ANPO: Art X Film

Date: Oct. 1, 2011

Time: 7 p.m.

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The Film Studies Center of the University of Chicago would like to extend a special invitation to your members to attend a one-night-only screening of the award-winning film ANPO: ART X War. Director Linda Hoaglund will be at the event to introduce the film and lead a discussion after the screening on Saturday, October 1 at 7pm.

ANPO was honored by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs nomination for its prestigious annual Best Film Prize. Through a mesmerizing collage of paintings, photographs and films, ANPO: Art X War relates longstanding resistance to U.S. military bases in Japanfrom the perspective of its foremost contemporary artists. "Japan's relationship withAmerica has always been complicated," muses artist Aida Makoto, "always vacillating between love and hate...." An array of artwork vividly resurrects a forgotten period ofJapan's history, while highlighting the insidious effects of "ANPO," Japanese shorthand for the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty.

In 1960, millions of Japanese citizens from all walks of life came together in a democratic uprising largely forgotten today. This nationwide movement left an indelible mark on the creative work of the artists who participated, many of whom eventually rose to international prominence. Director Linda Hoaglund reconstructs these artists' stories, unearthing artwork that has been hidden from public view in museum vaults for over half a century. She was "compelled to excavate this vast cultural legacy to tell the story of the...protests, the events that provoked them and how the U.S. bases continue to impact Japan." The film is a priceless record of how Japanese artists grappled with politics and the U.S. military presence in Japan, spinning their hope, despair and outrage into art.

Director Linda Hoaglund will be introduced by Michael Bourdaghs, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations. Co-sponsored by the University of ChicagoCommittee on Japanese Studies.
Film Studies Center at the University of Chicago
5811 S. Ellis Ave., Cobb Hall 307

The screening is FREE and open to the public. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. We hope to see you on October 1!

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