Out of Frame

A private film from the Nagoya era. Single-8 lens fetishism photographing Nozomi Horikawa.

"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.

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.

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

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.

An 8mm film drama. Written by Fusako Kumagai and directed by Kenji Onishi.

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.

The director films his friends and an UFO at Chichibu.

Everyday events illuminated by the summer sun, seemingly insignificant observations, are brought to life by an 8mm camera. The changing sky, the trajectory of the sun, captured using stop-motion; the camera is a machine that collects light as if cutting out the air itself.

Experimental short by Kenji Onishi.