Miike's Danjuro Documentary Wins Cinema & Arts Award at Venice
Venice's independent Cinema & Arts prize, built to judge where film meets theater and performing arts, went to a documentary about a kabuki name succession, which puts the ceremony's staging rather than its box office at the center of the recognition.
Reporting from 1 source: Cinema Today.
The documentary 'Shumei', directed by Takashi Miike and following kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro, won the Best Film award in the Cinema & Arts Award at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where it screened Out of Competition. The award is an official independent prize judged by theater and film director Alessio Nardin. Miike credited Danjuro for the win and said he was glad to carry kabuki abroad through film.
The film records the 13th Ichikawa Danjuro Hakuen Shumei Announcement held in 2022, the ceremony at which the 11th Ichikawa Ebizo took the name of the 13th Ichikawa Danjuro Hakuen and his son Kangen took the name of the 8th Ichikawa Shinnosuke. Miike, who had worked with Danjuro on 'Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai' in 2011, directs; contemporary artist Takashi Murakami created the celebration curtain. The award jury, led by the prize's conceiver Alessio Nardin, cited the film's movement between the Ichikawa family's private life and the rituals of the theater.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.