YAMAMURA Koji

Born 1964 in Aichi
Based in Tokyo

Created animated films for children, including Bavel’s Book (1996), using a variety of techniques in the 1990s. Produced in 2002, Mount Head takes as its theme the rakugo story of the same title and is characterized by a seamless connection between dialogue and movement and a skillful blending of surrealistic leaps of imagination and humor, earning it Gran Prix and other awards at six major film festivals around the world, including Annecy and Zagreb. With subsequent works he further expanded the scope of his art, taking as his theme the literature of the absurd in A Country Doctor (2007) and attempting to visualize the pre-history of cinema in Muybridge’s Strings (2011).

His latest work, Satie’s “Parade” , was produced to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the French composer Erik Satie and the centenary of Satie’s completion of the ballet Parade (1916), which he wrote for Ballet Russes. Satie’s essays are quoted and characters based on people involved in the original performance appear in this unique and delightful surrealistic ballet film centered on a festive parade. The music was performed by the Willem Breuker Kollektief.