嘉宾谈｜Markus Norne「小川摄制组&边田村的消失」

 Hello everyone. I want to thank you for your invitation. I have been following the CCD workstation from its beginning. And I have heard a lot about the Mother's Film Festival. It's a very fascinating project, and I'm honored to be invited to participate.

Let's start the keynote, and today we're going to discuss two parts. First is on Ogawa Productions and then on the current state of affairs at Sunatsuka or Narita airport. And a film collective project. I want to introduce you to. And I think I'll make the first part longer and the second part shorter, because Ogawa Productions is a very complicated group.

Since you can go to the next slide. I first met Ogawa. When I was an intern at the Hawaii Film Festival. I was a graduate student and he liked me because he could not believe there was a graduate student, an American who did not have a credit card.  He approved of that. And that after I finished my master's degree, I did not want to go straight into Phd, so he introduced me to the Yamagata Film Festival, where I started working. That was in 1991, and it's actually when I met Wu Wong Kong, the first time he came to visit Ogawa Productions. And Yamagata. And we went to Ogawa Productions and Wang Kuang, and I sat in their office watching some of the films I'll introduce you to today.

Next slide. So. Let me tell you the basic history of Ogawa. He was born in Tokyo.  And next slide. During World War Two, he, like many Japanese, left the city to go to the rural area, and he moved to his grandfather's house in Gifu Prefecture. And experienced life as a farmer. Then he went to Kokugakuin University and majored in literature. Because in the 1960s, it was cool to major in literature. Then he didn't graduate. He left university halfway through, which was even cooler. In the 1960s.And then he entered Iwanami Productions, which was a film unit in a famous book publishing company. And there he made Pr films or commercials, basically. For companies. The youngest and the most ambitious of the filmmakers at Iwanami. Would meet at the Bar Narcissus. Next and this group of employees created a kind of club. They called themselves Blue Group.

Basically, they got together and they would discuss film, talk about their new projects, and have debates about films. Critique each other's work for their scripts. This kind of thing. So they would drink and talk and run up very big bills. This is a jazz cafe. Typical jazz cafe. It's still in Shinjuku. And you can visit if you want.  The bar mama is the daughter of the original owners and when she was a little girl, she remembers. The Blue Group is meeting and having all of its discussions.  The important thing about this group is that they wanted to change the documentary. And film, and they were discussing how to do it and they were doing it as a group collectively.

The members of the Blue Group all quit Iwanami in 1964, and they went off and changed Japanese cinema. They all became major directors and cameramen. That included Ogawa, who went on to make films, and we can divide his career into three parts. Next, slide the. The first part is the student movement films. Next slide. The first film he made was with a group of students, and it was about their movement. It was called Seat of Youth. The political season was just beginning, and it comes out in this film. It was not successful. But the next film was. Report from Haneda. This was a major political incident near Haneda airport, and Ogawa and his little collect his little group of young people. Went into the protests, and they shot them.  Most filmmakers up to this point would shoot protests from a distance the Ogawa people went right in. Let me show you a clip.  The first part is silent. So this doctor is explaining what happens when a police stick hits ahead. So everyone was very surprised at this very aggressive cinema that was also experimental.  And Ogawa started. Going into the student movement to explore.

His next film was Forest of Oppression, and this was at the a minor university. You can switch to the next slide. It was a minor university with very passionate students. Incredibly successful.  This is when Ogawa created Ogawa Productions and learned from a simple production company. To a filmmaking collective. And like in Group in the Blue Group, they were always discussing Filmmaking and their practice. And one of the topics was always. Ethics. Here's a scene from the forest of oppression that they decided. They did not like. Let's take a look. The reason why they did not like that is they don't you go to the next click once, The reason they did not like this was. They shot it with a hidden camera. It was the last time they used a hidden camera, and from then on it was an ethics of. Engagement and being direct. Their next film was about a group of radical students at Kyoto University. They were known as one of the most radical groups in Japan, but Ogawa now had a very big reputation. And could go behind. The barricades he could make films with these students.

And at this is the point where the second part of their journeys begins, they move to the Narita airport area to make a series of films. Next slide.  I'm going to go through the slides very fast now, so get ready. The government announced it would build a new airport in this farming area and the farmers immediately protested. The farmers protested, and the riot police came. It got violent immediately. The students also arrived. And the protests became enormous, some of the protests. 30000 people on both sides. And his collective moved into this village, called Hita. A beautiful village. They were siding with the farmers. Not with the students. So some farmers invited them to stay in this House.  This is, let's take a look at the next slide. Next. Next. Next.

All right, and stop there. They started making films, but the farmers needed to understand. What they were doing. Most filmmakers go somewhere, shoot and leave. These filmmakers were living in the village. And so the ethics of their filmmaking was very important.  There's a very wonderful archive of their work, and I found recordings of the filmmaker in the center. That's Fukada Kuzza Rico. Talking to the villagers to explain what Ogawa Productions was doing. Next slide. This is who is recording. What an amazing and precious record. Here, you have the filmmakers trying to get their subjects to understand them, but also to establish trust. Of a relationship of trust.  This commitment to ethical filmmaking is what is so important about Ogawa productions. And it's important because they went further than any filmmakers in the world. So we're going to go through the slides very fast again. They started making films with the farmers. Behind the barricades. Right in the conflicts. They've started with. Summer in San Juzuka.Then winter in San Juica. Then, San Juka, the three-day war. And then the peasants of the second Fortress.

Now all Gower productions are back, one now Ogawa Productions films are now shown all over Japan in the world. In their records, you find. That they were screening in high schools? But Prince had gone all over the world.  Especially through political groups. So they started getting visitors. For instance, this is a big man. Next slide. Big Man was the minister of propaganda for the Black Panthers.  Joris Evans. And his wife, Marceline Lore.

Next slide, so I want to show you just a very, we're actually running out of time, but let me go through the slides and show you how they made films. Collectively. That's. We can stop. They, as a collective, would watch footage and have all of these discussions. It's actually kind of similar to Ccd workstations. Approach.  Now they have become very big. So this is  Ogawa Productions Tohoku, or the north of Japan. There was Ogawa started offices in different parts of Japan. And you can see in the window it's the Northeast. Ogawa Productions. And. Next slide. And the collectives in different parts of Japan. Would spread out and show the films.  So let I'll show you how they would go and show their films because you could. They could not show in regular movie theaters. They had to do it themselves. They would decorate the outside and the inside of the theaters. There would always be discussions. Then, in the middle of the series, something happened. Ogawa started telling them to just go out and shoot the farmers and shoot nature. Not the not the protests.

This resulted in this film, Heta Village, which I think is one of the most important. Documentaries ever made.  If you're curious why, we'll have to talk about it someday. The protests had started dying down all across Japan, and so they started looking for other places to live and make films. They made this film in Yokohama.

Then they moved to Yamagata. And farmers in a small village invited them to live in their silkworm barn. Next. A Member drew this. Sometimes. And this was where they. Lived, and they made films.  Sometimes 32 people were living here. Actually, go back. One problem with Ogawa Productions is that the women were always made to cook and clean. Today, the members recognize that it was really bad, and they're very embarrassed. Ogawa Productions was an impressive collective. One of its problems was hierarchy. Because hierarchy is always about power. And sometimes. Leads to violence.

They started making. Rice. Next. Making elaborate. Notes about farming. They finally started making films again. The first two films were very small productions this but then. Go back. This is very small the next. Next slide. Next. This film was. Huge and very successful. And the next film? Is one of my favorites next slide? Next slide. It is a very complicated documentary. It combined. Farmers like the people, a couple on the left. Professional actors. On the right.  The actor is a famous actress, the bottom is the Ijikata, the founder of Budo Dance. They recreate the stories in the village. It's an amazing film about time. Next, we'll skip the clip and go to the next one. You can. Also, very creative photography. They started experimenting with. The airport. So this film brings together everything from their career into one. A climax? It is an amazing film. The music is by a very famous jazz drummer.

Around this time, the Yamagata Film Festival was established. This is the first Asia symposium at the Yamagata Festival. There's Ogawa in the middle. This became the Asia program at Yamagata. And I only have a couple more slides. We'll stop. That's. At this point, Yama Ogawa's collective had fallen apart. Most people had left the collective. It was a hard life. In the collective.  These people were getting married. Having children. They were getting older. And in Young in Ogawa productions, it was a collective, a true collective, so no one got a salary. All the money from the films went into. Eating. And the next film? So the Members? Started quitting. And then Ogawa. Turned to Asia. He started looking at Asia. May a new collective. This is why Ogawa was so interested in Wu Wenguang。

I want to show you a clip where Ogawa is talking about this at the very end of his life with Taiwanese director Wu Yifeng. About two months before Ogawa died. So this was. Olgawa's dream, but he died. Just after that. I was at the hospital the day he died. His best friend was. The. Director of the Minaata series Sutchimoto Noiati. Called Ogawa's brother to get information about Ogawa. Announce the death announcement when Shimoto got off the phone. He looked. Very shaken. And shocked. Because he found. From the brother that Ogawa had lied about many parts of his life. For instance, when he was a kid. He was not a farmer; he was a city boy. His family was wealthy. The grandfather was a landowner. At university, he did not major in literature. He married it. He majored in business. And he did graduate. That's just bullshit. But the real shock was that he lied about his. Birth date. He was born in 1936, not 1935. And that made him one who made him older. Then his friends. You know in America that doesn't matter, but. In Japan and in China, that's serious. And all of his friends from Blue Group. They were very hurt, and today they're still very, very hurt by that. Because it's all about power, exactly. The other problem with Ogawa Productions is. Ended with 2 million dollars of debt.  Much of that was loans, and they never intended to pay never intended to pay them back.  So Ogawa Productions, I think, is flawed. It has many problems. It's also. One of the most important filmmaking groups in film history. It's much more complicated, and if you want to learn more, next slide. You can look at my book if you read English.

FuDan University was going to translate it, but the translator disappeared.

Ok, in the second part, I want to introduce you to the current state of affairs. In San Vizuka, the airport, there are really big changes. Happening at Narita.around Narita airport. San Gizuka is the area. I'm going to tell you about a filmmaking project called the Heta Village Project. I'll show one film from that. And then whole whole Shrine Story is a long film I'm editing right now. It's about a shrine called Toho Ginga. And I've I'm telling the I'm inspired by Ogawa, I'm telling the story of this shrine. And I'm using a lot of footage from Ogawa,Because the Ogawa Productions was a collective. There is no copyright. No one owns the films. So I asked the archive. I'm I went to the archive and I said I'm making. Some films. Can I use Ogawa footage? And they gave me everything.  So I have all of the raw, unedited footage of images and sound from Ogawa's Son Mizuka series.  So let me just tell you, show you the shrine that I am. Making the film about next. This is Toho Ginger. Whole horse shrine. This is about a clip 1min long. Let me show you.

It's a very special place. I started making an experimental short film because it's so amazing. But I'm a historian, so I started. Researching the history of the shrine. So my film is about the whole history of this shrine, which is connected to the history of airplanes in Japan.  So let me show you a little bit about the geography of Narita airport and this will make some sense. I'm not going to really talk about this long film, but I want to talk about the Haita Village project.

So, Henada Airport is the old airport, and it's right. Next to Tokyo. But in the 1950s, they realized that Haneda was going to be too small for all the traffic. Fifties. And they did not have the technology to build into the ocean. So they needed a second airport and they decided to put it. Really far from Tokyo. That's Narita, and, as you know, the farmers immediately. Thought back. And they continue to fight. Some farmers have not given up. So let me take you on a little tour of. Not eat the airport and I'm going to start sharing my screen. This is where I am. We have the third largest. Sports stadium in the world. I made a film about this. With soda. The only larger football, the only larger stadiums are in Modis, India and North Korea. Anyway. It's. Pretty far. To Japan. And if you're going to land in Narita, this is where you end up. Most people land in Terminal Two. Right here. If you next, if you're able to, go to Narita someday. You have to look out the windows. Because you'll see some very unusual things. Here's Kinon. This is a little farm. It's right. In the middle of the airport. As you can see, they had to build tunnels to. Allow the farmer to get to his land and his home. This is one of the farmers who refuses to sell. Nearby. Is Yoko B. Yoko body actually solidarity? It's a hut for protesters. And they also refused to sell the land. just outside the airport is. This. These are ruins of a tower. In the 1970s, the protesters, the farmers and the students built a huge tower because it's right in front of the runway. Planes could not take off because the tower was too tall.

Ogawa Productions made a film about the construction of the tower and then when the police came and chopped it down. This is just the base. Back over here. Is quite a large farm. You can see. They're growing all sorts of vegetables. And this is also inside the airport. And. I want to show you something also kind of amazing. This is. Kind of the plane's point of view, right? That's the shrine right there. You can see it. Right below. This is where I shot that. Video you saw.  And you can see. Amazingly. This is that shrine. The shrine and the farm. They're right in the middle of runway. Until. 2002. There was no runway. Because. The shrine was in the way. Basically, the shrine was a weapon of the struggle. But they decided to make a short runway and adjust it so small jets could go in and out.  That's why the airplanes go right over the shrine.

But now. There are some things that are happening. One other thing so when when this runway started, suddenly airplanes started going over Etha village. Where Ogawa productions live? So this is where this is Haita Village. It's really a lovely village. Ogawa productions lived right here. Can you see my arrow?  These were all houses. Beautiful, beautiful old farmhouses. This is the. Village Buddhist temple.

This is where the shrine is in the village Shinto shrine is in this forest. In my short film, which I'll show you in a minute, you'll see that shrine. And you'll see what Hita looked like. In the past and the present. Here's the problem. first of all, this is that Runway B and it sends plains right over Jeta and it's so noisy that all of the villagers left. I remember visiting a house right here and talk I've. I was talking to some of the old ladies who are in Ogawa's films. In just after the runway was created, I visited Haita and talked to some old women who lived in a house right here. And when the planes came, you had to stop talking. It was too loud. So everybody left. They live in an area nearby. Actually over here somewhere. Actually here, yes, here's the new Haita.

Now. What's going on? Narita airport is creating a third runway, a new runway.  It will be much bigger. And so the new runway will go right through here. And. Because there will be so much new cement. This is a there's a stream here. This stream is too small to. Handle all the new rainwater. And so. They're building a dam here. And Hetra will disappear underwater. Partly because of the films, this is a very famous village. So we, some friends and I created a project. Record the village before it disappears. This is part of a much bigger project to of 89 scholars and filmmakers. They are going all over the airport area, preserve documents. Sculptures, shrines, gods, they're collecting them to preserve them before the airport. Creates buries them under cement. So we can go back to the. Keynote.

And you can go forward one. This is the original plan for Narita airport.

And you can see, it had four runways, and it was maybe four times bigger than today's airport. This is today's airport. Isn't it a weird shape?  It's a weird shape because. They could not buy the land. From the farmers. The the land they could buy was mostly forest and imperial. An imperial horse? Farm owned by the Emperor.  And there were some new farm areas. Post war Post World War Two. And they could buy that land, too. Some villages were created after World War Two. And those those farmers sold their land mostly. But those areas between the runways. For example, those are old villages. And those farmers resisted. And the government gave up. And so they. Made the airport much, much smaller. But over. The years since the 19 Seventies, they have slowly. Been buying land. Next slide. So they're now they're expanding the airport. They're making Runway B. Where the? You see, Runway B on the left. They're making that longer for big planes.

Toho Shrine is on the right side of that line. And Runway C. Be completely new. And Heta Village is right below the sea on in Runway Sea. This is what it will look like. You can see they will even destroy all of the terminals and create one huge new terminal. This is Haita. Which will disappear.  The construction is happening right now.  I am part of this group. Making. Short films on Haita Village. There are four leaders. Including me. One is an archivist. He grew up in San Dzuka and his parents and grandparents were some of the biggest fighters. Yes, a fighting family. The another leader is a documentary filmmaker. And the last leader is named Kato. He's a cameraman. He was. Old gours. Cameraman and the last member of Ogawa Productions. So we put out the word that we'll do this project to record Hita before. It is submerged in water. We invited young filmmakers to join us. And we got about eight or nine. And on a long weekend, we all gathered in Narita airport.

And we took them on a tour of the area to the places I just showed you on the map. The shrine, the farms, the Solidarity Hut. And then we told them about the history of. The struggle? Then we went to Haita and we spent the afternoon walking around looking and thinking about how can you shoot? At a village. When there are no houses left. Then we went to A. Not hotel, but a small. You know. Japanese style. Hotel. And we ate together and drank together. And we watched Ogawa's Heta Village that that great film. And we had a great discussions about Hit the film, about the struggle about the current situation and what we wanted to do. And the next morning we all went to Haita together and we spent from sunrise to sunset shooting. We had people from America, Taiwan, China, Japan and Korea. And everyone was making their own film. So I decided to make my own film too. I finished my film, but the others are in different, different levels of completion. But soon we'll have it. Maybe seven or eight films. About Hit. And as you can imagine, each one is a little different. So here I'm going to show you my film. It is 13min. And I think it is a. You could do you know the word homage. Attribute. It's it's like an offering and a thank you to Ogawa. For me. So let's watch this short film. You can start whenever you want.

So that's it. You don't have to. No more keynote. So. The my friend, the musician who did all the sound he said he was going to come is Pete here. Maybe you put your camera on for a second. Yeah, maybe he's he's not here. Well, he's a great local musician who created the soundtrack 100% from Ogawa Sound.

So that's all I have to say. Can talk.