Five Documentary Titles on Artists with Brief Introduction

3/1/2013  The following are five documentaries my film club used for our 《 One of a Kind Artist Series 》which includes 5 titles featuring artists from different fields and trades back in 2013.  A brief introduction was included in the announcement to be sent shortly ahead of each event when the film was to be screened and a discussion session followed..........................

今年我想再推出一個新系列講藝術家的記錄片集錦。 一個17歲香港出生的音樂天才、一位85歲耄耋老人在日本東京地鐵站近旁僅有不到十個座位的小店做壽司，還有一名去世後才被發現生前做了一輩子清潔工的畫家，這些人中有一條共同線牽引，就是對自己喜愛的事業的執著。喜歡記錄片的朋友及藝術音樂愛好者都不要錯過這幾部平時不容易看到的影片。.............
........................................................................................................................................................

First Installment : 音樂人生 "KJ"   Directed by 張經緯  2009,  92min.  to be screened on Sunday, Jan.13, 2013 from 2 pm to 5 pm.

KJ is a biography of a Hong Kong musical genius.  Touching on subjects such as the meaning of life, god and the artistic process, the director's 6-year- conversations with KJ reveal how a young man inspired by his music teacher and his many conflicts with his peers and parents.  KJ is not about the victory of a genius, but how he learns to be a " human being".

Second Installment : 壽司之神  "Jiro Dreams of Sushi"  Directed by David Gelb,  2011, 83min.  to be screened in February, date to be determined.

Eighty-six year old 小野二郎 worked in his field of making sushi for the past 70 years of his life and still not retired.  Hidden in a swarm of concrete jungle of Tokyo city, his sushi establishment has somehow got the attention of the world.  We will find out more not only about this old man in quest of perfection in his art of making sushi but also the people surrounding him, be them fish vendor or rice merchant, all seems to bear the same attitude of perfecting their trades and crafts.

Third Installment  :  "In the Realms of the Unreal"  directed by Jessica Yu,   2004,   82 min.  to be screened in March, date to be determined.  (This title has been shown previously in a Taida film club screening)

Henry Darger was a reclusive elderly janitor.  He lived quietly and alone in a Chicago apartment.  When he died in 1973, his landlady discovered a stockpile of paintings and a 15,000-page illustrated novel "The Realms of the Unreal" which when revealed began to shed some light into this strange man's life and the obscure corner of his soul.  Jessica Yu is the director whose earlier documentary "Breathing Lessons" won her an Oscar award.

Fourth Installment : "Hasashi Tenmyouya"  --  "天明屋尚"  by Ishizaki,    2006，80 min.

Hisashi Tenmyouya (天明屋尚) is a Japanese artist born in Tokyo, Japan in 1966. He calls his art style Neo Nihonga and is known for merging techniques and themes from traditional Japanese art with themes of modern Japanese life in his work. In Japan, the artist has somewhat of an "outlaw" reputation for his mixing of fine art and street art. During his early career he worked as an art director at a record company and did illustration work for underground Japanese magazines including Burst.

作品激進，略帶龐克風，獨樹一幟的年輕畫家天明屋尚，在日本傳統畫加入當代元素，給現代的日本藝術注入一股新氣象。

Fifth Installment:  "Bill Cunningham New York"

The last of the documentary series "One of a Kind Artists" which we started earlier this season will come to a close with this insightful and inspiring film.

An 80 plus New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham for the last few decades has become a semi-permanent fixture of the Manhattan street scenes riding on his #29 bicycle (28 have been stolen) chronicling fashion trends he spots from the sidewalk crowds.  A dedicated artist whose only wealth is endless filing cabinets containing rolls of film negatives on his previous photographical work some of which he published in his New York Times Style section column "On the Street."

Grace Liu