On identity

Films by Lisa Spilliaert, Hikaru Fujii and Aya Koretzky

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The idea of Japan having a homogenous identity is fairly pervasive, leading to those with backgrounds deviating from the perceived norm being treated as “other”.

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

Duration: 100 min.

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.

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