BARBARA HAMMER, DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

DEVOTION, A FILM ABOUT OGAWA PRODUCTIONS

DEVOTION is the most difficult film or video I have ever undertaken. From inception to completion it was two years of investigation of a distinguished and important film collective whose members were dispersed since the death of their leader, Ogawa Shinsuke, nine years ago. Not only did I have to find the members whose numbers measured in the hundreds, but also, to negotiate preliminary meetings before I could videotape an interview. Some members refused to speak with me altogether, some would only give me personal interviews but would not be taped, and, thank god, some were very honest, personal and helpful. I could not have made this work without the support of my producers, assistant director, translators, and the many wonderful and committed members of Ogawa Productions who allowed me to tape them.

That was just the beginning. Then I had to edit over 70 hours of material in Japanese, a language I do not understand. The patience that Yoshiko Shimada, the Assistant Director, and I nurtured during this period of sound editing grew very thin on occasion. Finally, the sound edit was completed and I felt competent to complete the visual editing on my own.

Why, you might ask, would any foreigner undertake such a project? Sure, I was naïve and did not expect the difficulties I would encounter. However, the deep research that led to these surprising stories, the wonderful films made by Ogawa Productions, and the desire to make sure history was not written by a single point of view propelled me through the two intense years of work.

I believe that history affords multiple telling; that each person will tell a different story of the same experience, that we film makers and audience viewers must also hold all the varied meanings simultaneously. It isn’t difficult once you begin this practice. I appreciate the film/video that uncovers, reveals, makes the invisible, visible.

I made DEVOTION as a contribution to Japanese and global film history.

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