Suzu
2021. 41 min 40 sec, Color, 2K Video.
Screenings:
Ethnofest, Athens, Greece, November 27, 2022.
Separate digital and 16mm installation versions of this film were exhibited at Oku–Noto Triennale 2020+, Suzu, Japan, September 5 to October 25, 2021.
Public Collections:
Archived in the Athens Ethnographic Film Festival Archive, Athens, Greece.
Related works: Suzu (16 mm) and Suzu (Digital) exhibited at Oku–Noto Triennale 2020+. Suzu combines footage from these separate video and 16mm film installations into a single film with additional scenes for theatrical release.
Official Trailer:
Logline:
In a remote coastal region of Japan filled with ceramic relics more than 500 years old, a community of potters dedicate themselves to the revival of “Suzu ware,” a style of pottery that once flourished there, but disappeared in the 16th century.
Synopsis:
In the remote town of Suzu, Japan, a community of potters revive the lost art of Suzu ware, a style of pottery that once flourished there but disappeared in the 16th century. Through artistic renderings of place and practices, the filmmaker immerses the viewer into the lives of Suzu potters.
Suzu ware, which began in the 12th century, lasted about 400 years before falling into decline then disappearing in the 16th century. In the late 1970s a small group of researchers and potters set out to re-create the methods of the region’s past pottery production based on archeological remains found throughout the area. This resulted in a Suzu- ware revival, where more than 40 years later the community of potters continue to revive the past traditions through the creation of contemporary ceramics.
About the Director:
Can Tamura is a filmmaker, artist, and audiovisual anthropologist based in Kanazawa, Japan. Working primarily in Japan, Turkey, and Mongolia, he makes experimental documentary films that explore the intersection between ethnographic film and art. He is the director of the short documentaries Okinami, Suzu, and The 24 Solar Terms of Echigo- Tsumari. He was a participating artist in Oku-Noto Triennale 2020+ and Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2022 in Japan. He earned his BA in film at Antioch College (USA) and MA in Visual Anthropology, Media and Documentary Practices at the University of Münster (Germany).
About Suzu Ware:
This film includes scenes featuring these ceramic artists and kilns:
Yugegama/Takashi Shinohara
Shikotarogama/Mayumi Miyawaki
Basukodagama/Chiemi Kaji
Futagogama/Caroline Watanabe
Nihonmatsugama/Eiichi Konishi and Kazuko Konishi
and others