TAKAMINE Go

Born 1948 in Ishigaki Island, Okinawa
Based in Kyoto

Raised in Naha, Takamine entered Kyoto University of Education’s Department of Arts on a national scholarship for exchange students (Okinawa being still under American control at the time). He made his directorial debut in 1974 with the 8mm film Okinawan Dream Show, a close look at the scenery of Okinawa around the time of its reversion to Japanese administration, and has continued to make films about Okinawa ever since. Paradise View (1985) was his first feature film. Utamagiru (1989) won a number of domestic and international awards including the Caligari Film Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. Other works include Private Images of Ryukyu: J.M, (1996–) inspired by Jonas Mekas’s visit to Okinawa and Tsuru-Henry (1998), screened at film festivals in Japan and internationally. Special programs featuring his works have been held at the Yamagata International Film Festival and Anthology Film Archives in New York. Takamine’s latest film, Hengyoro, depicts the indelible wartime experiences buried deep in the memories of elderly men with freely interpreting the folktales and customs into magical realism. In their work at Ufepataijo (small death spot) and Papajo’s Plastic Surgery Film Lab, the pair offers those tired of this world an imaginary “fresh start.” Then they suddenly have to leave village, and the result is a multifaceted Okinawan road movie that blends the fact and fiction to fascinating effect.

Hengyoro　2016　Courtesy of Hengyoro Film Committee