June 08, 2006

An enthusiastic audience attended tonight’s Special Program at Astro Hall to see music clips from Korea. Sapporo’s North Wave D.J. Masanori Furuya hosted the event. Furuya, who hosts his own morning program on North Wave, an affiliate of Inter FM, was introducing Korean music to Japan even before it reached full-on trend status. Fluent in Korean, Furuya also presents programs of Japanese music clips in Korea and recently published a book about Korean music clips.

Korean music clips are different from most in that the artist or band never appears on screen. Instead actors, often famous ones, portray a story, like a short film with little or no dialog. The story takes on a role as important as the music.

The first clips of the program told one dramatic love story, practically a saga, in two parts. These clips were followed by a stop-motion animation peice with a tragic ending that seemed incongruous with the animator’s visual style. Furuya discussed the prevalence of tragedy, which often crosses into the realm of the comically ridiculous, in Korean clips. Indeed, “melodramatic” seems a fair description of the selections screened, but it is an effect that the creators achieve intentionally and unapologetically.

The program’s highlights included a video message from one of Korean’s leading music video artists, Jaehyok Jang, and Jang’s antiwar-themed clip, “Flower.” Jang counts Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki (TOTORO, SPIRITED AWAY) among his influences.

Also featured was the 38-minute, multi part music clip for Hyejin Jang’s entire latest album starring Korean actress Yoonjin Kim (SWIRI).

It was a night of Korean modern culture--and a rare opportunity to see and hear the latest creations of Korean artists--enjoyed by all!

A stirring selection of films in Asia International Program A kicked off the morning in Astro Hall. The program included two visually thrilling thrillers from Korea, a cheeky animation from Indonesia, a dark comedy about immigrant women from China and Vietnam in Australia, a jolting drama from Iran, and a bittersweet love story from Singapore.

Directors Heng Tang (The Last Chip) and Ric Aw (Buy Me Love) were in attendance for the screening. Heng struggled for eight years to raise the funding for his film, which tells the story of three very different Asian immigrant women who share one thing in common―each week they go to the casino together to gamble. “One gambles because she is lonely, and the others gamble for financial freedom,” explained Heng. Some government funding organizations in Australia where the film was shot were reluctant to support the project because the government had supported the building of casinos. The film alludes to the problems gambling has created for some Australians, particularly for older immigrant women who have no financial independence.

Heng tells his story with humor and honesty, and each character feels real from the moment he or she is introduced on screen. Audiences might recognize filmmaker Leon Ford, whose short “The Mechanicals” screens in International Program D, in a supporting role as Croupier Craig.

Filmmaker Ric Aw counts his wife Candice and the multitude of unsung characters in Singapore as his inspirations. “Buy Me Love” is about an aging Singapore hawker who has worked too hard his whole life to have time for love, for the “games we play,” as Ric put it. So, he buys a mail-order bride from China. Ric explained that this is not an uncommon scenario in Singapore, but can you really buy love? “You can buy a wife,” answered Ric. “That is companionship which some people might confuse with love. But I don’t really think you can buy love.”

Ric hopes to expand “Buy Me Love” into a feature film and introduce “more characters from Singapore, characters that the world has never seen before―like toilet cleaners and street sweepers.”

Filmmakers, staff, and volunteers gathered on Omotesando this morning to clean up the sparkling sidewalks of this busy and beautiful shopping district. Sweepers is a time-honored tradition of the Short Shorts Film Festival that allows everyone involved in the event to offer a show of thanks to the neighborhood that hosts this festival each year. Working alongside the Short Shorts gang were volunteers from Greenbird, a non-profit environmental organization that has supported Sweepers for the last several years.

Festival Director Seigo Tono welcomed the Sweepers, and introduced Ken Hasebe, President and Founder of Greenbird. A representative from Japan’s Ministry of the Environment also welcomed the filmmakers and volunteers and thanked them for their contribution. He explained that there is a movement in Japan to encourage companies to relax their dress codes and eliminate ties from men’s summer wardrobes. This would enable offices to maintain their thermostats at slightly higher temperatures, thereby saving energy and reducing heat emissions from air conditioners.

The Sweepers split into two groups and set off in opposite directions on the hunt for abandoned cigarette butts, drink cans, newspapers, rubbish of any kind really. As in years past, it was a task that called for keenly alert senses; garbage is not easy to find in Tokyo. Even Tokyo native and festival staffer, Eri Taguchi, enjoying the fresh air in her first ever Sweepers event, was surprised by how clean the sidewalks were.

The Web Reporter asked some Sweepers how they felt about cleaning up rubbish in Tokyo:

“In Canada, there would be cigarette butts and beer cans all over the place―even though it’s illegal to drink in the streets!” -- filmmaker Shaleen Sanga (Sohni Sapna/Beautiful Dream)

“It’s the same concept as for eating.” ?Jury Member Beth Safreire, demonstrating that the garbage collecting tongs are not unlike chopsticks

“Small dogs go in the burnable bag.”- ?anonymous

“I’m happy with my non-burnables. And I didn’t come across that big stash everyone else got. This is all my own work.” --Leon Ford (The Mechanicals)

“It’s so clean, I’d be willing to lick the street.” --Chris Waitt (Dupe)

“It was stinky, but satisfying.” --Tatia Rosenthal (A Buck’s Worth)