Film
Globus Film Series
Shinjuku Ecstasy:
Independent Films from the Art Theatre Guild of Japan
February 18 - March 1, 2009
Founded in 1961 as a distributor of European art films in Japan, the Art Theater Guild (ATG) began co-producing independent films in 1967, and quickly established itself as the leading platform for highly experimental and innovative film. For three decades, ATG played a decisive role in the development of art-house films in Japan, often dealing with the most controversial subjects from incest, anarchism, and gay culture to capital punishment. Although many filmmakers such as Nagisa Oshima, Yoshishige Yoshida and Shuji Terayama gained international recognition through their films made in cooperation with ATG, the Art Theatre Guild is still little known outside of Japan. This 12-film series curated by Roland Domenig and Go Hirasawa focuses on the first decade of ATG and on the Shinjuku Bunka, ATG's flagship theater, which formed a unique intersection of filmmakers and artists of all kind in Shinjuku, the center of Japan’s vibrant counterculture.
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Schedule
Wed., Feb. 18
7:30 pm Throw Away Your Books, Let's Go into the Street
Fri., Feb. 20
7:30 pm Funeral Parade of Roses
Followed by SHINJUKU PARTY !
Sat., Feb. 21
3 pm Death by Hanging
5:30 pm Silence Has No Wings
Sun., Feb. 22
3 pm Eros plus Massacre
Tues., Feb.24
7:30 pm The Inferno of First Love
Wed., Feb. 25
7:30 pm Double Suicide
Fri., Feb. 27
7:30 pm This Transient Life
Sat., Feb. 28
3 pm A Man Vanishes
5:45 pm Crazy Love
Sun., Mar. 1
3 pm Pitfall
5:15 pm Ecstasy of the Angels
View curators' bios
Read A Brief History of Independent Cinema in Japan and the Role of the ATG by curator Roland Domenig (PDF)
The Film Program is now on FACEBOOK! Join our group and receive updates on all our screenings and events!
Shinjuku Ecstasy: Independent Films from the Art Theatre Guild of Japan is made possible through the generous support of the Globus Family.
Japan Society would also like to thank The Globus Family for underwriting free admission on February 20.
Japan Society 2007-08 Film Programs are generously supported by The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund.
Additional support is provided by David S. Howe, Joshua S. Levine and Nozomi Terao, and the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency.
Acknowledgments
Keiji Matsumoto (Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archive); Mikiko Nukimura (Hani Productions); Katsue Tomiyama , Takashi Sawa and (Image Forum); Hirosuke Imamura (Imamura Production); Sarah Finklea and Brian Belovarac (Janus Films); Marie Suzuki, Yusuke Nakashima and Yukihiro Ohira (The Japan Foundation); Yuka Sakano and Atsuko Fukuda (Kawakita Memorial Film Institute); Noriyoshi Ikeya and Masanobu Suzuki (Kodai); Toshio Matsumoto (Matsumoto Production); Akira Tochigi (The National Film Center, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo); Linda Duchin (New Yorker Films); Michio Okabe; Masaki Fujiwara (Toho Co., Ltd.); Hanae Hayashi (Toho Stella); Koji Wakamatsu (Wakamatsu Productions); and Kiju Yoshida.
Special thanks to: Kinshiro Kuzui; James Quandt, Cinematheque Ontario; Mark Nornes; Steve Ridgley and Marc Walkow.
Japan Society would also like to thank The Globus Family for underwriting free admission on February 20.
Japan Society 2007-08 Film Programs are generously supported by The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund.
Additional support is provided by David S. Howe, Joshua S. Levine and Nozomi Terao, and the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency.
Acknowledgments
Keiji Matsumoto (Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archive); Mikiko Nukimura (Hani Productions); Katsue Tomiyama , Takashi Sawa and (Image Forum); Hirosuke Imamura (Imamura Production); Sarah Finklea and Brian Belovarac (Janus Films); Marie Suzuki, Yusuke Nakashima and Yukihiro Ohira (The Japan Foundation); Yuka Sakano and Atsuko Fukuda (Kawakita Memorial Film Institute); Noriyoshi Ikeya and Masanobu Suzuki (Kodai); Toshio Matsumoto (Matsumoto Production); Akira Tochigi (The National Film Center, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo); Linda Duchin (New Yorker Films); Michio Okabe; Masaki Fujiwara (Toho Co., Ltd.); Hanae Hayashi (Toho Stella); Koji Wakamatsu (Wakamatsu Productions); and Kiju Yoshida.
Special thanks to: Kinshiro Kuzui; James Quandt, Cinematheque Ontario; Mark Nornes; Steve Ridgley and Marc Walkow.
