Sakura, 2007, digital video, colour, sound, 6:48
Sakura focuses on hanami in Tokyo, revealing people's individual responses to the blossom. Collated from a week's filming but edited to present a single day's experience from morning until night, Sakura considers the integration of man-made technologies into the appreciation of a natural phenomenon already manipulated by human intervention.
Sakura alternates between recording the blossom viewers' ad hoc camera phone editing and participating in it.
Sakura was produced with support from Art Office Shiobara, Tokyo, and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.
Sound design: Jonathan Perl
Sound mix: Anton Esteban
Screenings & exhibitions:
2009
38th International Film Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2008
1st Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Environmental Film Festival, Botanical Gardens, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Oslo Screen Festival, Oslo, Norway
Media Forum 2008, Moscow International Film Festival, Moscow, Russia
Pocket Films, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Women With Vision 08, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis, MN, USA (March)
2007
Les 20es Instants Video, Marseilles, France (November)
Dislocate, Ginza Art Lab, Tokyo, Japan (July-August)
Sakura, Z-Platz, Fukuoka, Japan (April)