SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

Putting the 'I' in Independent Filmmaking: An Introduction to 'Jishu Eiga'

Abstract

An abbreviation of 'jishu seisaku eiga', jishu eiga can be translated as something akin to “self-made,” “autonomously-produced” or “do-it-yourself” films. These are wholly independent works, self-financed and produced outside of the industry and screened predominantly in non-commercial venues. They are made by what might best be described as amateur filmmakers, although a good number of directors who have subsequently achieved some degree of prominence within the commercial industry, most notably Sôgo Ishii, Naomi Kawase, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Shinya Tsukamoto, cut their teeth in this field. 

Encompassed within the definition are works made at high school or university film clubs, film student graduation pieces, home movies, personal video diaries, experimental films (jikken eiga), animation, and political documentaries screened non-commercially at informal gatherings such as Video Act, as well as more ambitious feature-length projects. The films are shot using a variety of media including 8mm, Super-8mm, 16mm, VHS and Digital Video. 

The decentralized and informal nature of the production and exhibition of this active film subculture has made charting its history a difficult exercise. However, though the films are funded and produced outside of the commercial industry, a number of organizations exist to support jishu eiga, including PIA Film Festival (PFF), the Cineastes Organization Osaka EX (CO2), Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival (YIDFF) and Yubari Film Festival. These alternative exhibition circumstances have allowed its makers to adopt subject matter or approaches that would be impermissible in mainstream film-making, with one the dominant modes of storytelling to emerge being the personal video diary “I-film”, in which the director is foregrounded as both the creator and the subject of the work. 

Jasper Sharp explores the history of this most vibrant of independent filmmaking subcultures in an illustrated lecture, looking at representative works such as Naomi Kawase’s depiction of her unconventional family history in Katatsumori (1994) and Kenji Murakami’s more playful look at coming to terms with his new living environment after he gets married and moves to the suburbs in How I Survive in Kawaguchi City (Kawaguchi de ikiru yo!, 2003). This will be followed by a rare UK screening of Japanese-Korean filmmaker Matsue Tetsuaki’s Annyong Kimchee (1999), an investigation into the importance of ethnic and cultural roots and what it means to be Japanese.

The lecture will be followed by a screening of Tetsuaki Matsue's Annyong Kimchee (1999)

Annyong Kimchee (Tetsuaki Matsue, 1999)

Japan and Korea have had a troubled relationship over the centuries, and much has been made of the discrimination suffered by Koreans residents in Japan. But how important is the issue of race to a younger generation born and raised in the country? Tetsuaki Matsue, a third-generation zainichi attempts to get to grips with the issue of his own national identity in this autobiographical video documentary made as his graduation project from the Japan Academy of the Moving Image.
Anyonng Kimchee begins with Matsue confessing to a group of assembled friends at his 21st birthday celebrations, "I'm not really Japanese." The fruits of a Korean bloodline, yet unable to speak the language of his ancestors due to having been raised in the country of the "chokpari" (a derogatory term Koreans use for the Japanese), any feeling of latent Korean-ness might have is further tempered by an innate revulsion for that spicy staple of the Korean diet, kimchee. Looking at the history of the two countries, from the Japanese colonisation of Korea between 1910 to 1945, by way of his own family history, Matsue's film is a charming and elucidating look at an issue about little understood in the West.

All Welcome, the event is free and open to the public; no booking is required.

Zipangu Festival

New Japanese film festival Zipangu Fest warms up for the main event with a string of exclusive lectures and rare archive screenings across the country The first Zipangu Fest is delighted to announce more details for its programme of events this autumn. The festival will run from November 23th to 28th 2010 in London’s East End before touring the country.

Further details on Zipangu Fest.