On identity
Films by Lisa Spilliaert, Hikaru Fujii and Aya Koretzky
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Date
- / Cancelled / Sold out
Location
Studio Centro de Arte Moderna GulbenkianPricing
10% – Cartão Gulbenkian
From hip hop video to home movie, this programme brings together a number of works that interrogate perceptions of identity, including one by Lisbon-based Aya Koretzky and another by Hikaru Fujii based on the collection of Lisbon’s National Museum of Ancient Art.
Offering a glimpse into the exhilarating world of Japanese artists’ moving image, ‘Engawa Films’ seeks to stake a place for its existence in Japanese contemporary art and cinema.
Duration: 100 min.
'Spilliaert', by Lisa Spilliaert
Belgium, 2022, 26’
Film in French and Dutch with English and Portuguese subtitles
In this work, Lisa Spilliaert inquires into her blood relationship with the renowned Belgian artist Léon Spilliaert (1881-1946). Is she predestined to an artist’s life by this kinship, which may or may not be fictional? Is artistry genetically transferred?
Em ‘Spilliaert’, the filmmaker reveals herself as a rapping, fanatical genealogist who probes into the origins of her artistic identity, visiting archives and museums, and painting a picture of the hopeless search for documents and clues concerning her origins. The film’s narrative structure is strung together by a number of rap poems, performed by Spilliaert. By choosing this form, she uncovers parallels and contrasts between rap music’s free identity construction and the strictly regulated structure of genealogy.
Credits
Production
Escautville
Co-production
Animal Tank
Direction and Screenplay
Lisa Spilliaert
Starring
Lisa Spilliaert
Wim De Busser
Bernard Legrand & Freddy Courtens
Anne Adriaens-Pannier
Camera, gaffer and cinematography
Hans Bruch Jr.
Camera assistants, second and extra cameras
Diren Agbaba
Rosa Maria Galguera Ortega
Bob Mees
Periscope Camera
Ruben Appeltans
Sound
Laszlo Umbreit
Sound Design
senstudio
Editing
Lisa Spilliaert
Vincent Stroep
Editing Advisors
Wim Catrysse
Inneke Van Waeyenberghe
Colour Grading
Loup Brenta
Visual effects (keying)
Elias Heuninck
Make-up and hair
Lili Dang-Vu
Styling
Sietske Van Aerde
Driver
Stefaan Galle
Assistants
Rhana Dewaelssche
Emmelie Martens
Clara Spilliaert
Interpreter French-Dutch and translation
Sis Matthé
Copy editing
Trevor Perri
French transcription
Rita Habib
French translation
Anne Vanderschueren
Title design
Oliver Ibsen
Rap composer, coaching and ghostwriter
Benjamin Hertoghs
Consultants and lyrics Opening Rap
Jan Matthé and Sis Matthé
Works of
Léon Spilliaert
Family Tree Sculptures
Clara Spilliaert
This production was realized with the support of the Tax Shelter measure of the Belgian Federal Government through Flanders Tax Shelter, Landmaat, Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), City of Ostend, LUCA School of Arts, City of Ghent, Brakke Grond and Jos Jamar Gallery.
'Spilliaert' was acquired by the Flemish government and is part of the collection of Mu.ZEE (Oostende).
'Southern Barbarian Screens', by Hikaru Fujii
Japan, 2017, 14’
Film in English with Portuguese subtitles
The National Museum of Art in Osaka's Nakanoshima, Kita Ward originally served as the Expo Museum of Fine Arts, a pavilion at the 1970 Japan World Exposition held in Osaka's Senri Hills; it opened in 1977 and was relocated to its current site in 2004. This work depicts an African American man carrying out from storage photographic replicas and partial enlargements of the South Barbarian Screens (Nanban byōbu) in the collection of Lisbon's National Museum of Ancient Art, taken by photographer Narahara Ikkō in 1982 based on his survey of the museum's collection . Within the screens, the viewers' gaze is drawn not only to the Japanese and Portuguese people depicted as symbols of the cultural exchange between East and West, but also to the figures as their servants or enslaved people. The work also makes evident the changes in documentary media – painting, photography and video over the ages.
Credits
Direction
Hikaru Fujii
Performance
Peter Golightly
'Yama no Anata (Beyond the Mountains)', by Aya Koretzky
Portugal, 2011, 59’
Documentary
Film in French and Japanese with Portuguese subtitles
‘I immerse myself in the landscapes of Mondego, where I came to live with my parents as a child, leaving behind Tokyo, the city of my birth. By reading letters I exchanged with friends and family who remained in Japan, I reflect on our coming to Portugal and recall the past in an attempt to retain the ephemeral memory, a journey with the spirits that remain with me.’
Aya Koretzky
Credits
Direction, screenplay, cinematography and music (piano)
Aya Koretzky
Production
Miguel Clara Vasconcelos
Editing
Tomás Baltazar
Sound
Pedro Góis
With
Anuta Koretzky (Mother)
Jiro Koretzky (Father)
Engawa – A Season of Contemporary Art from Japan
‘Engawa’ is a programming that brings to Lisbon a set of creators from Japan and the Japanese diaspora, many of them for the first time in Portugal. More info
Biographies
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Aya Koretzky
Aya Koretzky (Tokyo,1983) completed a degree in Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon in 2016 and, in 2013, completed a Master’s in Film at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris 3, with the support of a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. She often works around the film-essay genre, focusing on themes related to memory. Her films have been presented in festivals and exhibitions and received several awards. ‘Yama no Anata’ (2011) premiered was awarded Best Feature Film at DocLisboa, Santa Maria da Feira and Curitiba, among several other prizes. Her next film, ‘A Volta ao Mundo quando tinhas 30 anos’ (2018) was awarded the Bright Future prize at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), the Peter Liechti Prize at the Bildrausch Filmfest Basel, and the Teenage prize at the Porto Post Doc Festival. She lives and works in Lisbon.
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Lisa Spilliaert
Lisa Spilliaert (Tokyo, 1990) lives and works in Ghent, Belgium. Her fascination for genealogy and the constant shifting between her cultural backgrounds are recurring motifs in her autobiographically inspired work. Before working in film, Spilliaert trained as a photographer at KASK School of Arts Gent. Her films have been screened at the following film festivals: Image Forum Festival (Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya and Yokohama), International Film Festival Rotterdam, Art Cinema OFFoff (Ghent) and Beursschouwburg (Brussels).
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Hikaru Fujii
Fujii Hikaru (Japan, 1976) has a practice based on the notion that artistic production implies a close relationship with society and history. Mainly in the form of video installation, he creates work that responds to contemporary social issues through detailed research and fieldwork on unique cultures and histories of various countries and regions. Fujii organizes workshops–intersections for interdisciplinary and artistic collaboration between specialists from diverse various fields.
Credits
Curatorship
Julian Ross
Partnership
Collaboration
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation reserves the right to collect and keep records of images, sounds and voice for the diffusion and preservation of the memory of its cultural and artistic activity. For further information, please contact us through the Information Request form.