a series of chapters on the disc which play in a random order every time the user hits play (though the chapters for each language remain together). Filmed primarily in black and white, the piece is deliberately low quality and aged, with guitarist Wata playing the lead; most chapters feature analog hiss and white noise for audio tracks, though some are totally silent, and others contain acoustic guitar plucks atop the hiss. Notably the DVD has no "play all" button and each portion must be played individually from the menu.

Heavy Metal Me

NR 2005
Dragonfly

Ginza, a fiercely competitive district of the nightlife scene. Aiko, an office worker who was on the verge of marriage, is unilaterally dumped by her fiancé. Some time later, upon discovering that her ex-boyfriend Ryu was bisexual, her heartbreak turns into a desire to ‘show him what he’s missing’. Then, through an introduction from a hostess she met by chance, Aiko enters the world of nightlife. Taking the stage name ‘Ryu’, she resolves to survive amidst the turbulent waves of life as a woman of the night…

Dragonfly

NR 2006