A Quiet Island

"The clouds are rushing by, and the architecture of men fit so well in that movement. The bricks. The light is harsh and blue. But in the night it is different, you walk down the street and the sun turns into a light bulb again, the houses are asleep. It feels like thunder and the houses seemed to be dipped into blue and turquoise colours. And then it all turns blue again."

Two police detectives Numata and Tosaka infiltrate a group of underground black market human organ dealers. Things go haywire during a raid on the group's surgical headquarters. Numata barely escapes, while a wounded Tosaka gets left behind. Through a series of surreal and gory events, the identities of the organ dealers are revealed as Numata plans his revenge.

“N” as in Nurse. A man wandering in an abandoned hospital ward, reflections on Lost Time, Violence and traces of Nostalgia. 16mm film by Kenji Onishi.

Short super8 film by Kenji Onishi.

An improvised film study starring Kumiko Watanuki's solo play in an empty room.

Experimental short by Kenji Onishi.

A behind the scenes documentary of Kenji Onishi's never completed 35mm feature film "Shiroyasha", shot between 2002 and 2004.

Experimental short by Kenji Onishi.

Experimental film by Minai Kyoko.

An expanded version of Dynamite Traverse Variations with the Chichibu Avantists members in Setouchi.

A girl and a boy, a chance encounter with the camera. She invites the photographer to her room. Once inside, the woman takes off her clothers and provokes the man. An unblemished composition of umblemished eroticism. Kenji Onishi's entry in the "Roji no ko" series.

White and grey, a big screen with noises and voices: we hear a man suffering. The film follows the hardscrabble day-to-day exploits of a nameless hero as he is trying to survive amidst violent, desperate men and desolate landscapes. Later we will watch them all again building a metal construction out in the desert. So these men here will find an Asian guy, almost dead: “You have got a point!” The Promised Land? No, and it is someone else who will die in the end. Or will simply end up in hallucinations.

Nakagawa shot “Coming Future” on the nights of December 24 and 25, 2009, in Shibuya, making it his location for an idealized Bohemia in the heart of Tokyo. Interesting interviews/discussions with Kenji Murakami, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Kenji Onishi, Tetsuaki Matsue and more... By far the most interesting sequence is with Kenji Onishi (“A Burning Star”). Wielding a super-8 camera, Onishi documents his own interview, taking random shots of street-life and buildings. He leavens his monologue with statements bordering between cliché and outré. “A movie that aims to make a message is boring.”

Experimental short by Kenji Onishi.

Experimental short by Kenji Onishi.