Kohei Ando (born February 1, 1944) is a Japanese experimental filmmaker, videographer, director, cinematographer, screenwriter, executive producer, and Professor Emeritus of Cinema at Waseda University.
[1][2][3] Ando's rich artistic output is heavily influenced by his Waseda University education, participation in Shuji Terayama's avant-garde Tenjo Sajiki theatrical troupe, and interests in film, literature, and theater.
[8] In 1967, Ando partnered with fellow Waseda University student and avant-garde dramatist Shuji Terayama in his theatrical troupe Tenjo Sajiki, whose members included graphic artist Tadanori Yokoo and playwright/theater director Yutaka Higashi.
[9][10] Ando acted in Terayama's theatrical adaptation of Marcel Carne's 1945 film Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise).
My Mother coincided with Ando's recent employment at the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS); he entered the studios after-hours to experiment with their equipment to explore the visual possibilities of video technology in a filmic context.
[21] La Valse/Waltz (1976) focuses on an older woman seated at a table drinking tea before she rises to perform a waltz when classical music begins to play in the background.
[22][23] The careful organization of the scene – a centrally placed table framed by windows and columns before an open-floor space – is visually reminiscent of a proscenium stage set.
The official Japanese release of George Lucas's Star Wars (1977) in 1978 generated public enthusiasm and Mark Hamill's promotional visit to the country the same year led to extensive media coverage.
The short simultaneously demonstrated Ando's rising stature as a filmmaker through his procurement of multiple high-profile actors from popular 1970s Japanese film & television programs: Hiromi Go, Ikue Sakakibara, Tetsuya Takeda, Junko Ikeuchi, Haruko Mabuchi, Yoshiko Mita, Keiju Kobayashi, Kirin Kiki, Kiyoshi Kodama, Masao Komatsu, Chu Arai, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Yukari Itoh, Katusko Kanai, Kinya Aikawa, Midori Utsumi, Ikkei Kojima, and children's animated icon Leon the Lion.
TBS afforded Ando and other directors a significant degree of creative freedom, to which he credits the company for permitting him to freely direct productions at the studio and to devote time to his non-TBS affiliated films.
[14] Additionally, Ando was heavily involved in commercial advertising where he directed album release announcements for pop idols Miyuki Nakajima and Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi and folk rock band Off Course, and promotional campaigns for Japan Airlines.
[26] In 2004, Ando returned to his alma mater Waseda University and assumed teaching and advisory positions in their Graduate School of Global Information and Telecommunication Institute until 2014.
[35] In a 2018 interview with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Ando explained the necessity for Japan Now to feature mainstream films that appeal to both native Japanese and global audiences.
[42] Through his implementation of looping and feedback, the image of a woman converges and fragments into a kaleidoscopic arrangement of varying colors and shapes coupled with soundbites of voices, heavy breathing, and classical music.
Imagery associated with home and sentimental, personal items often feature as motifs to reinforce these thematic elements as seen in My Collections (1988), a filmic self-portrait of Ando's life in which he documents objects and spaces within or near his house according to specific categories (family, shoes, flowers, etc.).
[49] On the Far Side of Twilight (1994) is an homage to Shuji Terayama that extensively focuses on the changing of the seasons, an exploration of the lifecycles from childhood to old age, and the personification of memories.