Kohei Ando (born February 1, 1944) is a Japanese

experimental filmmaker Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

videographer Videography is the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, direct to disk recording, or solid state storage) and even streaming media. The term includes methods of video production and post-production. It used ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

, and

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

. He is credited as one of the earliest figures in the rise of

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting ...

in Japan during the 1960s and 1970s, and a pioneer in Japanese

experimental filmmaking Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

. Ando's rich artistic output is heavily influenced by his Waseda University education, participation in Shuji Terayama's avant-garde Tenjo Sajiki theatrical troupe, and interests in film, literature, and theater. He is celebrated as one of the first Japanese directors to employ

image processing An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

and

video feedback Video feedback is the process that starts and continues when a video camera is pointed at its own playback video monitor. The loop delay from camera to display back to camera is at least one video frame time, due to the input and output scanni ...

with newly available video technology into the filmmaking process. Throughout his career, Ando has created a diverse range of films whose narrative structures and visual designs are markedly different from one another, from the abstractionism of ''Oh! My Mother'' (1969) to the fusion of

Western Art History The art of Europe, or Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period between the Paleo ...

and

Japanese culture The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ance ...

in ''Whispers of Vermeer'' (1998). As a filmmaker and video artist, Ando's career is largely defined by his multidisciplinary nature in which he actively engaged in several projects that overlapped between his participation in Tenjo Sajiki, employment at the

Tokyo Broadcasting System formerly is a Japanese media and licensed broadcasting holding company. It is the parent company of the television network and radio network . It has a 28-affiliate television network called JNN (Japan News Network), as well as a 34-affili ...

, and pursuit of independent filmmaking. As of 2021, Ando's most recent film is a 2003 documentary on the French

Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

painter

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the He is a member of the International Committee of the

Directors Guild of Japan The is a trade union created to represent the interests of film directors in the film industry in Japan. It was founded in 1936, with Minoru Murata serving as the first president, and has continued to this day apart from a period between 1943 and ...

, and he serves as the Programming Advisor of the

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

Early life and education (1944–1968)

Ando was born on February 1, 1944, in

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He entered

in 1962 where he earned his Bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Science and Engineering in 1968. During his undergraduate studies, Ando developed his passions for literature, film, and theater and chose to embark on a career in cinema.Ando, Kohei. “The Demise of the System Known as Film Studios.” Waseda Online. Accessed July 9, 2021. https://yab.yomiuri.co.jp/adv/wol/dy/research/kyoso_080708.html. Additionally, his participation in a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Foreign Exchange program to the L’Ecole Centrale in Paris in 1965 further informed his decision to pursue filmmaking.

Tenjo Sajiki (1967–1983)

In 1967, Ando partnered with fellow Waseda University student and avant-garde dramatist Shuji Terayama in his theatrical troupe Tenjo Sajiki, whose members included graphic artist

Tadanori Yokoo is a Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker and painter. Yokoo’s signature style of psychedelia and pastiche engages a wide span of modern visual and cultural phenomena from Japan and around the world. Career Tadanori Yokoo, bo ...

and playwright/theater director Yutaka Higashi. Ando acted in Terayama's theatrical adaptation of Marcel Carne's 1945 film ''

Les Enfants du Paradis ''Children of Paradise'' (original French title: ''Les Enfants du Paradis'') is a two-part French romantic drama film by Marcel Carné, produced under war conditions in 1943, 1944, and early 1945 in both Vichy France and Occupied France. Set in ...

'' (''Children of Paradise''). Ando was also employed as a Production Assistant in Terayama's company, and he traveled with the troupe during their performances across Japan, Europe, and the United States.Severns, Karen. “Special Screening of ‘Tora-San, Wish You Were Here’, Q&A Session and Japan Now Panel.” The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, October 3, 2019. https://www.fccj.or.jp/index.php/event/special-screening-tora-san-wish-you-were-here-qa-session-and-japan-now-panel. In 1969, Ando, Terayama, and Tenjo Sajiki participated in the Experimenta 3 Festival at Frankfurt's

Deutsche Akademie der Darstellenden Künste The Deutsche Akademie der Darstellenden Künste (German Academy of the Performing Arts) is an academy founded in Hamburg in 1956, representing members from theatre, film, television and radio. Their activities and events are supported by foundations ...

(German Academy of the Performing Arts) where they performed ''The Dog God''. Ando's collaboration with Tenjo Sajiki ended following Terayama's death in 1983.

Early film career (1968–1978)

In 1968, Ando purchased a

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

camera while in Paris with Tenjo Sajiki to officially launch his filmmaking career.“Kohei Ando.” Collaborative Cataloging Japan. Accessed July 9, 2021. https://www.collabjapan.org/kohei-ando. “Oh! My Mother.” Electronic Arts Intermix. Accessed July 9, 2021. https://www.eai.org/titles/oh-my-mother. The following year, Ando created his first film, ''Oh! My Mother'' (1969). He encountered multiple challenges in the production process as there were aesthetic limitations to the available video technology and there were few colored televisions in the late-1960s. However, the filming of ''Oh! My Mother'' coincided with Ando's recent employment at the

(TBS); he entered the studios after-hours to experiment with their equipment to explore the visual possibilities of video technology in a filmic context. The finalized film was accomplished through Ando's use of a feedback effect in which segments of the projected video proceeded through an infinite loop. Upon its completion, ''Oh! My Mother'' won an award at the Oberhausen Short Film Festival in Germany and was lauded as one of Japan's first films to utilize electronic imaging and

.Sakamoto, Hirofumi. “The Self-Referential Tactics of Early Video Art in Japan.” Collaborative Cataloging Japan, 2007. https://www.collabjapan.org/essay-sakamoto-self-referential-english?rq=kohei%20ando.

Video Hiroba

In the early-1970s, Ando became a member of the video art collective Video Hiroba. The organization's aims were to experiment with the aesthetics of video technology to create new types of images that responded to current social and political issues, present an alternative method to disseminate information, and fuse the mediums of video and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

. Ando's films of the 1970s appeared to lean in the direction of video and performance art combinations as he filmed his subjects in theatrical compositions. Ando's 1973 short film ''Les Fils/The Sons'' is a visual representation of a gay poem on the relationship between a man and his adopted adult sons. Entire scenes are washed in deep blue or fluorescent yellow lighting to convey the sensuality of the characters’ interactions with one another. ''La Valse/Waltz'' (1976) focuses on an older woman seated at a table drinking tea before she rises to perform a waltz when classical music begins to play in the background. The careful organization of the scene – a centrally placed table framed by windows and columns before an open-floor space – is visually reminiscent of a

proscenium stage A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

set.

Later film career (1978–2003)

Over the course of the 1970s and 1980s, Ando continued to film with a 16mm camera. The official Japanese release of George Lucas's ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' (1977) in 1978 generated public enthusiasm and Mark Hamill's promotional visit to the country the same year led to extensive media coverage. Ando's short film ''Star Waars!'' (1978) reflected the popularity of the film in which individual men and women address the camera by excitedly shouting “War”. The short simultaneously demonstrated Ando's rising stature as a filmmaker through his procurement of multiple high-profile actors from popular 1970s

Japanese film The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

programs:

Hiromi Go , is a Japanese singer, part of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. His real name is . In the 1970s, he was called the with Goro Noguchi and Hideki Saijo. He belonged to Johnny & Associates, but later left the agency. He also effectively became ...

Ikue Sakakibara is a Japanese actress and a J-pop singer. Biography In 1976, Sakakibara took part in the Talent Scout Caravan organised by Horipro, and won the competition. She made her musical debut on January 1, 1977, with the single ''"Watashi no Sensei"'' ...

Tetsuya Takeda Tetsuya Takeda (), born April 11, 1949, is a Japanese folk singer and actor. Takeda is perhaps most known in Japan for his starring role in the Tokyo Broadcasting System's (TBS) long-running, highly rated television drama '' Sannen B Gumi Kinpa ...

Junko Ikeuchi is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings Junko can be written using different kanji characters and can mean any of the following: *純子, "pure, child" *順子, "order, child" *淳子, "pure, child" *潤子, "rich/favor/wet, child" ...

Haruko Mabuchi is a feminine Japanese given name. Its most common translation is "spring child" (春子, which may also be read as a Korean name Chun-ja), though other kanji provide different meanings. Notable people with the name include: * Princess Haruko (� ...

Yoshiko Mita (born October 8, 1941) is a Japanese actress. Born in the city of Osaka, she graduated from Joshibi High School of Art and Design in Suginami, Tokyo. In 1960, she was hired by Toei and made her acting debut. She remained with Toei until 1967, t ...

Keiju Kobayashi was a Japanese actor who appeared in 253 films in a career spanning 67 years. Born in Gunma Prefecture, he began acting at the Nikkatsu studio after dropping out of Nihon University and made his film debut in 1942. In 1956 he moved to Toho film ...

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Masao Komatsu was a Japanese actor and comedian. Biography Komatsu was born in Fukuoka on January 10, 1942. He died of hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) at a hospital in Tokyo on December 7, 2020. He was 78 years old. Selected filmography Films *''K ...

Chu Arai Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the H ...

Tetsuko Kuroyanagi is a Japanese actress, voice actress, tarento, World Wide Fund for Nature advisor, and Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. She is well known for her charitable works, and is considered one of the first Japanese celebrities to achieve international re ...

, Yukari Itoh, Katusko Kanai,

Kinya Aikawa Kin'ya or Kinya (written: 欣也, 欣哉, 欽也 or キンヤ in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese fencer *, Japanese actor and voice actor *, Japanese actor *, Japanese singer and acto ...

, Midori Utsumi, Ikkei Kojima, and children's animated icon Leon the Lion. In the mid-1980s, Ando's exposure to HD video technology at TBS compelled him to switch from 16mm formats to HD formats for his films; ''My Collections'' (1988) was the last film he completed in 16mm. By the 1990s, Ando's films were more narrative-driven, had longer running times (roughly 25 to 50 minutes in length), and displayed more

Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

imagery. ''After Twilight'' (1995) was one of the films that encapsulated the shift in his directorial style as the film's storyline progression is framed by photographic still images and the

airbrush An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint but also ink and dye, and foundation. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is considered to employ a type of airbrush. History U ...

paintings of Kozo Mio while a man in voiceover narration discusses his love for a mysterious woman in a dream-like world. In the late-1990s and early-2000s, Ando created several documentaries on the lives of European and Japanese artists, including:

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian Renaissance painting, Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th cent ...

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the ...

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Kozo Mio.

Tokyo Broadcasting System (1968–2004)

Concurrent with his video art and experimental filmmaking, Ando established a steady career for himself with the

where he was employed from 1968 to 2004. Shortly after his arrival at TBS, Ando requested a three month vacation to commit to Terayama's theatrical productions. While he anticipated his employment would be terminated before his return, Ando was surprised to learn that the company wanted him to stay and he surmised they felt “it might be good to keep a strange person like this ohei Andoaround”. He was able to successfully give attention to both his professional responsibilities and personal creative projects. TBS afforded Ando and other directors a significant degree of creative freedom, to which he credits the company for permitting him to freely direct productions at the studio and to devote time to his non-TBS affiliated films. Over the years, Ando's success in the TBS led to his promotion in multiple creative positions, including the Assistant Director of the Media Promotion Department and the Leader of HDTV Production. Additionally, Ando was heavily involved in commercial advertising where he directed album release announcements for pop idols

Miyuki Nakajima (born February 23, 1952, Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and radio personality. She has released 43 studio albums, 46 singles, 6 live albums and multiple compilations as of January 2020. Her sales have been estimated ...

and

Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, poet, and human-rights advocate, who is a prominent figure in Japanese popular music. He has sold more than 20 million records worldwide and has appeared in movies and television dramas. His wife Etsuk ...

and folk rock band

Off Course Off Course was a Japanese folk rock band formed by Kazumasa Oda and Yasuhiro Suzuki. They broke up after a farewell performance at the Tokyo Dome on February 26, 1989. Their most famous songs are "Sayonara" (さよなら), "YES-YES-YES", "Setsu ...

, and promotional campaigns for

Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...

Academia (2004–2014)

In 2004, Ando returned to his alma mater

and assumed teaching and advisory positions in their Graduate School of Global Information and Telecommunication Institute until 2014.“History and Overview.” Global Information and Telecommunication Institute. Waseda University, June 1, 2021. https://www.waseda.jp/fsci/giti/en/about/history/. In December 2021, Ando will participate as a guest lecturer in the Visual Industry Promotion Organization's "Movie Producer Training" course in which he will speak about the importance of the role of the producer in the film industry.

"Masters of Cinema" series

Ando was selected as one of multiple special lecturers for Waseda University's “Masters of Cinema” series throughout 2009 and 2010 in which he spoke about his career and filmmaking. He was a participant among a group of other prominent figures in the Japanese film industry:

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job ...

Nobuhiko Obayashi was a Japanese director, screenwriter and editor of films and television advertisements. He began his filmmaking career as a pioneer of Japanese experimental films before transitioning to directing more mainstream media, and his resulting film ...

Masahiro Shinoda is a retired Japanese film director, originally associated with the Shochiku Studio, who came to prominence as part of the Japanese New Wave in the 1960s. Early life Shinoda attended Waseda University, where he studied theater and also partici ...

Hirokazu Koreeda is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career in television and has since directed more than a dozen feature films, including '' Nobody Knows'' (2004), '' Still Walking'' (2008), and '' After the Storm'' ( ...

, et al.

Kohei Ando Film Laboratory

The Kohei Ando Film Laboratory, established by Kohei Ando, is a

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

based at Waseda University that finances independent short and feature-length films created by the University's student filmmakers. While he was a student at Waseda, Malaysian filmmaker Edmund Yeo was funded for multiple short films between 2008 and 2010, and Ando served as his academic supervisor in his pursuit of a Masters and PhD in Film.

Film festivals

Along with his membership in the

, Ando has been selected as an honorary member of numerous international film commissions and festival juries: * 1999: The Margaret Mead Film Festival – New York, New York * 1999:

International Wildlife Film Festival The International Wildlife Film Festival is a film festival held annually at the Roxy Theater in Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label= Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a ...

– Missoula, Montana * 2000: Festival International de Audio Visual – Biarritz, France * 2016: Guanajuato International Film Festival – Guanajuato City, Mexico *2021:

Beijing International Film Festival The Beijing International Film Festival (Chinese: 北京国际电影节), abbreviated BJIFF, is a film festival in Beijing, China. Founded in 2011, the film festival is supported and sponsored by China Film Administration, China Media Group an ...

– Beijing, China Ando has served as the Programming Advisor for the

since 2014, and he created the Festival's Japan Now section in 2015 to explore contemporary trends in Japanese cinema. In a 2018 interview with the

Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the Cinema of the United States, entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States for media (newspaper, ...

, Ando explained the necessity for Japan Now to feature mainstream films that appeal to both native Japanese and global audiences. When pressed further about the merits of mainstream Japanese films, Ando added that this particular type of film has the capacity to educate international viewers on Japanese culture and history. For the 2018 installment of the Festival du Cinéma Japonais Contemporain Kinotaya in France, Ando assumed a programming role in which he introduced and screened 109 Japanese films for an event that commemorated the 160th anniversary of friendship between Japan and France. In 2020, Ando served as a member of the 33rd Annual Tokyo International Film Festival's Selection Committee in tandem with his Programming Advisor position.

Film style and themes

Style

Early in his career, Ando's films were shot with a 16mm camera. In 1985, Ando recognized the visual appeal for HD video production and began to create his subsequent films with this more advanced filming technology as it coincided with his ascension to the position of Leader of HDTV Production at TBS. ''Oh! My Mother'' (1969) assumed an abstractionist approach to filmmaking in which Ando manipulated TBS video equipment. Through his implementation of looping and feedback, the image of a woman converges and fragments into a kaleidoscopic arrangement of varying colors and shapes coupled with soundbites of voices, heavy breathing, and classical music. Elements of abstractionism were utilized for several of his later films such as the distortion of colored lighting in both ''In Lusio'' (1971) and ''Les Fils/The Sons'' (1973). Mise-en-scene cinematography has been a consistent element of Ando's camerawork during his 16mm and HD productions. ''La Valse/Waltz'' exhibits slower camera movements to mimic the gracefulness of the woman's dance to classical music. Similarly, the style of his much later film ''Whispers of Vermeer'' (1998) is meticulously organized to mirror the intimate, domestic

genre paintings Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...

Dutch Baroque Dutch Baroque architecture is a variety of Baroque architecture that flourished in the Dutch Republic and its colonies during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. (Dutch painting during the period is covered by Dutch Golden Age painting). L ...

painter

Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , #Pronunciation of name, see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period Painting, painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class, middle-class life. ...

. Video portraiture is frequently employed in which the camera remains fixed on individuals for seconds at a time. ''My Friends, In My Address Book'' (1974) is a filmic tribute to Ando's family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues as each person briefly poses with their respective address from his address book to the tune of Kay Starr's rendition of '' Come On A-My House;'' Shuji Terayama is one of the individuals who appears in the short film. Similarly, ''Star Waars!'' (1978) follows a much faster pace in which the camera zooms in on famous Japanese actors before they shout “War”.

Themes

Space, time, and memory are recurring themes that are strongly prevalent throughout his career. Imagery associated with home and sentimental, personal items often feature as motifs to reinforce these thematic elements as seen in ''My Collections'' (1988), a filmic self-portrait of Ando's life in which he documents objects and spaces within or near his house according to specific categories (family, shoes, flowers, etc.). Similarly, the films ''Like a Passing Train 1'' (1978) and ''Like a Passing Train 2'' (1979) are conceptual studies of how a local train outside of Ando's house signifies the passage of time and his relationship to home. ''On the Far Side of Twilight'' (1994) is an homage to Shuji Terayama that extensively focuses on the changing of the seasons, an exploration of the lifecycles from childhood to old age, and the personification of memories. Shuji Terayama described Ando's film style as his way of "externalizing what is inside him and assembling a story.

e is E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...

a writer with a strong interest in humans".

Influences

Ando has cited a number of individuals from Japanese and

international cinema World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive de ...

who influenced his career aspirations and cinematic style: * Japanese poet, playwright, and film director Shuji Terayama * Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist

Jonas Mekas Jonas Mekas (; December 24, 1922 – January 23, 2019) was a Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist who has been called "the godfather of American avant-garde cinema". Mekas' work has been exhibited in museums and at festivals worldwi ...

* Italian cinematographer

Vittorio Storaro Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. (born 24 June 1940) is an Italian cinematographer widely recognized as one of the best and most influential in cinema history, for his work on numerous classic films including ''The Conformist,'' ''Apocalypse Now ...

* Japanese experimental filmmaker

* Japanese director and screenwriter

Nagisa Oshima NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas or Natural Geography of In-Shore Areas) is an international collaborative effort aimed at inventorying, cataloguing, and monitoring biodiversity of the in-shore area. So named for the Japanese word "nagisa ...

Filmography

* ''Oh! My Mother'' (1969) * ''Oh! My Father'' (1970) * ''In Lusio'' (1971) * ''Les Fils/The Sons'' (1973) * ''My Friends, In My Address Book'' (1974) * ''The Distance from the Screen'' (1975) * ''La Valse/Waltz'' (1976) * ''Star Waars!'' (1978) * ''Like a Passing Train 1'' (1978) * ''Like a Passing Train 2'' (1979) * ''My Collections'' (1988) * ''On the Far Side of Twilight'' (1994) * ''After Twilight'' (1995) * ''The World of Kozo Mio'' (1996) * ''A Story About Kusanojo'' (1997) * ''Whispers of Vermeer'' (1998) * ''Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec'' (2003) * ''Henri Rousseau'' (2003)

Publications

Texts by Kohei Ando

* ''Introduction to Video Professionals: For the Creators of Film and Television'' (2004) * Japanese translation of Syd Field's ''Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting'' (2009) * Japanese translation of Syd Field's ''The Screenwriter's Workbook'' (2012) * ''Listen to the Words of the Movie'' (2018) * Japanese translation of Syd Field's ''The Screenwriter's Problem Solver: How to Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems'' (2019) * ''Whispers of Vermeer – Lapis Lazuli Dog'' (2021)

Publications on Kohei Ando

* ''Image That is Being Born/Emerging Footage: Experimental Filmmakers'' by Norio Nishijima (1991) * ''Best TV Work of the Year – “On the Far Side of Twilight”'' by Nobuo Shiga (1995) * ''People in The Theatrical Laboratory of Tenjo Sajiki'' by Sakumi Hagiwara (2000) * ''Shuji Terayama and Kohei Ando – Heritage Evolve''s by Yoshikazu Shimizu (2018)

Awards and honors

Awards

* 1969: Oberhausen Short Film Festival – Oberhausen, Germany *1994: Special Jury Award at the

Hawaii International Film Festival The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii. HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is h ...

– Honolulu, Hawaii, USA * 1994: Silver Award for ''On the Far Side of Twilight'' at the

– Honolulu, Hawaii, USA * 1996: Astrolabium Award for ''After Twilight'' and Best Director Award at International Electronic Cinema Festival – Montreux, Switzerland * 1997: Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Electronic Cinema Festival – Montreux, France * 1998: Hivision Award

Honorary film screenings

* 1974: ''The Distance from the Screen'' at the opening ceremony of The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum * 1975: ''Les Fils/The Sons'' – Thonen-les-Bains International Independent Film Festival, France * 1979: Japanese Experimental Film –

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

, Paris, France * 1981:

Rotterdam International Film Festival The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Since its foundation in 1972, it has maintained a focus on independent and experimental fi ...

– Rotterdam, Netherlands * 1982:

American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 w ...

* 1983: The 7th

Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), is one of Asia’s oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies, filmmakers from different countries in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens around 230 films ...

– Hong Kong, China * 1984: The Berlin International Film Festival – Berlin, Germany * 1984:

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

– Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom * 1985: 25 Years of Japanese Experimental Film – Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan * 1985: Sydney Japanese Film Festival – Sydney, Australia * 1989: 1st Asian International Film Festival –

Asia Society The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Man ...

, New York, USA * 1990: London Young Japanese Film Festival – London, United Kingdom * 1991: The Japan Society, New York, New York, USA * 1994: Oberhausen Short Film Festival – Oberhausen, Germany * 1994: Maisons-Laffitte Film Festival – Maisons-Laffitte, France * 1995: Paris International Film Festival – Paris, France * 1996: Tampere International Film Festival – Tampere, Finland * 1999:

Margaret Mead Film Festival The Margaret Mead Film Festival is an annual film festival held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. It is the longest-running, premiere showcase for international documentaries in the United States, encompassing a broad spec ...

– New York, New York, USA

Honorary titles

2000: Chairman of the Jury of the International Audio-Visual Festival – Biarritz, France

Exhibitions and retrospectives

Solo exhibitions

* 1978: Galerie Watari, Tokyo, Japan * 1982: Image Forum, Tokyo, Japan

Group exhibitions

* 1983: ''Encounter with the Contemporary Japanese Art Landscape'' – Miyagi Prefectural Museum of Art, Miyagi, Japan * 1985: ''Japan's Avant-Garde Art Future'' – Genoa Arts Festival, Genoa, Italy * 1987: ''History of Japanese Experimental Film'' –

, Paris, France * 1994: ''Postwar Japanese Avant-Garde'' Art Exhibition –

Yokohama Museum of Art , founded in 1989, is located in the futuristic Minato Mirai 21 district of the Japanese city Yokohama, next to the Yokohama Landmark Tower. The collections The museum has works by many influential and well-known modern artists including Constant ...

, Japan

Retrospectives

* 2001: (Les Jeudis Cinemas Differents Du Collectif) Festival of Different Cinemas – Paris, France * 2003: 9th Asian Film Culture Festival – Lyon, France * 2010: Vital Signals: Early Japanese Video Art – Video Exhibition * 2020: Kohei Ando, Like a Passing Train – Maebashi Literature Museum

Collections

Ando's films are owned by multiple prestigious museums, galleries, and film archives throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan:

National Film Archive of Japan The is an independent administrative institution and one of Japan's seven national museums of art, which specializes in preserving and exhibiting the film heritage of Japan. In its previous incarnation, it was the National Film Center, which was p ...

, Tokyo;

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum The is an art museum in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of Japan's many museums which are supported by a prefectural government. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Museums"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 671-673. The current structure, designed by Kunio M ...

, Tokyo;

Setagaya Art Museum The is an art museum in Yōga, Setagaya, Tokyo. The museum, which opened March 30, 1986, houses a permanent gallery and mounts seasonal exhibitions. Structure The main building of the museum, a contemporary design by architect Shōzō Uchii, ...

, Tokyo; Image Forum, Tokyo;

, Kanagawa;

The Miyagi Museum of Art opened in Sendai, Japan, in 1981. The collection has as its primary focus works associated with Miyagi Prefecture and the Tōhoku region more generally, from the Meiji period to the present day, and also includes paintings by Wassily Kandinsky a ...

, Miyagi; The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama;

Getty Center The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997 and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views over ...

, Los Angeles; Fukuoka City Public Library, Fukuoka City; The Japan Society, New York; Light Cone, Paris.“Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archive Collection.” Fukuoka City Public Library, 2004. http://www.cinela.com/english/filmarchivecollection/japaneseexperimental.htm.

External links

Kohei Ando - Collaborative Cataloging JapanCollaborative Cataloging JapanKohei Ando - Light Cone

References

Japanese film directors Japanese video artists Waseda University alumni Academic staff of Waseda University Japanese experimental filmmakers

Early life and education (1944–1968)

Tenjo Sajiki (1967–1983)

Early film career (1968–1978)

Video Hiroba

Later film career (1978–2003)

Tokyo Broadcasting System (1968–2004)

Academia (2004–2014)

"Masters of Cinema" series

Kohei Ando Film Laboratory

Film festivals

Film style and themes

Style

Themes

Influences

Filmography

Publications

Texts by Kohei Ando

Publications on Kohei Ando

Awards and honors

Awards

Honorary film screenings

Honorary titles

Exhibitions and retrospectives

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Retrospectives

Collections

Further reading

External links

References