Atsuhiko Watanabe

Atsuhiko WATANABE (Born in Tokyo, Japan, 1970) Biography: A graduate of Le Fresnoy, Studio National des Arts Contemporains (France) and the Institute of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies at the University of Tokyo, Atsuhiko Watanabe makes films inspired by contemporary theater, choreographic works and electronic music. Among his main works, the following should be noted A, (2001), dance video made in collaboration with Mariko Aoyama, a Japanese choreographer and former dancer of Pina Bausch, presented at the Mori-Yu Gallery in Kyoto, at Art in Casa Osaka in 2001, and the re-edited version, Adagio (2002) presented at the Festival Vidéo Forme of Clermont-Ferrand (France) in 2003 (https://videos.videoformes.com/video/106934). His two films produced with the support of the Fresnoy and the French Ministry of Culture, Alienation (2003), selected at the International Film Festival of Locarno in 2003, and Resonance of Tears (2004), selected in competition at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam in 2005, which received the Jury Prize at Short Short Film Festival Tokyo in 2006, and was invited to the International Short Film Festival in Clermont-Ferrand (France) in 2007 (https://vimeo.com/113433033). In July 2014, he directed the video-scenography for the play L'Echange by Paul Claudel, in a mise en scène by Jean Christophe Blondel, created at the Festival Villeneuve en scène (tour in France in 2014-2015). He also directed a portrait documentary, for NHK-BS1 television, focusing on a French charismatic editor, Jean-Louis Gauthey working for the most perfect re-edition of the Japanese manga legend Shigeru Mizuki winning the Best Album Award at Angouleme International Comics Festival, and other documentaries about the Japan Tour of the Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris with Angelin Preljocaj's piece, for Japanese TV, WOWOW. Since 1997, he writes articles as a critic on dance and opera for the Japanese magazine Dance Magazine Japan. His Essay on Jean Kalman--Interactions between mise-en-scène and lighting design? was published in the series Discourse of Representation (Tokyo University Press, 2000).? He was a member of the Jury of the MIMOS Festival (Périgueux, France) in 1999 and 2000. In 2008-2016, he was an Associate Professor as well as Director of the Department of Cinema at Tokyo Zokei University, working with a renowned filmmaker, Nobuhiro Suwa as its president, in Japan. Since 2016, he lives and works in Paris. His recent work on dance, Hannah O'Neill, Première danseuse of Paris Opera Ballet (running time: 50 min) was broadcast in September 2019 and rebroadcast in May 2020 on the Japanese TV channel, WOWOW. It is a documentary film about Hannah O'Neill, one of the most brilliant among the Première danseuses of the Paris Opera Ballet. This film is produced by WOWOW, one of the most important TV channels in Japan, also known as the film production company, especially famous for its films by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Naomi Kawase. Atsuhiko?s recent work is the experimental film, ?HORROR?. This film was initially inspired by Francis Bacon's disfigured portraits and then gradually transformed into a hybrid visual soundscape of his emptiness and hope in the current daily life in Paris, full of endless loneliness and sufferings caused by the global pandemic. HORROR has been officially selected, for the time being, at sixteen international festivals such as : Kiev Film Festival 2021 (Best Experimental Film), Indo French International Film Festival 2021 (Jury Special Award), NewFilmmakers New York 2021 (Finalist), The Fine Arts Film Festival Los Angeles 2021, Prisma Rome Independent Film Awards 2021 (Finalist), Boden International Film Festival 2021 (Semi-Finalist), International Music Video Awards London 2021(Semi-Finalist), etc. After ?HORROR?, his short film ?SUBJECTILE?(2021) was selected as ?Winner of Best Animated Short Film? and ?Special Jury Award of Best Experimental Film? at International Motion Picture Film Festival of India 2021 as well as at Hodu International Film Festival 2021, and also other international film festivals. His third animated short film is entitled THANATOS (2021). Most of his previous films have always been collective works, but this time he wanted to create a sort of self-portrait, so he was in charge of all the visuals and music production. All work was carried out with his aim of combining analogue and digital technology, in order to create the interaction between sound and image of his imaginary landscape based on his mixed emotions of the sudden death of his beloved father during the apocalyptic world due to the endless pandemic nowadays. ?THANATOS? was officially selected, for the time being, at the 16th Cyprus International Film Festival 2021 (Honorable Mention), at 75th International Film Festival of Salerno 2021 and at 10th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival 2021. After having won the Best Animated Short Film Award at Stockholm Short Film Festival 2022, this film was selected by many international film festivals such as 19th IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival Bulgaria. His new film, entitled ?TELOS? (2022), is an attempt to explore new frontiers in narrative film by focusing on the interaction between contemporary dance and cinematic directions. Filmography: TELOS Fiction / Experimental / Dance Video (4K), France, 2023 (duration: 14?54). The B3 Festival of the Moving Image, B3Biennale2023, Frankfurt, Germany. 28th VideoDanzaBA International Festival 2023, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 6th TANZAHOi International Festival for Dance, Germany. 12th Cambodia International Film Festival 2023. Best Experimental Short, Paris International Short Festival 2023, France. Best Director in the Short Movies category, Dubai Festival 2023, UAE. Best Actress in the Short Movies category, International Independent Film Festival of Madrid / Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Madrid (FICIMAD) 2023. Best Cinematography, Korea International Short Film Festival 2023, South Korea. Brussels Capital Film Festival 2023, Belgium. Wallachia International Film Festival 2023 (currently in competition), Romania. Best Choreography & Best European Drama, Sweet Democracy Film Awards/Francis Scott Fitzgerald Awards 2023, France. MEDITERRANEO FESTIVAL CORTO XIII Edizione 2023, Italy. 13th Pune Short Film Festival 2023, India. 8th Bayamon International Film Festival 2023, Puerto Rico. Butterfly International Film Festival 2023, France. THANATOS Experimental film / Animation (Full HD), Paris, 2021 (duration: 10'46). 40th Asolo Art Film Festival 2023, Italy. Stockholm Short Film Festival 2022 (Best Animated Short Film), Sweden. 16th Cyprus International Film Festival ?Golden Aphrodite? 2021 (Honorable Mention). 75th Salerno International Film Festival 2021, Italy (in Competition). 19th IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival 2022, Bulgaria (in Competition of Best Experimental Film). Beijing International Short Film Festival 2022, China. Ribalta Experimental Film Festival 2023, Italy. International Short Film Festival Canton 2022, China. Paris Lift-Off International Film Festival 2022, France. 13th Pune Short Film Festival 2023, India. FESCILMAR the Spain Edition 2023, Venezuela. Cine Paris Film Festival 2022, France. Wallachia International Film Festival 2022 (Best Experimental Short Film), Romania. 10th Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival 2021, India. World Film Carnival Singapore 2022 (Outstanding Achievement Award). Sofia Art Film Awards 2022 (Best Animated Film), Bulgaria. Luis Bunuel Memorial Awards 2022 (Outstanding Achievement Award), India. Filmyway International Film Festival 2022, India. Art Film Awards 2022 (Best Quarantine Film). Roshani International Film Festival 2022 (Best Director, Animation Film), India. Sydney Australian Film Festival 2022 (Honorable Mention), Australia. Tagore International Film Festival 2022 (Outstanding Achievement Award), India. Brussels World Film Festival 2022 (Semi-Finalist), Belgium. Vienna Indie Short Film Festival 2022 (Semi-Finalist), Austria. Berlin Shorts Award 2022 (Semi-Finalist), Germany. Paris International Short Festival 2022 (Semi-Finalist), France. Olhar Film Festival 2022 (Best Sound Track of Animation Film), Brazil Boden International Film Festival 2022, Sweden. Lulea International Film Festival 2022, Sweden. 3rd Festival Internacional de Cine Animal y Ambiental 2022, Mexico. Europe Music Awards 2022, Slovakia 9th Festival Diseño Audiovisual Experimental Valdivia 2022, Chile. Dubai Festival 2022 (Honorable Mention). UAE. Hollywood on the Tiber Film Awards 2021, Italy. New York Movie Awards 2021, USA. SUBJECTILE Experimental film / Animation (Full HD), Paris, 2021 (duration: 10'45). Argenteuil International Film Festival 2021 France (Best Animation Film) International Motion Picture Film Festival of India 2021 (Best Animated Short Film, Special Jury Award in Experimental Film section). iDEAL International Film Festival 2021 India (Best Director Animation Film 3rd Place). Grass Root International Film Festival 2021 (Winner of Best Animated Short Film, Winner of Best Experimental Short Film, Special Jury Award of Best International Short Film). Culcutta International Cult Film Festival 2022 India (Outstanding Achievement Award). Hodu International Film Festival 2021 India (Best Animated Short Film, Jury Special Award in Experimental Short Film section) Druk International Film Festival 2021 Butan (Outstanding Achievement Award). White Unicorn International Film Festival 2021 India. International Sound Future Awards 2021 New York (Semi-Finalist). HORROR Experimental Film / Animation (Full HD), Paris, 2021 (duration : 10'24) Indo French International Film Festival 2021 (Jury Special Award). Kiev Film Festival 2021(Best Experimental Film). Munich Music Video Awards 2021(Semi-Finalist) International Music Video Awards 2021(Semi-Finalist). Prisma Rome Independent Film Awards 2021(Finalist). Rome Music Video Awards 2021(Semi-Finalist). Vancouver Independent Film Festival 2021(Finalist). Montreal Independent Film Festival 2021. Prague International Monthly Film Festival 2021 (Finalist). Boden International Film Festival 2021(Semi-Finalist) . Dubai Independent Film Festival 2021 (Finalist). Crown Wood International Film Festival 2021. The Fine Arts Festival (USA) 2021. NewFilmmakers NewYork 2021. Resonance of tears Fiction (Digital Beta), Paris, 2004 (duration : 11'00) 29th International Short Film Festival in Clermont-Ferrand, 2007 Special Jury Prize, Short Shorts Film Festival Tokyo, Japan, 2006. 34th International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2005 (in TV5 Tiger Cub Competition). 10th Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin, France, 2005. Aliénation Fiction (35mm), Paris, 2003 (duration : 11'45) 56th Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland, 2003 (In Progress section). Dialogue of the shadow Experimental video (DVCAM), Paris, 2002 (duration : 13'20) Time Out Short Film Festival, Hong Kong, 2003. Adagio Video-dance (DV), Paris, 2002 (duration :5'48) 18th Festival Vidéoformes, Clermont-Ferrand, 2003. Intermezzo Video-dance (DV), Paris, 2002 (duration :3'25) Tsunami Addiction @ Batofar, Paris, 2002. A, ( Kyoto Version 2001 ) Video-dance (DV), Paris, 2001 (duration :7'10) Festival Osaka Art in Casa , Osaka, Japan, 2002. Documentary for TV: Hannah O'Neill, Première danseuse of the Paris Opera Ballet Production: WOWOW (Tokyo) and Abeilles Films (Paris), broadcast in September 2019, rebroadcast in May 2020 (HD, duration: 50 min) Angelin Preljocaj & the Paris Opera Ballet in Japan , in Première, WOWOW, documentary (HD), Tokyo, 2008 (duration :12'00). In search of the art of Comics, in Inspiring European Life, NHK-BS1, documentary (HD), Paris, 2007 (duration :20'00). Universe of contemporary dance : Alain Platel, in Première, WOWOW, documentary (HD), Tokyo, 2007 (duration :12'00).