My short preview of the new Masao Adachi film, Artist of Fasting, has been published on the ArtAsiaPacific website.
I first wrote about Adachi’s latest effort when it was announced for the inaugural season of Asian Arts Theatre in South Korea.
While I visited the new centre in Gwangju last autumn, I ended up just missing Artist of Fasting and so was glad to catch a belated screening in January this year. The Kafka-inspired film now opens in Tokyo on February 27th at Eurospace in Shibuya, followed by a roll-out to select venues around the country.
One detail I didn’t mention in my piece for AAP was that Adachi has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help publicise the film in Japan.
It includes a video message from the director himself in his usual jocular style, japing that he spent the whole budget on the production and they have nothing left over for marketing the film. Wait until the end of the video and the “Bakayaro!” (Idiot!).
Perks for supporters of the crowdfunding campaign include a free “fake passport” with Adachi’s name and face. This is a reference to the charges Adachi faced after he was extradited to Japan following years in the Middle East as a revolutionary. In spite of high overseas interest in his cinema (Artist of Fasting has already screened in Holland), today he is unable to travel due to the Japanese government’s refusal to issue him with a passport.
Throw Out Your Books 