ANGURA!

3rd Annual Shinsedai Cinema Festival: July 21-24

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:56:00 -0400

Escape the heat tomorrow for the opening of the 3rd Annual Shinsedai Cinema Festival. Programmed by Chris MaGee (Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow) and Jasper Sharp (Midnight Eye), the festival showcases the best of Japanese independent film. My must-see screenings are the feature length animation by Keita Kurosaka Midori-ko (Fri Jul 22 - 9pm) and the CALF Animation Showcase (Sun Jul 23 - 1pm), which features many new works by artists from my Seconds Under the Sun programme (2009-2010).

See you there!

Sight & Sound article on Japanese underground cinema of the 60s

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:16:00 -0400

Sight & Sound article on Japanese underground cinema of the 60s:

‘Theatre Scorpio: Japanese Independent and Experimental Cinema of the 1960s’ runs 12–28 July at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club over the next four Tuesdays in July. Related events run at Flat Time House and Birkbeck College.

The Art Theatre Guild’s 50th anniversary is celebrated in a retrospective at the BFI Southbank through July. Alexander Jacoby surveys the legacy of the ATG in the August 2011 issue of Sight & Sound.

July 30-31: Kanai Katsu Introduces The Kingdom in London

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:00:06 -0400

Kanai Katsu, director of The Kingdom and other amazing experimental films, emailed me to say that he’ll be attending a symposium in London as guest director. If you’re in the city save the date and be sure to check this out! He’s a legend of Japanese cinema!

The Art Theatre Guild of Japan: Spaces for Intercultural and Intermedial Cinema

A two-day symposium on 30th & 31st July 2011 at the Gordon Square Cinema, Birkbeck College, University of London CFP

Toshio Matsumoto - Experimental Film Works 1961-1987 Rare 3 DVD...

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:16:00 -0400

Toshio Matsumoto - Experimental Film Works 1961-1987

Rare 3 DVD Box Set from my personal library.

I’ve decided to use my personal collection as a jumping off point for posts - there’s just too much out there to share! Since I’m a lover of objects and have amassed a pretty extensive library of books and DVDs, I will sharing what I’ve collected here as a sort of visual bibliographic list.

Toshio Matsumoto - Phantom (1975) Watch more of his...

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:14:27 -0400

Toshio Matsumoto - Phantom (1975)

Watch more of his experimental film works on Ubu Web

"Keiichi Tanaami, dark magician of electric cinema. Keiichi Tanaami, conjuror of color..."

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 12:15:01 -0400

“

Keiichi Tanaami, dark magician of electric cinema.

Keiichi Tanaami, conjuror of color television.

Keiichi Tanaami, manager of the mental discotheque.

Keiichi Tanaami, old man of the New York photogram store.

Keiichi Tanaami, colorist of the world that comes from the absence of substance.

Keiichi Tanaami, designer of young girls’ beards.

Keiichi Tanaami, zen-like meditation of the sales agent of the erotic.

Keiichi Tanaami, artisan of the non-advertising neon sign shop.

Keiichi Tanaami, Kannon Bodhisattva of electric coloring pictures.

Keiichi Tanaami, spectre of copper engraving.

Keiichi Tanaami, UFO swindler.

Keiichi Tanaami, student of the color who insists that shadows too are many hued.

”

- Introduction by Shuji Terayama

Exhibition Catalogue “Far From the Film - Keiichi Tanaami” 1975, Image Forum (Tokyo Japan)

Translated in A Portrait of Keiichi Tanaami 14 Films 1975-2009

Poster by Andrew Remington Bailey. Check out his artwork on his...

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 20:57:00 -0400

Poster by Andrew Remington Bailey. Check out his artwork on his blog He Has Antlers.

KEIICHI TANAAMI ANIMATION RETROSPECTIVE SCREENINGS: Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:39:00 -0400

TORONTO SCREENING

Saturday April 23^rd – 8pm

CineCycle (behind 129 Spadina Ave)

$8 / $5 students

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Keiichi Tanaami, born in 1936, is one of the preeminent pop artists of postwar Japan, producing a broad range of works since the 60s including experimental film and animation, woodblock printing, illustration, and editorial design. Tanaami’s imagery is provocative and playful, rooted in the realm of avant garde 60s pop psychedelia. In 1967 Tanaami took his first trip to New York where he discovered the works of Andy Warhol. These experiences opened him up to new artistic directions and in 1975 he became the first Art Director of Playboy Monthly (Japanese Edition). He has worked as a professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design since 1991, and his work continues to be exhibited around the world.

Screening in Toronto for the first time, these 10 animated works offer an introduction to Tanaami’s various styles and a trip through the eye-popping world of free form Japanese psychedelia. This event will also celebrate his newest release, A Portrait of Keiichi Tanaami: 14 Films 1975-2009, a beautiful edition containing a hard cover book with never-before published drawings for animated films, 14 films from 1975-2009, and two documentaries about the man himself, available for purchase at the screening.

This event is a fundraiser to aid the victims of the earthquake in Japan and has been made possible by the generosity of: Keiichi Tanaami, CaRTe bLaNChe, Toronto Animated Image Society, and CineCycle.

All proceeds will go to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake Fund

Presented by:

ANGURA! / Toronto Animated Image Society / CaRTe bLaNChe

WINNIPEG SCREENING - Friday May 6th at Plastic Paper: Winnipeg’s Festival of Animated, Illustrated + Puppet Film

MONTREAL SCREENING - Saturday May 21st at Blue Sunshine Psychotronic Film Centre

It is in the memory of John Cage and the victims that were...

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:54:00 -0400

It is in the memory of John Cage and the victims that were silenced by the recent earthquake in Japan that we ask you to download one minute of silence and wherever you are, whatever you are doing pause and experience ‘ma’.

Donate through the Polyphasic Recordings website.

TICKET GIVEAWAYS!! Toronto Reel Asian Int'l Film Festival

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:51:03 -0400

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The leaves have turned and spooks are out which means that the 14th annual Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is upon us! Instead of candy, ANGURA! is giving away one double-pass to each of the following screenings.

————-

GOLDEN SLUMBER (ゴールデンスランバー) | FRI NOV 12 | 10:00 PM
http://www.reelasian.com/index.php/2010-festival/full-festival-schedule/details/127-golden-slumber

KOJI YAMAMURA: MASTERY OF THE FORM | SAT NOV 13 | 12:00 PM
http://www.reelasian.com/index.php/2010-festival/full-festival-schedule/details/128-koji-yamamura-mastery-of-the-form

DEAR DOCTOR (ディアドクター)
FEATURE PRESENTATION | SUN NOV 14 | 2:00 PM
http://www.reelasian.com/index.php/2010-festival/full-festival-schedule/details/133-dear-doctor

ONE BIG HAPA FAMILY | SUN NOV 14 | 4:45 PM
http://www.reelasian.com/index.php/2010-festival/full-festival-schedule/details/134-one-big-hapa-family

————-

To enter, email ANGURA! (angura.art@gmail.com) by MON NOV 1st at midnight telling us what your favourite Japanese ghost/monster/fictional creature is and which of the 4 screenings you’d like to attend.

The winners will be drawn and notified on Tues Nov 2nd.

The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival runs from Nov 9-15. Check out their full festival schedule here:http://www.reelasian.com/

ANGURA! store page up and away

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:00:54 -0400

The ANGURA! store page is now up with a few items by the artist Daisuke Ichiba - limited edition prints by Halo Halo, and Ichiba’s newest self-published book Midaregami, which features reproductions of his recent paintings.

Check it out!

Some photos from our Kanai Katsu screening on Oct 1st. It was...

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:59:00 -0400

sign by Jeff Garcia (www.mangopeeler.ca)

front row

The Deserted Archipelago (1969)

Gastric Female Reflex live set

Some photos from our Kanai Katsu screening on Oct 1st. It was the first event in our new venue (my warehouse apartment). Thanks to all of those who helped make it a duck-pokingly spectacular night!

Film stills from Kanai Katsu’s The Kingdom (1973)

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:38:00 -0400

Film stills from Kanai Katsu’s The Kingdom (1973)

Film stills from Kanai Katsu’s The Deserted Archipelago...

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:34:00 -0400

Film stills from Kanai Katsu’s The Deserted Archipelago (1969)

Kanai Katsu's THE DESERTED ARCHIPELAGO (1969) Review on J-Film Pow-Wow

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:24:00 -0400

Kanai Katsu's THE DESERTED ARCHIPELAGO (1969) Review on J-Film Pow-Wow:

“The Deserted Archipelago” is a surreal political tale, a film entirely of it’s time. By the late 60’s and early 70’s the leftist student movements who had mobilized against the U.S.-Japan Security treaty, better known as the ANPO Treaty, had splintered and re-splintered into ever smaller and more radical groups. By the time that Katsu was making “The Deserted Archipelago” many university campuses in Japan more closely resembled battlegrounds than they did places of learning. While these groups clashed over the finer points of political actions many shared the common goal of throwing off the yoke of U.S. Imperialism in their home country. It’s this core idealogy that Kanai explores in his film.

Kanai Katsu's THE KINGDOM (1973): Review on J-Film Pow-Wow

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 12:18:04 -0400

Kanai Katsu's THE KINGDOM (1973): Review on J-Film Pow-Wow:

“The Kingdom” is the third film in Kanai Katsu’s avant-garde Smiling Milky Way Trilogy which began with two politically loaded films, 1968’s “The Deserted Archipelago”, a dream journey through the the post-ANPO Treaty 60’s, and 1971’s “Good-Bye”, an exploratrion of the plight of the zainichi, or Japanese of Korean heritage. “The Kingdom” doesn’t take on any loaded current event or momentary societal ill though. Instead it goes to the root of Japanese (and global) society’s engine - time - and in that way “The Kingdom” is probably the most radical film in Kanai’s trilogy of films.

Experimental Films of Kanai Katsu - Canadian Premiere

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:51:34 -0400

ANGURA! is very proud to present the Canadian Premiere of the work of Kanai Katsu!!

In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s Tokyo’s underground film scene fermented some of the most enlightening, kaleidoscopic, bizarre and pioneering visions. Names such as Shuji Terayama, Toshio Matsumoto, Takahiko Iimura and Nobuhiko Obayashi defined this avant-garde cinema, but one filmmaker, 74-year-old Kanai Katsu, has continued to labour in the underground. Since Kanai independently released a limited edition retrospective DVD box-set of his films his work is being discovered by a whole new generation of film fans and art enthusiasts.

On Friday Oct 1st, ANGURA! will be presenting a double-bill of two of Kanai’s defining films - 1969’s “The Deserted Archipelago” and 1973’s “The Kingdom”. Winner of Grand Prize at the 1970 Nyon International Film Festival, “The Deserted Archipelago” plays out like a fever dream of the social and political unrest of the post ANPO-Treaty riots that nearly tore Japan apart during the 1960’s. A lone man escapes a life of abuse in a Catholic monastery only to face male-pregnancy, insanity and a machine gun toting nun on his road to Japan’s Parliament building. “The Kingdom” encorporates surrealism and pinku eiga techniques of momentary flashes of colour footage to take us on one young man’s battle to fuse with the natural world and to conquer time.

PLUS! There will be a special performance by Toronto-based acousmatic / tape music / psychedelic duo GASTRIC FEMALE REFLEX between the films.

Poster art by Private Press Printing

ADMISSION: $10.00 (includes screening + performance + 1 drink)
Doors at 8pm

8:30 -The Deserted Archipelago (無人列島), 55min
9:45 - Gastric Female Reflex
10:15 - The Kingdom (王国), 80min

(TTC Directions: Take the #168 from Dundas W Station or #127 from Station and get off at Laughton. Walk 1/2 block west and go down the alley running north to the second door of the warehouse.)

To whet your appetites for this world of Kanai Katsu check out the trailer he put together for his independently produced DVD box set below.

-CM

Kanai Katsu Film Works - Trailer

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:36:40 -0400

Kanai Katsu Film Works - Trailer

Puppet Master and Experimental Animator Kihachiro Kawamoto Passes Away at 85

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:39:00 -0400

Kihachiro Kawamoto (1925 - 2010)

I first came across Kihachiro Kawamoto’s animation in 2002 when doing research for an essay on the folktale Dojoji, a story in which a woman spurned by a monk transforms into a white serpent and chases after him in a heated rage. The tale originated in China as early as 981 A.D. and reappeared throughout Japan’s history again and again in various forms; from religious parable to Noh and Kabuki plays, literary supernatural tale in Ueda Akinari’s Ugetsu Monogatari (Tales of Moonlight and Rain), to film and finally animation. Kawamoto’s Dojoji (1976) is where this tale finds the true form it had been pursuing all those years.

Kawamoto began working in the medium in the 1950s and honed his skills at the Kratky Studios in Prague under the mentorship of celebrated Czech animator Jiri Trnka. Kawamoto applied these techniques to animated retellings of ancient folktales, contemporary short stories, Noh, Kabuki, and Bunraku plays. His world of puppets without strings describes the permeable divide between the real and supernatural. It is this restraint, to balance the intent of complete realism and uncontrolled fantasy that creates, as Chikamastu Monzaemon the famous Bunraku playwright says, “a certain something in the slender margin between the real and the unreal.”

The Exquisite Short Films of Kihachiro Kawamoto on DVD from KimStim

Jasper Sharp’s interview with Kawamoto on Midnight Eye

Micro Interviews with 12 Japanese Animators

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:03:00 -0400

It’s been a great year for SECONDS UNDER THE SUN, a touring programme of short Japanese art animation I put together in order to get unknown or under-appreciated work in front of eager audiences. It has screened in Toronto and Winnipeg, and will be featured this Saturday in Montreal’s newest micro-cinema Blue Sunshine. SECONDS features 12 established and emerging animators that employ techniques from sand to hand-drawn, stop motion puppet to digital. It highlights artists from a variety of generations and the subject matter covers a range of emotional landscapes: quiet contemplation of the miniscule, death in the family, grotesque humour, and the ineffable space within relationships.

Here are the bios of the participating artists and some bite-sized interviews for your reading enjoyment!

Naomi Nagata

2010 New Year’s Greeting,  30sec (2010)

Komoko-chan’s Coffee, 4min 17sec (2008)

Born in 1978, Naomi Nagata makes music videos and her own works in stop- motion animation using sand and paper cut outs. Since 2002 she has been involved in event planning and operation as a member of the animation screening group “animation soup”.

Favourite childhood toy: When I was child, I liked playing outside more than playing with toys. But, when I play inside, my favorite toy was Family Computer.

Do you like coffee? Yes.

How long it takes you to brush your teeth: Hmm….about 5 to 10 minutes.

Kihachiro Kawamoto

The Demon, 8min (1970)

Born in 1925, from an early age Kihachiro Kawamoto was captivated by the art of doll and puppet making. After seeing the works of maestro Czech animator Jiri Trnka, he first became interested in stop motion puppet animation and during the 50s began working alongside Japan’s first stop motion animator, the legendary Tadahito Mochinaga.

In 1958, he co-founded Shiba Productions to make commercial animation for television, but it was not until 1963, when he traveled to Prague to study puppet animation under Jiri Trnka for a year, that his puppets truly began to take on a life of their own. Trnka encouraged Kawamoto to draw on his own country’s rich cultural heritage in his work, and so Kawamoto returned from Czechoslovakia to make a series of highly individual, independently-produced artistic short works, beginning with Breaking of Branches is Forbidden (Hana-Ori) in 1968.

Heavily influence by the traditional aesthetics of Noh, Bunraku doll theatre and Kabuki, since the 70s his haunting puppet animations such as The Demon (Oni, 1972), Dojoji Temple (Dojoji, 1976) and House of Flame (Kataku, 1979) have won numerous prizes internationally. He has also produced cut out (kirigami) animations such as The Trip (Tabi, 1973) and A Poet’s Life (Shijin no Shogai, 1974). In 1990 he returned to Trnka’s studios in Prague to make Briar Rose, or The Sleeping Beauty.

Shoji Goto

UMO (Music video for OOIOO), 3min 39sec (2007)

SOL (Music video for OOIOO), 2min 40sec (2009)

Born in 1973. Shoji Goto is a graphic designer, motion graphic creator and musician. Foucsing mainly on album covers, music videos, flyers, and t-shirts of various bands, he works on his own music as well.

The age you learned to swim: I think I was six, but I could have been younger.

First album purchased: The Police, Ghost in the Machine.

The most frightening thing: Geography Cone (a species of cone snail that lives in the ocean known for its poisonous venom).

Summer for you is: Cicada songs, the sound when you’re under water, and the rays of sun while diving.

Kei Oyama

Yuki-chan, 5min 15sec (2006)

Born 1978 in Tokyo. Kei Oyama graduated from the Image Forum’s affiliated school in 2001 and the Tokyo Zokei University in 2005. His graduation production “The Doctor’s Office” screened at the Cannes International Film Festival. Oyama participated in the 2006 omnibus Tokyo Loop and completed graduate school at the Tokyo Zokei University in 2007. He recently completed a work titled “Hand Soap” at the Aichi Arts Centre, which will be featured at the Ottawa International Animation Festival this fall.

The most frightening thing: Death.

Your birthday: September 11th, 1978.

Your usual breakfast: Rice, miso soup, natto and an egg. The classic Japanese breakfast. If I don’t have time, sometimes I’ll stop in at a 7-Eleven and get a sandwich or onigiri (rice ball).

Summer for you is: Scalding asphalt, oyster water, grimaces on people’s faces, the smell of sweat. When I was a kid it used to be the sound of cicadas, but I feel like I hear them less these days.

K+

Weirdos, 2min 23sec (2008)

K+ (previously K+Me) was founded in 2005 by Kaoru Sato. Her work is based on the concept of using materials close at hand. Aside from motion graphics, she is also involved in illustration, graphic design and editorial design.

Favourite childhood toy: Sylvanian Family.

Your first part-time job: A waitress at an Italian restaurant.

What type of meal inspires you: Hmmm, my grandmother’s nimono (stews)… nikujaga! (stewed meat and potatoes)

Daisuke Ichiba

Animation for Les Religions Sauvages by Le Dernier Cri, 2min 34sec (2006)

Daisuke Ichiba started painting seriously in the eighties and in 1990 self-published his first book entitled 37 Year Old Bastard. Since then he has continued to release a book a year, and was noticed by the great manga artist Takashi Nemoto, as well as Pakito from the outsider art gallery Le Dernier Cri in Marseille, France. Since 2006, Ichiba has held solo shows in such places as Paris, Marseille, and Switzerland, and in recent years has been pursuing photography.

Favourite smell: The scent of a woman.

Favourite sushi: Mackerel.

What are you reading right now? “What is Zen Buddhism?”

Summer for you is: Watermelon.

Shintaro Kago

Terror of Golf Course, 1min 35sec (2008)

Mermaid, 33sec (2009)

Born 1969 in Tokyo, Japan. He is a Japanese manga artist.

First part-time job: Manga artist’s assistant.

The most terrifying thing: Nuclear missile.

Favourite smell: Inside of a bookstore.

Summer is: Mosquitoes.

Kurosaka Keita

Worm Story, 15min (1989)

Kurosaka Keita (b. 1956) is an independent experimental short animation filmmaker. In 1985 he debuted with his abstract motion graphics that used walls and the surfaces of stones as material. He has created numerous short animation works using diverse techniques such as drawing, photography and 3D objects.

First part-time job: I taught an arts and crafts class to toddlers.

Artists/animation that inspired you in your youth: I started drawing comics influenced by Disney and Tezuka Osamu when I was in elementary school.

First visual memory: One night when I was little, I woke up in the middle of the night because had to go pee. Opening my eyes, I saw a 45 cm cube dancing down the hall and became so terrified that I couldn’t bring myself to go to the bathroom.

Akino Kondoh

Ladybirds’ Requiem, 5min 38sec (2006)

Akino Kondoh was born in Chiba in 1980 and graduated from Tama University Department of Graphic Design in 2003. In 2000, Kondoh won 2nd AX Manga Newcomer’s Award / Encouragement Award (Seirin Kogeisha) with manga “Kayoko Kobayashi”, and in 2002 her animation “The Evening Traveling”, on which girls dance rhythmically to the music by Toshiaki Chiku (former member of music group, Tama), brought her Grand Prix for DIGISTA AWARDS 2002 / Animation Division. Her drawing is known for a fine and delicate touch with a mechanical pencil. She recently made approach to oil painting and the second manga book “Itsumo no hanashi”(Seirin Kogeisha) has been published in 2008.

First visual memory: For some reason I see the scene from behind: I remember riding in an orange baby carriage when my family, the four of us, were leaving to go somewhere on a snowy day. It could have been a memory from my first dream.

The most frightening thing: Irrational occurrences.

The person who taught you how to sew a button: My mother.

Summer is: Cicadas.

Naoyuki Tsuji

The Place Where We Were, 6min (2008)

Born in 1972, Shizuoka, Japan. Naoyuki Tsuji lives and works in Yokohama. He graduated in 1995 with a B.F.A. from Tokyo Zokei University.

What type of meal inspires you: A delicious meal is best!

Summer for you is: Sweat, sun, asphalt.

Mika Seike

Face to Face, 8min 42sec (2007)

Born and raised in Osaka Japan, Mika Seike began creating animation in 2001.

First visual memory: The scenery around the place where I lived since childhood until about 12 years ago. In my memory it is an alluring three-dimensional image. The scenery still appears in my dreams sometimes.

An artist you admire right now: I admire the animation artist Georges Schwizgebel and have been watching his DVD of collected works a lot recently. I really like the DVD.

Favourite smell: I like the smell of the air before and after raining, and the smell of the forest.

Summer for you is: The heat, and Japanese festivals. The summer in Osaka is damp and hot!

Atsushi Wada

Day of Nose, 9min 31sec（2005）

Born in 1980, Hyogo prefecture. Atsushi Wada started making animations on his own while studying at Osaka Kyoiku University. After graduating, he studied film and experimental video at the Image Forum school and created “Day of Nose” as his final project. It won the Best Short Film prize at the Norwich Animation Festival among other awards at screenings both home and abroad. He then went on to contribute to the omnibus Tokyo Loop and is now majoring in animation at graduate school at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

Favourite smell: A towel that’s been in the sun.

Favourite childhood toy: I can’t remember any toy in particular, but I remember enjoying playing with my younger brother.

First visual memory: I either imagined it or dreamt about a large room at daycare. We were having nap time when all of a sudden a criminal or psycho came into the daycare and everyone started crying. I had already checked for an escape route in case of a situation like this and escaped through that very window without anyone noticing. I was the only one who ran away.

Summer for you is: Watermelon (I don’t really like it) and fireworks (I don’t really like them either).