Midori Takada has composed the original soundtrack for a new six-screen installation focusing on Japanese cinema at the BFI.
As The Vinyl Factory reports, TOKINOKAWA is part of the BFI’s Japan On Film series, which focuses on films that explore Japanese culture and were produced between 1902 and 1913 — coinciding with the end of the Meiji era in the country. A number of films have been newly restored and digitised for inclusion in the series.
"Narrative structures originally developed for the live cinema performance have been reimagined to form the immersive installation," said a statement shared by the BFI. "TOKINOKAWA, literally translated as a river of time or time stream, re-traces the themes and locations found in the archival views of Japan to re-examine their subjects in the present and transport the viewer into a future where archives are continually examined and analysed by artificial intelligence."
As well as Takada’s score, the installation features a number of recordings captured in Japan during 2020 by filmmaker Christopher Thomas Allen, and immersive sound design by audiovisual artist Tim Cowie.
TOKINOKAWA is running in the BFI’s main foyer until January 30. Find more information here.
