Kenji Kanesaka
Biography
Filmmaker, critic, and photographer. Graduated in 1957 from Keio University, Faculty of Literature, Department of English Literature. Hired by the International Department of Shochiku Film, and assigned to be interpreter for the president, Shirō Kido. He became acquainted with underground filmmakers while participating in Harvard University international seminars, then took a sabbatical from Shochiku to attend Northwestern University for one year as a Fulbright scholar. He left school after finishing the film “America, America, America”, then returned to Japan, and in 1966 finished the film “Hopscotch”. In 1964, he collaborated with Takahiko Iimura, Kōichirō Ishizaki, Nobuhiko Ōbayashi, Yōichi Takabayashi, Shigechika Satō, Donald Richie, and Masao Adachi to found the experimental film group “Film Independent”.
Known For & Full Filmography1 Titles
Movie - 1968, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Correlated with Susan Sontag's theorization of kitsch as well as employing the queer lingo of "camp," this film's relentless equal opportunity pop-art montage shattered the foundations of conventional cinema, making it a true document of the Shinjuku underground scene. Director Okabe himself appears recreating his favorite roles from Bonnie and Clyde to Spaghetti Westerns, as well as incorporating quotations by inserting stills of Godard, Kennedy’s assassination and the Vietnam War.