FEATURE FILM COMPETITION:
Self-Revolutionary Cinematic Struggle
TIME: 12:40~, Sunday 1st December
VENUE: BLOC cinema
Self-Revolutionary Cinematic Struggle
| Director | Gakuryu ISHII |
| Producer | Gakuryu ISHII |
| Running Time | 2:45:00 |
| Genre | Drama |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese (English Sub) |
| Main Casts | Gakuryu ISHII, Takahiko TAKEDA, Akito UESHIMA,Tomoki MIYANO |
| Screenplay | Gakuryu ISHII |
| Premiere Status | International |
| SYNOPSIS | Gakuryu ISHII, a professor at the Kobe Design University film course, suddenly disappears, driven into a state of madness by the practice of his own ideology, the “Self-Revolutionary Cinematic Struggle”. His colleague, Assistant Professor TAKEDA, and his assistant TANIMOTO are baffled by the treatment of his “work textbook for the revolution of the inner consciousness, which aims at the expansion of the individual imagination and perception, and the strengthening of the will”. After some conflicts, they choose to try the work with voluntary students, while Takeda follows the shadow of the missing Ishii, which eventually leads to a mysterious cave exploration. By practising the texts they have chosen, the students find themselves lost in a labyrinthine world of expanded imagination and expanded consciousness, as if in a film. Through this experience, they become aware of the invisible shadowy pressures that constrain their will, imagination and perception, and of the sense of stagnation, powerlessness and isolation that covers them. However, Ishii, the man who disappeared, is slaughtered by a symbolic shadow pressure during the ultimate work he was doing deep in the mountains beyond the cave. But the film is stopped and the real world is documented. The director, Professor Ishii, is confused and distressed about the direction of his work while editing the film “Self-Revolutionary Film Struggle” with Takeda. He hides his difficulties and devotes himself to rehearsals, persuading the students who do not understand the intentions of the script for the rest of the shoot, in order to break the stalled production and rebuild the film. Suddenly, however, an unprecedented corona disaster strikes, which also affects the filming of the film, leading to the closure of the university and a ban on extracurricular activities. |
| DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT | The cinema is a cave that is essential to modern cities, a shelter for the hearts of modern people. The ʻfilmʼ that we experience in the cinema envelops the hearts of modern people, who are separated, divided and isolated, with darkness, magical light and sound resonance, and gives us a precious experience and inspiration. The ʻSelf-Revolutionary Film Struggleʼ is a record of the ʻstruggleʼ with ʻfilmʼ to ʻrevolutioniseʼ ʻoneselfʼ in everyday life. |
| PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION | BHF inc. Hideyo Iwai iwai@brighthorse-film.com |
London International Fantastic Film Festival 