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"Not only is it stunning to look at, with its waterfalls, temples and traditionally attired performers, but there is some fleshing out of the history, philosophy and belief behind [the musicians'] practice." - Sight & Sound

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JAPANESE BUDDHISM AND MUSIC

Gorgeous documentary about Japanese Buddhism, and more precisely about the way music and sounds are used in some buddhist temples.

The people filmed include a musician playing on a rare and ancient Chinese bamboo wind instrument evoking the cry of the phoenix, a hip-hop priest, and a master of Noh theatre and a kotsuzumi drum player who loves of jazz.

MORE ABOUT THE FILM

Taking its name from an alternative reading of the name for the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Kannon, KanZeOn, which can be translated as “she who hears the cries of the world” is an unorthodox but utterly magical meditation on sound and the ritual and philosophical role it plays in Japanese Buddhism.

Filmed in Kyushu, the film looks at, and more importantly listens to, 3 very special Japanese musicans:

- Akinobu Tatsumi, the young Buddhist priest and custodian of a temple outside of Kumamoto City who moonlights as a hip-hop DJ while indulges his love of beat boxing in the remote forests;

- Eri Fujii, who has devoted her life to the mastery of the sho, a rare and ancient Chinese bamboo wind instrument evoking the cry of the phoenix;

- and Akihiro Iitomi, a master of Noh theatre and a kotsuzumi drum player whose love of jazz almost matches that of his passion for Japan’s traditional performing arts.

As a documentary, KanZeOn does not seek to explain as much as to enlighten, taking the viewer on a hypnotic sensual journey from the timeless to the modern by way of a mystical parade of images that resonate seamlessly with the sounds.

LINKS - TRAILER

Article about the film in great magazine SIGHT AND SOUND http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/reviews/close-up/we-don%27t-care-about-music-anyway-and-kanzeon.php

Website for the film: http://www.kanzeonthemovie.com/

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy-Ib0k1PkI

+ INTRODUCTION AND DISCUSSION WITH THE DIRECTORS!

This screening will be introduced by the directors Neil Cantwell and Tim Grabham, who will be coming to Newcastle just for that night.

Neil Cantwell has studied philosophy and music. He currently works as an Officer for Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange at The Japan Foundation London Office, and has ongoing status as Foreign Research Fellow at Shuchiin University, Kyoto.

Tim Grabham is a filmmaker, animater and visual artist who established the independent studio Cinema Iloobia in 2003. As well as his numerous short films, he worked on Suridh Hassan’s documentary about Japanese graffiti culture, RackGaki (2008), which played at last year’s Zipangu Fest. KanZeOn is his first feature-length documentary.

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With the support of  Zipangu Fest

Tickets: £5 / £3.50 (conc)

Or £4.50 advance tickets online http://www.wegottickets.com/event/150576

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Part of our Japanese Film Festival 2012 (14 to 29 January 2012), more info here