Japan Society is advancing a new film series next month with The Other Japanese New Wave: Radical Films from 1958-61. Author and researcher Go Hirasawa is curating the series which kicks off its slate of unearthed shorts and features from Japan’s bygone era of post-WWII cinema from April 5th through April 27th.
With its inception in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the New Wave movement in Japan ushered in a postwar generation of politically engaged and artistically adventurous filmmakers that radically transformed the country’s cinema in theory and practice. Looking beyond internationally lauded figures such as Nagisa Oshima and Masahiro Shinoda, this 11-film series aims to re-examine this dynamic moment in Japanese film history with the introduction of work by lesser-known studio directors, independent auteurs, documentarists and student filmmakers that gave birth to the New Wave, including newly subtitled rarities never-before-seen in the U.S.
Hirasawa’s own statement at the official website extensively elucidates the many names and titles and ways in which the film series covers its theme. I’m not too sure of the likelihood of a commerical release for titles like these which makes this kind of event all the more important for cinephiles alike who love delving into the aspect of cinema as part of Asian culture, and the Society hosts other events similar in nature as well. So if you live in the city or plan to be here later this month and wish to take in some eclectic, classic 16mm and 35mm Japanese cinema, click here and see how you can participate.