In the presence of director Hara Kazuo.
Event and translation by Prof. Marco Del Bene.
More radical! Freer!
For half a century, Hara Kazuo has challenged an irrational society with his works. From his early works, which will be screened during the XXII Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest, to his latest work, Minamata Mandala, the director will talk about the struggles of the artistic production process and the philosophy he has arrived at as a documentary filmmaker.
Hara Kazuo is undoubtedly Japan's most important living documentary filmmaker. Michael Moore has said of him that he is "a brother, a kindred spirit, an inspiration". He rose to international prominence with The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On [Yuki yukite, shingun] in 1987, which won awards in Berlin and Paris, he turned to filmmaking almost by chance, as his primary interest was photography.
Born in Ube - as his official profile states - "on 8 June 1945 in the middle of an air raid", he moved to Tokyo at the age of 21 to attend the Higher School of Photography. Here he made the fundamental meeting of his life, that with Kobayashi Sachiko, later to become his wife, who was studying film scriptwriting. An artistic and working partnership was born with her, which marked Hara's entire career. In 1971 they founded their own production company, Shisso production, with which they made their debut film, Goodbye CP [Sayonara CP] in 1972. His most recent project is Minamata Mandala (2020), a 372-minute three-part documentary, the result of more than 15 years of filming, which shows the victims of Minamata syndrome, caused by methylmercury pollution, fighting for compensation and legal recognition.
"I have been making documentaries for more than 50 years and in my work I have always portrayed ordinary people resisting power. The protagonists and I are one and the same. What I mean is that if ordinary people want happiness and peace, they have no choice but to fight against power."
- Hara Kazuo
Being able to see Hara's work in Italy is a unique opportunity and doing so in the presence of the director is even more so. Hara's work is fundamental not only for Japan, but for viewers all over the world who are not looking for consolation or comfortable confirmation. His work breaks the epistemic bubble that social media keeps us in every day. It is the blue pill of the Matrix, opening a glimpse into the reality before everyone's eyes, but which no one wants to see.
Don't miss the opportunity to discover the philosophy and artistic production process Hara Kazuo arrived at as a documentary filmmaker.
Join us on SATURDAY 19 october at 11 a.m. at Teatro Rasi!
Free meeting upon registration, to book please send an email to info@ravennanightmare.it.
