Azuru Isshiki’s 2003 animated short An Instant, pares the art of animation
down to its essentials: a series of images drawn in paint on paper.It begins and ends with a small dot, but in-between
Isshiki explores the full range of expression possible with just simple
animation tools.The film consists of
just black and red paint on a variety of different papers.Dots, lines, and spirals dance across the
screen, as does a cheerful female figure.It is an exuberant and life-affirming piece in the same vein as Norman McLaren’s Boogie Doodle (1940).
The
animation is accompanied by a dynamic percussive score performed by Kyōichi Satō (佐藤強一, b. 1962).It was first shown as a silent film
accompanied by a live impromptu music performance in 2003 at an animation event
called "INTO ANIMATION 3" organized by JAA (Japan Animation
Association). After this event, the music
was recorded and added to the film.
Azuru Isshiki (一色あづる, b. 1949) is an animation artist from Tokyo.She worked at Toei for five years before
going freelance.She is a member of the
animation group G9+1 and was a participant in Kihachirō Kawamoto’s
collaborative work Winter Days
(2003).
Azuru Isshiki Filmography
1992Wind / 風 / Kaze
2002A Day of the Earth / 地球の一日/ Chikyu no Ichinichi
2003Winter Days / 冬の日/ Fuyu no Hi –
collaborative work
2004An Instant
2005Tokyo Fantasia / TOKYO ファンタジア– collaborative work (G9+1)
2006Chigueso – Under the Sky of the Planet
Earth / チグエソ 地球の空の下で /
Chigueso – Chikyu no Sora No Shitade – Minna no Uta (NHK)
2007A Dream Man / 夢人-ユメジン- / Yumjin – Minna no Uta (NHK)
2009Rambling Child / Yushi no Ko
2009A Part of Space
2010Let's go to the Field after the Festival /
おまつりすんだはらっぱに/
Omatsuri Sundara Harappa ni – Okāsan
to Issho (NHK)
Takeo Kikuchi’s
debut feature film, Dear Deer (ディアーディアー / Diā Diā,
2015), won the Nippon Visions Jury Award at this year’s Nippon Connection.The film was recommended to me by festival
curator Atsuko Morimune because the
opening sequence features animation by Atsushi
Wada, who was my NC animation guest in2012.
A young woman (a much too short
cameo by the wonderful Rinko Kikuchi)
is alone in the exhibition space of a local museum at closing time.She presses a button several times in order
to watch a video installation but it does not play.A few moments after she walks away in
frustration, the film plays for the cinema audience.Animated with Atsushi Wada’s signature
style, the short film tells the story of the local Ryōmō sika deer
(sika deer are known as shika in
Japan), a type of sika deer famous for its antlers, which used to be found in
the Ryōmō district of Tochigi Prefecture.The film claims that the deer used to be prolific until invading foreign
species, industrialisation, and hunting drove them into extinction by the Second
World War.Fifty years later, three
local children spotted a deer and took a blurry photograph of it.The people of Ryōmō celebrated this sighting,
but as no Ryōmō deer have been spotted since, many believe it to have been a
different species of deer (see note at end of review for deer facts).
The story begins twenty-five years
later when the three siblings who spotted the Ryōmō deer reunite in their hometown
because their father is dying.The
eldest son, Fujio (Kōji Kiryū),
stayed at home to run the family business but the economic downturn and his father's hospital bills have left
him burdened with debt.The second son,
Yoshio (Yōichirō Saitō), has lived
away from home for a long time and is jobless and struggling with mental health
issues.The daughter, Akiko (Yuri Nakamura), has also lived away
since leaving school and is trying to divorce her husband.
This family reunion is fraught with
problems as each sibling is in turn confronted with issues that they have
avoided for much too long.Fujio is
under pressure from a local developer to sell his land to make way for a
shopping centre.Fujio knows he cannot save the business and he needs
the money to pay his bills, but he is under pressure from
the community not to sell his father’s factory.
Although his family seems to think
that he is mentally ill, Yoshio’s main problem seems to be an inability to take
responsibility for the mistakes he has made in his life. This issue manifests itself in the
form of an incident that occurs when Fujio lets Yoshio take the wheel of their
father’s car.His neglectful driving
leads him to run over a dog.Rather than
trying to find its owner and apologize, Yoshio buries the dog, and tries to cover his tracks
with a series of lies.
Similarly, rather than using the
time at home to come to terms with why her marriage has failed, Akiko throws
herself back into a toxic high school affair.As layer upon layer of the weaknesses of these siblings is revealed, we
are hooked into the storylines by our curiosity to see whether or not the
central characters have an epiphany about their lives, or if they will continue
in a downward spiral.
The extinction of the deer and the disintegration
of the family serve as metaphors for the decline of small towns all over Japan
which are suffering because young people and businesses have moved to larger
city centres.The film was shot in the
director’s home town of Ashikaga
in Tochigi Prefecture and was produced by the lead
actor Kōji Kiryū with his own production company Office Kiryu (オフィス桐生).
The most intriguing thing for me
about this film is the fact that I identified more with the minor characters –
Akiko’s underappreciated writer husband Seiichi (Yurei Yanagi) and the poor family who lost their dog – than I did
any of the central characters.I dearly
hope Kikuchi does a sequel about the life of Akiko’s writer husband who cooks
her a wonderful breakfast before walking out of her life to a future unknown.
On a final note: although the deer
works as a wonderful metaphor within the story of the film, this is a
fiction.There is only one species of
deer in Japan, so if Ryōmō has or had its own regional deer it would be a subspecies
of the sika (cervus nippon) such as C.n.nippon.In real life, the deer is not a very good
metaphor for threatened species in Japan because deer and wild boar in Japan are
a nuisance to farmers due to over-population.Deer are overabundant in Japan because of a combination of conservation
efforts, a reduction in hunting and the 19th century extinction of
the native species of wolf.The only
subspecies of deer under threat are the Kerama deer (C. n. keramae) which are native to the tiny Kerama Islands of
Okinawa.
Takeo KIKUCHI
(菊地健雄, b. 1978) was born in Ashikaga, Tochigi
Prefecture.He is a graduate of Meiji
University and The Film School of Tokyo (Eigabi).He apprenticed under Takahisa Zeze before
working as an assistant director for many years under various directors.Dear
Deer is his debut feature film.
The animator
Onohana will bethe special animation guestat Japan Cuts 2016.A graduate of
Tokyo University of the Arts’ prestigious graduate programme in animation (Geidai
Animation 05 Go 2014), Onnohana was the first student and only the second
woman to win the Noburō Ōfuji Award for innovation (learn
more) for her graduate film Crazy
Little Thing (澱みの騒ぎ, 2014).The
experimental animation programme at Japan Cuts 2016 features some of Onohana’s
solo work as well as her collaborative work with Mirai Mizue.It is a dynamic
programme with shorts by Atsushi Wada,
Masanobu Hiraoka, Sawako Kabuki, Yoko Yuki, and Ryo Hirano.
Programme synopsis:
“An exciting selection of experimental
animated works from Japan never before screened in New York City, representing
a broad range of contemporary avant-garde practice. The titles range from 3-14
minutes, adopting the full breadth of styles in new animation: from visual
music to raunchy music videos, digital processes to analogue filmmaking, and
from minimalist atmospheric shorts to narratively rich miniature epics. All
evoke completely unique worlds.”
Drawn Animation Workshop Films
2016. Approx. 8 min. Digital.
World Premiere Various works from the participants of Mono No Aware’s Hand-Drawn Animation Workshop held at Japan Society on June 18.
AGE OF OBSURE
Mirai Mizue and Onohana
2015. 4 min. Digital.
North American Premiere. A grand collision of Mizue’s signature visual music forms and Onohana’s mesmerizing impressionistic illustrations, featuring music by Twoth.
Ouch, Chou Chou あいたたぼっち
Onohana
2016. 12 min. Digital.
North American Premiere Onohana’s expansive imagination and visual style here recounts the touching saga of a cabbage and pea’s friendship across bullying and interdimensional travel.
Land ランド
Masanobu Hiraoka
2013. 4 min. Digital.
New York Premiere Shape shifting animal and geometric forms stun in this piece with music and sound by Aimar Molero.
MASTER BLASTER 菅原信介『MASTER BLASTER』
Sawako Kabuki
2014. 4 min. Digital.
New York Premiere Coital psychedelia featuring the music of Shinsuke Sugahara, a wild imaginary of physical intimacy.
The Great Rabbit グレートラビット
Atsushi Wada
2012. 7 min. Digital.
New York Premiere “If you believe in the Rabbit, it means that you’ll believe anything. If you don’t believe in the Rabbit, it means that you wouldn’t believe anything.” Read NishikataEiga Review
lost summer vacation
Yoko Yuki
2015. 3 min. Digital.
North American Premiere The mystical happenings of a tropical island are pictured in an animated scroll.
Don't tell Mom おかあさんにないしょ
Sawako Kabuki
2015. 4 min. Digital.
New York Premiere A naughty musical sex-ed film for siblings.
HOLIDAY ホリデイ
Ryo Hirano
2011. 14 min. Digital.
New York Premiere Delirious, deeply romantic tale of love and loss featuring a girl, golden nude, and akahara imori newt in a gondola resort.Read NishikataEiga Review
TENSAI BANPAKU
Mirai Mizue
2015. 4 min. Digital.
New York Premiere The mutating forms of Tensai Banpaku, or “Genius Expo” create a stunning abstract orchestra.
ZDRAVSTVUITE! ズドラーストヴィチェ！
Yoko Yuki
2015. 6 min. Digital.
East Coast Premiere "On a summer day a strange man who teaches Russian at the beach took me to a town.”
such a good place to die
Onohana
2015. 3 min. Digital.
North American Premiere Forms shift like a landscape of memory in this enchanting work featuring music by Tatsuki Tsushima.
Onohana (小野ハナ, b.
1986) is from Iwate Prefecture.Her
Geidai animation graduate film Crazy
Little Thing received the Noburō Ōfuji Award at the Mainichi Film Concours.
Her works have screened throughout Japan
and internationally, including TOKYO ANIMA!, Nippon Connection, Seoul
International Cartoon and Animation Festival, Fantoche, and Ottawa
International Animation Festival. Learn
more about her here.
