Experiencing Interruptions?

Film Fetish

Since making his directorial debut in 1964, a Japanese experimental filmmaker Junichi Okuyama has been making films for almost sixty years. His films have been screened and showcased at many international film festivals and cinematheque including Paris, Chicago, Oberhausen, Lyone, Melbourne, Krakow and Hong Kong. His latest works are screened at the domestic experimental film festivals, such as Imageforum Film Festival almost every year. He actively shows his works in museums and galleries, as well as presents live performances. Okuyama is known as the pioneer of constructive cinema.

In his mid-70’s, Okuyama has been making his experimental films using various film cameras and film stocks, and exploiting developing and editing processes. However, after 2000, films have gone digital, and film stocks manufacturer and film labs have steadily decreasing. Facing the loss of raw materials for his works, Okuyama has decided to retire from filmmaking.

The director and film critic, Yu Kaneko who specializes in experimental and documentary films, has decided to make a film about Okuyama. Kaneko has recently made “A Man Who Became Cinema”(2018) , a documentary film about the avant-guarde documentary filmmaker, Masato Hara. Since 2014, Kaneko has started shooting and documenting Okuyama, interviewing Okuyama himself and people around him, and following his creative process. Kaneko tries to portray Okuyama and his works in their entirity, by including his new prints as well as rare works and footages.

  • Yu Kaneko
    Director
  • Emi Ueyama
    Producer
  • Jun'ichi Okuyama
    Key Cast
  • Yukie Mochizuki
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 6 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 18, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    Japan
  • Country of Filming:
    Japan
  • Language:
    Japanese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • International Film Festival Rotterdam
    Rotterdoam
    Netherlands
    January 30, 2023
    World Premere
    Cinema Regained
  • JEONJU International Film Festival
    Jeonju
    Korea, Republic of
    April 30, 2023
    Asian Premiere
    Cinephile JEONJU
Distribution Information
  • Emi Ueyama
    Sales Agent
    Country: Japan
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Yu Kaneko

Yu Kaneko
Critic and filmmaker.
His documentary films include “Belgrade1999”(2009), “Muneo-ism” (2012), “Imperial” (2014), “A Man Who Became Cinema”(2018) ,
“Mlabri in the Woods”(2019) . All of them have been theatrically
released in Japan. “Mlabri in the Woods” was screened at
Cambodia International Film Festival, IUAES Anthropological Film
Festival, Ethnological Documentary Film Festival Kratovo, and at
Tokyo Documentary Film Festival. He produced “Garden Apart”
(2018) which was screened at Rotterdam International Film Festival, and Osaka Asian Film Festival.

Kanako’s critical writing works include, “Folklore in Borderland” “Literature in Foreign Lands” “Boundary of Images,” (the SUNTORY Academic Awards winner), “Documentary Film Method,” ”Mixed Race Archipelago,” and “Ethnography of Photology.”
Written and Edited books include “Chris Marker,” “Apichatpong Weerasethakul,” ”Jean Rouch,” and “Agnes Verda.” Translated works include “Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture” by Tim Ingold, “Violence of Splendor” by Alphonso Linguis and etc.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I have started collecting 8mm and 16 mm film projectors and prints since my college year in 1995. I made my first experimental short film and the film was screened in film festival in Europe in 1997. Then I made 16mm medium-length feature film, but it cost me over couple thousand dollars in production and post-production, and took me five years to finish. After that I stopped making regular films, and started making video dairies and documentaries using 8mm film and video. I was so in love with film prints that I started writing about experimental films.

I interviewed many Japanese experimental filmmakers for my book, “Filmmakers – How to Make Private Films.” Among those I interviewed, Junichi Okuyama was the most radical artist, so I started shooting his open talk and screenings. Then Okuyama started talking about retiring, so I decided to make a documentary film about him, and shot additional footages from 2017 to 2019. However, due to global pandemic, I had to postpone the production for a while. Then I shot additional footaged and finished editing in June 2022.

As a researcher in experimental films, I created “Film Fetish” in order to document the extraordinary works and constructive process of Junichi Okuyama for the posterity. I also wanted to show Okuyama’s works which can be only screened with film projectors, to filmmakers and researchers overseas. Through my film, I hope there will be more people who will be interested in Okuyama’s works.