
Araki Yu
2021Wrong Revision
Araki Yu
Based on Akutagawa Ryunosuke's short story The Devil and Tobacco (1916), the film introduces a curious account of the devil's introduction to Japan with St. Xavier in 1549, and how the devil transformed himself into an octopus (or devil fish) to eventually oppress Japanese Christians in the 17th century.
Wrong Revision
Mountain Plain Mountain
Daniel Jacoby, Araki Yu
Deepening confusion becomes a delightful experience watching this collaborative film by Daniel Jacoby and Araki Yu. The documentary observes the idiosyncratic sounds and rhythms of Ban’ei, a rare kind of draft horse race that takes place only in Obihiro, Japan. Capturing the behind-the-scenes operations of the race, the film gradually twists itself into a knot as the excited voices of the commentators merge into a frenzy of gibberish.
Mountain Plain Mountain
Anachronic Chronicles: Voyages Inside/Out Asia
Pan Lu, Araki Yu
With the form of remote audio conversation for its main narrative, the essay film consists of four chapters, each of which has its own focus but is also interconnected with each other. Blending voice narratives in four languages, moving images and literary texts, the film is mainly made from home video collections created in the 1990s from both filmmakers’ families, with home videos shot in the 1960s by a Hong Kong family as interludes. The film not only unfolds how East Asian families created their own image with amateur filming devices but also tells stories of migration, travelling, growing and familial relationships.
Anachronic Chronicles: Voyages Inside/Out Asia
炉
Araki Yu
Set in Kushiro, the northeastern port city in Hokkaido, Fuel quietly observes an expert griller working at one of the oldest robatayaki (fireside cooking) restaurants in Japan. A patient and contemplative film that matches the unhurried pace of the traditional slow cooking method, its precise use of sound and image savors the beauty of this unique grilling process.
Fuel