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Seeing
(“Miru to iu koto”)- JAPAN / 2009 / Japanese / Video / 95 min (6 film omnibus)
Planning, Structure: Matsumoto Toshio
Producer: Sano Masumi (Sano Gallery)
Filmmaker Matsumoto Toshio, a pioneer of experimental film in Japan and an advocate of Neo-Documentarism since the 1960s, conceived and structured this omnibus film, directed by six experimental filmmakers. Based on the theme of “seeing,” proposed by Matsumoto, the six directors approach the subject from varying individual perspectives and develop their own unique images. The film addresses fundamental questions: What does it mean to “see” things, and What does it mean to “make films”?
1 Blinder in Winter
- Kato Itaru 19 min
Kato Itaru
Born in 1958 in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. Started filming with an 8mm camera in high school. Filmmaker, professor at Tohoku University of Art & Design.
Interview
2 Dahlia
- Kano Shiho 13 min
Kano Shiho
A graduate of the department of imaging arts and sciences at Musashino Art University. Since 1996, has produced and presented film and video visual art, installations, and live performances.
3 Constellation
- Maeda Shinjiro 20 min
Maeda Shinjiro
Born in 1969. Filmmaker. A graduate of the art research graduate program at Kyoto Seika University. Began making films as a student. An associate professor at the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences.
4 October
- Inagaki Kanako 11 min
Inagaki Kanako
Born in 1980 in Okayama Prefecture. After graduating from the Joshibi University of Art and Design, she worked in advertising design. Now a fulltime housewife and mother.
5 mirror of air
- Okuno Kunitoshi 19 min
Okuno Kunitoshi
Born in 1969 in Tokyo. A graduate of the image arts program of the graduate school of art at Nihon University. An associate professor at Nihon University.
6 dead-seeing VISION/CONTROL
- Oki Hiroyuki 10 min
Oki Hiroyuki
Please see his biography as juror of New Asian Currents.
Symposium: “Seeing”: Documentary and Avant Garde 2009
Oct. 13 (Tue) 18:30– Venue: Forum 5 Admission: Free
- Panelists:
- Matsumoto Toshio (Filmmaker; Seeing, concept and structure) Murayama Kyoichiro (Film scholar, critic)
Mikami Mitsuro (Curator, Miyagi Museum of Art)
Kano Shiho (Filmmaker)- Moderator:
- Kato Itaru (Filmmaker, Tohoku University of Art & Design Professor)
Just because your eyes are open does not mean that you are actually seeing things. This is simply an optical phenomenon of the retina. So, what does it really mean to “see” things? A novel omnibus film was created around this common theme, comprised of segments directed by six artists. In each of their unique approaches, we can see the artists groping to make the subject their own. I would also ask you to pay attention to how these multiple perspectives reverberate with each other in all directions and form nothing less than a unique world of imaginative creativity that transcends the individual. Eliminating fixed notions and allowing yourself to “see” things freely can tranform the way things “appear” in astonishing ways.
Matsumoto Toshio