Isao Yamada

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Isao Yamada (山田勇男, Yamada Isao, born 1952 in Hokkaido) is Japanese film director, graphic artist, and manga author.

Career

Yamada started his artistic career by working at Shuji Terayama's theatre company, Tenjousajiki. In 1974, he was appointed as an artistic crew in Terayama's feature-film, Denen ni Shisu (Pastoral: To Die in the Country). He also worked for Boxer (1977), Kusameikyu (Grass Labyrinth, 1979), Saraba Hakobune (Farewell to the Ark, 1982).

At the same time in Sapporo, Yamada started a film club, Gingagahou-sha Eiga Club, with his colleague Yumekichi Minatoya in 1977. Ever since his first 8mm film made for the club, Subaru no Yoru (An Incident of Night) was selected for Pia Film Festival, he has been constantly working with 8mm films (occasionally 16mm). Most of them are short 'private films' and named by himself 'Yamavicascope'. Since 1991, La Camera in Tokyo has produced regular duo-screenings of his films and the works by Yamazaki Mikio. In the filmography of Yamavicascope, the film-correspondences between Yamada and Yamazaki are titled as OUFUKU (Film Letter) I~V (1986~2006). In addition to screenings in Japan, Yamada's experimental art works have been featured at Cannes,^[1] Oberhausen,^[2] Stockholm and other film festivals. His feature-films are Anmonaito no sasayaki wo kiita (I've heard the ammonite's murmur:1992), Jouhatsu Tabinikki (The Soul Odyssey: 2003) based on the essay by Yoshiharu Tsuge, and Shutorumu unto Doranku (Sturm und Drang: 2014).

In addition to the cinema work, Yamada works with the media of manga, painting and graphic design. His calligraphic font has been appointed for a number of publications and advertisement posters.^[3]

Film works

There are more than one hundred oeuvres, The following is only a selected list and excludes the feature-films mentioned above.

1977　 An incident of night, 25min, colour, 8mm (selected for Pia Film Festival)
1978　 Night Window, 20min, colour, 8mm
1980　 A marine barber, 25min, colour, 8mm
1981　 Way home, 25min, colour, 8mm (selected for The Berlin International Film Festival)
1982　 Night of the Milky Way Railroad, 45min, colour, 8mm
1983　 The fan of spiral shell, 12min, colour, 16mm
1984　 Sad Gadolf, 20min, colour, 16mm
1985　 All Alone, 10min, colour, 8mm
1986　 A lion and violet, 65min, colour, 8mm (shot in USA)
1987　 HINA, 3min, colour, 8mm
1988　The sketch of snow, 25min, colour, 8mm
1989　FLAMME, 9min, colour, 8mm
1990　The crown of dreams, 16min, colour, 16mm
1991　Recollect, 17min, colour, 8mm
1992 Tokyo dusk, 33min, colour, 16mm
1993　A moment before both eyes memorize a phenomenon, 48min, colour, 8mm
1994 Tears of socks, 9min, colour, 8mm
1995 The descendant of androgynous, 25min, colour, 8mm
1996 　Fragmentation of night, 12min, B&W, 16　
1997　Long good-bye, 32min, Ｂ＆Ｗ, 16mm
1998　I have been looking at the dream continuously., 20min, colour, 8mm
1999　Lemon, 12min, colour, 8mm
2000　Moon globe, 28min, colour, 35mm ( selected and bought by the 46th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen)
2001　PUZZLE, 20min, B&W, 8mm, The sun which shone like a pearl, 15min, colour, 8mm (shot in France)
2002　Every day, 50min, colour, 8mm
2003 Suspicious alley, 22min, colour, 8mm
2004 Germany:maiglöckchen, 30min, B&W and colour, 8mm (shot in Germany), The north glimmer, 30min, colour, 8mm (shot in Sweden)
2005 Skelton in the boy's arms, 48min, colour, 8mm
2006 Fragilitat, 25min, colour, 8mm ( selected for the 52nd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen) 　　　
2007 Delicate eyelashes, 36min, B&W, 8mm (music by Simon Fisher Turner)
2008 Chocolate, 20min, colour, 8mm
2009 Tokyo Nostalgia, 32min, B&W, 8mm
2010 Winterreise (Winter Journey), 38min, B&W and colour, 8mm
2011 Despair arabesque, 34min, colour, 8mm
2012 Instant memory, 34min, colour, 8mm
2013 Looking for my vision, 32min, B&W and colour, 8mm
2014 Kioku (Reflection), 23min, B&W, 8mm (selected and bought by the 61st International Short Film Festival Oberhausen)
2015 Mosaïque en blanc, 35min, B&W and colour, 8mm
2016 Strasse - transient passage, 40min, B&W and colour, 8mm
2017 Apparition's Moment, B&W, 8mm

       G.S. Sirius, B&W and colour, 8mm

Art works

Koutou Yakyoku - Aishuu no machi ni hoshi ga furu - Momoiro Tsukiyo hen (Red Gaslight Serenade - Stars falling down over the nostalgic Town ), 1975
Aka Uogashi (Red Fish Riverside), 1976
Hinata no Nioi (The Fragrance of Sunny Side, 1992
Ukiyo (Floating World), 1994
Tawamuro (À la folie), 1995
Utsubuse (Sur le ventre), 1998
Itazura (Mischief), 2000
Michi kusa, 2001
Midori kame (Green Turtle), 2005
Fuyu no neko no nakigoe (The Creeping of A Winter Cat), 2007
Dandizumu no namida (Tears of Dandyism), 2008
Ningyo (Sirène), 2009
Moeru youna orengi iro no senkou de kakomareta aoi yokogao (A blue profile outlined by the burning orange dim light), 2010
Watashi no Aoi Touno nakani Darega iruno (There is someone in my blue tower), 2011
Gozen sanjini rousoku no higa aozameru (The candle light turning blue at 3:00 am ), 2013

References

YAMADA ISAO Yumeno fiirudo (Isao Yamada The Filed of Dreams)　Image Garireo, Tokyo, 1990
Hoshi no Fragmento - Yamada Isao no Ashioto (Fragmentation of Star - ) Kobe Art Village Centre ed., Waizu publishing, Tokyo, 2003
The Cosmology OF ISAO YAMADA II, YHI Ylva Salon ed., Tokyo & Stockholm, Kougeisha, Tokushima, 2015

^ "ANMONAITO NO SASAYAKI WO KIITA (J'AI ENTENDU L'AMMONITE MURMURER)". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
^ Ostria, Vincent (24 April 2004). "Au film du temps Oberhausen, doyen mondial des festivals de court métrage, atteint sa cinquantième année". L'Humanité. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
^ For example, Suzuki Seijun (1996): Hanajikoku, Suzuki Souji (1998) Match Itppon no hanashi, Uno Akyra (2007):Tingel Grimm, Amano Tengai (2009): Amano Tengai Mangekyou,