"Shadow of Sankei" video project

*Information at the time of adoption.

Name of the organization or individual

Mika Sasaki

subsidy category

start-up subsidy

Grant Type

single year

FY 2021 1st Startup Subsidy

"Shadow of Sankei" still photo by Shinta Yabe

"Shadow of Sankei" still 2 Photo by Shinta Yabe

screening

❮❯

Business Overview

This project attempted to explore the history of Sankeien Garden in Honmoku, Yokohama, through the production of a short film (Director: Mika Sasaki, Producer: Shonal Paki). A woman (played by Miyabe Hono) makes her way around Sankei Garden as if guided by the poem "Stray Birds," written by Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore at Sankei Garden. This project has completed a documentary fiction work in which the past and the present intersect within the park. Music by Mio Adachi and recording by Yuya SHITO created a sound environment that evokes the present and past of Sankeien and the inner voice of a woman. Women who visited the zoo in the Taisho period were recreated in kasuri kimono and Japanese umbrellas, using costumes created by Kuroi Misaki (Mincho Sha). Still photography was handled by Yabe Shinta, who specializes in documentary photography. A pamphlet zine was produced to record the research at the same time as the video work. The hand-bound zine, which is closed with silk thread, was designed by Moe Suzuki (Bunyan Books) and edited by Yusuke Nakaoka (Miwasha). The pamphlet is printed with a sense of Sankeien's history.

implementation period

May 15, 2022 -31 Online screening
May 31, 2022 Screening

Place of implementation

Kinokoya (Tama City, Tokyo)

*Information such as project outlines is provided by organizations and individuals providing subsidies.

Profile

Mika Sasaki
Film director and writer. Born in Fukui Prefecture, he studied Hindi and Bengali at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He works to create works that connect Japan and South Asia by interpreting and translating the words sung through video. He directed Tagore Songs, a documentary about the songs of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Released in cinemas nationwide, the film was selected for the 2022 Dhaka International Film Festival.