Japan, 2020, 11’
Avant-Garde, shot in 16mm
Film without dialogues

Shinya Isobe left his camera in exactly the same spot for five years to shoot a picture of the sunset every thirteen seconds. In a series of merged time-lapses, we see the sun moving serenely from left to right. Over and over again. First in a neat line, in total silence, later patterns appear, supported by a minimalist soundtrack. To create the hypnotic images we can see in the film, Isobe overlaid analogue shots from different seasons of the year to produce clusters of shining spots. In his hypnotic short film, the images combine to create a unique poetic experience.

Credits

Director, editing, sound, sound design and music

Shinya Isobe

Japan, Greece, 2018, 16’
Film in Japanese with Portuguese subtitles

‘Wrong Revision’ is a story, told in video and installations, of hidden Christian symbolism in Japan, and specifically the Portuguese introduction of dried seafood, which led to the Japanese “crucifying” octopus on sticks, a symbol, apparently, of both the devil and Christ.

Credits

Shooting, edition and direction

Yu Araki

Film commissioned by

Okayama Art Summit Executive Committee

Japan, 2010, 5’
Documentary
Film without dialogues

JR (Japan Railway Company) Yamanote Line is one of Japan's busiest lines, consisting of 29 stations (at the time of this film’s production) and running in a loop. The film shows the views from the platforms of 10 stations of the Yamanote Line, from Tokyo Station to Ebisu Station clockwise. The in-camera visual effects and the layered soundtracks may exaggerate the sense of the actual location, while suggesting the equipment that was used for capturing the audio and visual.

Credits

Direction, production, edition, sound

Tomonari Nishikawa

Japan, Hong Kong, 2018, 60’
Film without dialogues

«Memento Stella’ is an original phrase I coined to remind me to "remember the stars" and "never forget that we too reside among the stars", as well as the title of a project I started in winter of 2016.

For several years I've travelled the world, screening my work. And throughout this dark, sad world, amid war and terrorism, countless lives lost to natural cataclysms caused by humans, and there hasn't been a single day that death hasn't been in my thoughts.

At the same time, I do realize that it is not only death that binds us. We are also born and raised and living on this little planet, among the stars. I pursue my work with the idea that if each day, we might be conscious of this truth for even a moment, then maybe perhaps somewhere deep in our hearts, we might find shared artistic expressions, keys to a place beyond the religions, politics, borders, languages, and personal desires which tear us apart.»

Takashi Makino