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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 2012)
ABRAXAS introduced by Jonathan Hall (Japan, 113 min.) “Abraxas, Naoki Kato’s exquisitely crafted debut feature, is that rare spiritual film that is funny and moving without being stuffy” (James Greenberg, The Hollywood Reporter). Abraxas tells about Jonen (played by real-life Japanese rock-star Suneohair), a former front man of a thrash band, who has left rock-and-roll behind to become a Zen Buddhist monk in a quiet village. ADRENALINE FILM PROJECT and After-party! hosted by Jeff Wadlow, Omar Naim, and Leigh Kilton-Smith Wednesday, April 18, several teams of filmmakers will be assigned a genre and given a line of dialogue and prop to be incorporated into their productions. For the next seventy-two hours, they will pitch, write, shoot, and edit their films. On Saturday night at The Shedd Institute, the assembled crowd will vote for an Audience Award and learn the winner of the Kalb Jury Award. Afterwards, come to the Adrenaline After-party, featuring music and refreshments in the Shedd’s Great Hall! ADVENTURES IN ILLEGAL ART with Mark Hosler “Adventures in Illegal Art” is a storytelling and film presentation by Mark Hosler, founding member of Negativland. Is Negativland a “band”? Are its artists media hoaxers? Activists? Musicians? Filmmakers? Culture jammers? An inspiration for the unwashed many? A nuisance for the corporate few? Decide for yourself in this presentation that uses films and stories to illustrate some of the creative projects, hoaxes, pranks, and “culture jamming” that Negativland has been doing since 1980. ANNYONG KIMCHI (Japan, 52 min.) Annyong Kimchi (Hello Kimchi) was Matsue Tetsuaki’s 16mm graduate thesis film, an exploration of his Korean- Japanese identity. His Korean grandfather had turned his back on his homeland and led an assimilated life as a Japanese. After he dies, calling his grandson “dumb-ass,” the director becomes determined to research his identity. Fast moving and humorous, this documentary portrays a rarely examined aspect of Japanese society. ARTIST’S TALK: RUSSEL WONG Photographer Russel Wong will give an illustrated artist’s talk to accompany his exhibition, Russel Wong: The Big Picture, on view at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Wong began his career taking photos of star athletes during his time as an undergraduate in Eugene. Soon he was shooting commercial photos for Nike, fashion photography for leading magazines such as Vogue and Elle, and high-profile sports, celebrity, and movie star portraits for TIME and other international publications. CONFESSIONS OF AN OUTSIDER ARCHIVIST presented by Rick Prelinger Rick Prelinger will ruminate about the past, present, and future of archives and collecting institutions (especially moving image and digital collections), from the perspective of an iconoclastic archivist of ephemeral, disdained media. THE ECHO OF ASTRO BOY’S FOOTSTEPS introduced by Jonathan Hall (Japan, 82 min.) “I am not interested in creating sounds that already exist,” Ohno Matsuo once stated early in his career as a sound designer. The Echo of Astro Boy’s Footsteps explores the effect Ohno Matsuo’s pioneering sound work had on the anime and experimental sound community, as well as his influence on Japan’s emerging electronic music scene. The film features rare footage of early anime shows as well as interviews with industry insiders. FUKUSHIMA HULA GIRLS (Japan, 100 min.) Free screening: April 15, 2:00pm, Baker Center, sponsored by Consulate-General of Japan in Portland. On March 11, 2011, Iwaki City was devastated by the tsunami that hit northeast Japan. This film documents the Iwaki City Hula Girls’ promotional tour of Japan, the rebuilding of the resort made famous in the 2006 feature film Hula Girls, and one dancer’s life in the shadow of the damaged nuclear plant. THE GRINGO IN MAÑANALAND: A MUSICAL with guest director DeeDee Halleck (USA, 61 min.) Composed of several hundred clips from over eighty different American films, we are witness to the differing portrayals of Latin America on film throughout the time period of 1910 to 1960. The Gringo in Mañanaland is equal parts adventure, propaganda, documentary, musical, and historical analysis. The various source materials range from newsreels, documentaries, and industrial educational films, to assorted old Hollywood films and musicals. THE HEAVENLY KINGS with guest actor/director Daniel Wu (Hong Kong, 86 min.) The Heavenly Kings skewers the Hong Kong pop industry in its chronicle of the boy band Alive, a group created in 2005 by Daniel Wu, Terence Yin, Andrew Lin, and Conroy Chan. The film was an audacious directorial debut by superstar Daniel Wu. Called a “funny and astute self- referential mockumentary” by Variety, the film is punctuated with real interviews with Cantonese pop stars such as Nicholas Tse and Miriam Yeung. Cinema Pacific Film Festival Wednesday, April 18 Thursday, April 19 Friday, April 20 10:00 A.M. Lawrence Hall MEDIA MASHERS FORUM 11:00 A.M. JSMA ADVENTURES IN ILLEGAL ART 12:00 P.M. Proctor 42, Knight Library ANNYONG KIMCHI 1:00 P.M. 2:00 P.M. 3:00 P.M. JSMA CONFESSIONS OF AN OUTSIDER ARCHIVIST Proctor 41, Knight Library PAPER TIGER TV 30TH ANNIVERSAR PROGRAM JSMA THE GRINGO IN Bijou Art Cinemas LOST LANDSCAPES OF DETROIT JSMA 2 IN THE DIN: DISSONANCE AND DISSIDENCE IN JAPANESE FILM TODAY 4:00 P.M. MAÑANALAND 5:45 P.M. JSMA CINEMA P SPRING EXHIBITIONS OPENING RECEPTION 6:00 P.M. 6:45 P.M. 7:00 P.M. JSMA NIGHT HUNTER AND OTHER ANIMATIONS Bijou Art Cinemas 3 TOKYO DRIFTER Regal Movie Theater OVERHEARD 2 7:30 P.M. 9:30 P.M. Bijou Art Cinemas PORTLAND ANIMA NOW! Fringe Festival/Broadway Commerce Center 4 MEDIA MASHERS (RE)MIXER Bijou Art Cinemas THE ECHO OF ASTRO BOY’S FOO Bijou Art Cinemas MIDORI-KO 1. Baker Downtown Center: 325 E 10th 2. Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art: 1430 Johnson Lane 3. Bijou Art Cinemas: 492 East 13th 4. Broadway Commerce Center: 44 W. Broadway, Downtown 7. Regal Movie Theatre: 500 Valley River Center 5. Lawrence Hall: 1190 Franklin Boulevard 8. The Shedd: 868 High Street 6. Knight Library: 1501 Kincaid Street 9. Kamitori Japanese Restaurant: 1044 Willamette Street Cinema Pacific is presented by the UO Arts and Administration Program and UO Academic Extension, with support from University Relations. An equal-opportunity, affirmative-action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This publication will be provided in accessible formats upon request. Accommodations for people with disabilities will be provided if requested in advance. ©2012 University of Oregon IN THE DIN: DISSONANCE & DISSIDENCE IN JAPANESE FILM TODAY Lecture by Jonathan Hall with three short films by ISHII YUYA Drawing from the films featured in Cinema Pacific’s “Playback: The Sounds of Japan,” Jonathan Hall will reflect on how sound makes sense today in post- collapse Japanese performance cultures. We look to music—to rock, to rap, to noise, and to metal—and their encounters with cinema to catch a glimpse of the creative forces that lie not far from the surface. JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI (USA, 81 min.) Jiro Ono is an 85-year old sushi chef and owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a ten- seat restaurant located in a Tokyo subway station. Jiro also happens to be considered the world’s greatest at what he does: his is the first sushi restaurant to be awarded an esteemed three-star Michelin review. Jiro Dreams of Sushi is director David Gelb’s look at the hardworking, perfectionist ways of a man who is as passionate as he is obsessive. Special Sushi Package: Ticket to Jiro plus dinner inspired by the film at Kamitori restaurant after the 4 p.m. screening: $35. KANZEON introduced by Jonathan Hall (Japan, 87 min.) Shot on the island of Kyushu, KanZeOn delves into the usages of sound in Japanese Buddhism and immerses the viewer in a world of ancient spiritual rituals and astonishing musical sensations. It focuses on three compelling individuals: Akinobu Tatsumi, a young Buddhist priest
