Join Dr. Marcos Centeno (Birbeck, University of London) for this special presentation that examines the historic and cultural significance of HIMEDA Tadayoshi’s documentary films about the Ainu people. Dr. Centeno will introduce us to the history of Ainu representation on screen, which goes back as far as the inception of cinema. Unlike previous documentaries featuring the Ainu, the films Director Himeda made in the 1970s alongside Ainu leader and trailblazer KAYANO Shigeru showcase a new ethnographic approach where the Ainu are not depicted as exotic nor primitive.
This presentation serves as a perfect introduction to the three Himeda films we are screening online this weekend (Sept 2-4). The presentation will be available for an extended period for those who registered for our online film screenings this weekend, The Ainu Films of HIMEDA Tadayoshi.
About Dr. Centeno: Marcos Centeno is lecturer in Media and Japanese Studies at University of Valencia and Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck College, University of London, where he was the Japanese Programme director and taught modules related to Japanese Cinema, contemporary Japanese culture and society. He is also research associate at the SOAS University of London, where, he had been lecturer in Film Studies for the Department of Japan and Korea and coordinated the MA Global Cinemas and the Transcultural. His research interests revolve around Japanese documentary film, particularly the visual representation of minorities, transculturality and diversity. He written extensively on the film representation of the Ainu people and his full-length documentary film, Ainu. Pathways to Memory (2014) received several prizes.
