The Load: Letting Go of History

• Wednesday, June 3, 16:00 Mousonturm Studio 1
• Admission free
• A lecture by Stephen Sarrazin in English

In this lecture Stephen Sarrazin, lecturer at Paris 8 University, addresses the current state of film production in Japan: Where does contemporary Japanese cinema stand nowadays, in relationship to international cinema, as well as to the prodigious history of its studios and independent producers? This lecture will address how the current film environment appears to have too much past on its shoulders, a present burdened by acculturation and a dismissal of politics, and a future in the hands of talent agencies. In light of a stifling production environment for art house filmmaking, what international strategies become available, conceivable to current filmmakers, and will Japan ever produce ‘film installation’ artists, such as exist in Europe, America, and South East Asia?

Sarrazin is the author of "Réponses du cinéma japonais contemporain", a book of essays and interviews, and co-editor in chief of the French film and media art journal MONDES DU CINEMA.