Ultra Mint – elokuvarunoutta Japanista

The short film screening is a collection of treasures from the Image Forum archive in Tokyo. Dating from the 1960s to the turn of the 1980s, the films in the screening range stylistically from animations to collages and diary films. Experimental cinema is an integral part of Japanese film culture, and many filmmakers were also influential in other fields of art, such as poets Shūji Terayama or Shiroyasu Suzuki or pop artist Keiichi Tanaami. Beloved animation director Hayao Miyazaki has named Seiichi Hayashi, also known as an avant-garde manga artist, as one of his inspirations.

The screening includes following films:

Shūji Terayama: The Cage (1964, 11:48)
A green-toned hallucinatory cinematic poem asks whether man is a prisoner of time.

Seiichi Hayashi: Shadows (1968, 03:40)
The animation depicts the memory of the devastating light of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. The silence is broken by a pop song by the Japanese band The Peanuts.

Isao Kota: Dutchman’s Photographs (1974, 06:27)
A playful structuralist silent film about walking barefoot in the ocean – and about images that turn into other images within.

Shiroyasu Suzuki: Impressions of Sunset (1975, 23:13)
A gentle tribute from the pioneer of Japanese diary film to the new 16mm camera that captures the everyday life of a young family.

Taku Furukawa: Coffee Break (1977, 03:17)
Animation of the refreshing effect of coffee, strong enough for the Finnish taste.

Hirose Tadashi: Ultramint (1980, 10:00)
The cinematic poem combines different surfaces and forms: oil in water, a snail advancing on a razor blade.

Keiichi Tanaami: Sweet Friday (1975, 03:17)
A groovy and bubbly pop animation. The film has flickers that can cause seizures for viewers with photo-sensitive condition.

Tytti Rantanen

The Japanese focus at Espoo Ciné IFF is supported by Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation.