Taeko Tomiyama

Having spent her childhood in Dalian and Harbin in the former state of Manchukuo, Taeko Tomiyama carried within her the conviction: “As an Asian, as a woman, I will begin from the margins of beauty.” Noriaki Tsuchimoto, on the other hand, directed numerous films related to Minamata disease. He confronted the suffering of pollution victims head-on, continuing to convey the harshness of life with unflinching clarity. In an interview, Tsuchimoto once remarked: “Within Tomiyama’s narrative world lies something that could be called her eros, her utopia, her aesthetics of liberation. Why does she persist in creating such dark lithographs on the themes of Chikuho and Korea? And how is it that, while doing so, she can also simultaneously depict a world of such beauty?” This film not only reveals the allure of the lithographs themselves, but also centers on the dialogue between Tsuchimoto and Tomiyama. It is a portrait of two comrades, earnestly pursuing the meaning of artistic expression.

This short documentary was created by painter Taeko Tomiyama—who consistently resisted various forms of injustice around the world through her art—and film director and producer Katsuhiro Maeda, who was inspired by her. The film centers on the Gwangju Uprising that occurred in South Korea in May 1980. The Gwangju Uprising saw the Chun Doo-hwan regime declare martial law and violently suppress student and citizen protests, resulting in many casualties. Tomiyama responded immediately to the tragedy by organizing a traveling exhibition featuring her print series Prayer for the Fallen. Moved by Tomiyama’s intense anger toward the dictatorship and her deep mourning for the victims, Maeda created this film in 1981. Combining news footage that documents the reality of the events with Tomiyama’s print works—unfolding like shadow play—the film powerfully conveys the nature of state violence and human sacrifice. The music was composed by pianist and composer Yuji Takahashi.