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Nippon Express Carries the Olympics to Tokyo + Record of a Marathon Runner + Tokyo Story (15*)

Japanese Avant-garde & Experimental Film Festival

the streets of Tokyo with a Tokyo 1964 sign

The logistical efforts of putting on the 1964 Olympics are pitted against the Sisyphean loneliness of a long-distance runner.

Our afternoon of Olympic themed screenings begins with an early documentary from Japanese counter-culture legend Toshio Matsumoto (Funeral parade of Roses). In collaboration with the Museum of Logistics, we present the UK premiere of Nippon Express.

A showcase of the behind-the-scenes detail and labour required to host a mass sporting spectacle, Shinkichi Noda and Matsumoto’s poetic imagery is undercut by the upbeat promotional narration. In another UK first, we are delighted to screen Record of a Marathon Runner. Kazuo Kuroki documents the Olympic preparations of young athlete Kimihara Kenji, capturing the monotonous rhythms of training whilst pushing cinematic form into abstraction.

Nippon Express and Record of a Marathon Runner are paired with Hal Torii’s surrealist short: Tokyo Story.

Japan 1964 Dir Shinkichi Noda and Toshio Matsumoto 41 min

Japan 1963 Dir Kazuo Kuroki 62 min

Japan 2019 Dir Hal Torii 2 min

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Barbican Cinema 3