Experiments in Japanese Cinema from the 20th Century: 1926 to 1995

OnFilm presents a two-part screening series highlighting Japanese experimental cinema over the twentieth century. This film series, happening at the Dryden Theater and the Visual Studies Workshop, invites viewers to regard this range of formal interventions in moving-image art made by Japanese filmmakers. With the support by Dr. Aaron Gerow, preeminent scholar in Japanese cinema, this series will advocate for a historical and formalistic approach to view and analyze these films. The variations in formal histories across these films are screened not in interest of developing a clear lineage, but more to contend with the varied aesthetic forms in these films. All but three of the films screened will be shown on 35mm or 16mm, developing a lens towards the critical importance of film shown on film to highlight the medium-specific materiality of film.