The root source of cinema and the variety of its delights

Today, with the overflow of a homogenized cinema (a cinema in which at least superficially anyone can make high quality movies), most of the selected Japanese works and works in competition screened at this festival reexamine the essence of cinema and investigate the root source of its appeal.
Ishida Takashi’s single channel works in which his important films are screened all at once are brimming with the uniquely cinematic pleasure of being in darkness unable to do anything but continue staring at the screen. Arikawa Shigeo arranges experiences of viewing moving images that mix consciousness and unconsciousness in the structure of a “dream”, and creates beautiful fantasy landscapes. Goshima Kazuhiro’s simple LOOKING / LISTENING asks what it is that cinema makes us perceive. The lightness of Itoh Nobuaki’s ART, a film that takes a brisk, humorous approach in contrast to the serious topic “what is art?”, can also be described as an example of what moving images can do.
This year’s animated works are once again varied and colorful. Beginning with the works of Mizue Mirai and Mizushiri Yoriko, both of whom have followers all over the world, there are high-quality examples of all types of animation, including abstract works, narrative works with innovative storytelling, and animated documentaries that portray real people and events, and together they offer us a sense of what the future holds in this domain of expression. We encourage viewers to see their fill of the abundant “joy of motion” on offer, including Sato Yoshihiro’s RELATIVE, a work shot with standard rather that stop-motion cinematography.