2018/07/15

Presentation of the André Bazin Workshop

Presentation

In June 2016, we launched the André Bazin Workshop at the Institute for Visual Arts and Science, Yamagata University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The group includes ten researchers from various institutions in Japan, who are re-evaluating the entire critical project of the pre-eminent French film critic.

One of our principal activities is the publication of an annual peer-reviewed academic journal Cahiers André Bazin, with original essays on Bazin, new translations of relatively unknown texts written by Bazin himself, and other authors’ essays which have been central to our understanding of Bazin. Our inaugural issue in 2017 focused on a reconsideration of the “politique des auteurs,” introducing—for the first time—seven essential texts on auteur theory hitherto untranslated into Japanese.

In our second issue in 2018, we have thoroughly examined Bazin’s foundational concept of “Ontological Realism,” presenting the first translation of the recently unearthed manuscript of Bazin’s essay “Ontology of the Photographic Image,” with detailed annotation.

In November and December 2018, we are holding symposiums at Yamagata University and the University of Tokyo to celebrate the critic’s centenary. We are delighted to announce that Professor Dudley Andrew will be our keynote speaker in Yamagata and Tokyo. The third issue of the journal will be closely linked to these events.

Members of the Workshop (in alphabetical order by surname)

Goda, Yosuke (Yamagata University)
Hori, Junji (Kansai University)
Izuno, Chita (Japan Institute of the Moving Image)
Kakinami, Ryosuke (Yamagata University)
Kinoshita, Chika (Kyoto University)
Miura, Tetsuya (Aoyama Gakuin University)
Nozaki, Kan (University of Tokyo)
Okubo, Kiyoaki (Yamagata University)
Sudoh, Kentaro (Tokyo Metropolitan University)
Sumii, Makoto (Tokyo Metropolitan University)

Table of Contents of Cahiers André Bazin

Cahiers André Bazin, Vol.1, edited by Kiyoaki Okubo and Junji Hori, 2017
[Special Feature] Rethinking the “Politique des auteurs”
  • Alexandre Astruc, “La naissance de la nouvelle avant-garde: la caméra-stylo,” translated by Junji Hori
  • Roger Leenhardt, “À bas Ford ! Vive Wyler !”, translated by Junji Hori
  • André Bazin, “Rue de l’Estrapade,” translated by Makoto Sumii
  • François Truffaut, “Ali Baba et la ‘politique des auteurs’”, translated by Kiyoaki Okubo
  • André Bazin, “Qui est le véritable auteur du film ?”, translated by Kiyoaki Okubo and Junji Hori
  • André Bazin, “De la politique des auteurs,” translated by Kan Nozaki
  • Andrew Sarris, “Note on the Auteur Theory, 1962,” translated by Chika Kinoshita
*All the translations are accompanied by introductory essays by the translator.

Cahiers André Bazin, Vol.2, edited by Junji Hori, Chita Izuno, Makoto Sumii, 2018
[Special Feature] The Ontological Realism
  • André Bazin, “Pour une esthétique réaliste," translated by Junji Hori
  • André Bazin, “À propos de réalisme,” translated by Junji Hori
  • André Bazin, “Ontologie de l’image photographique (premier état)”, translated and annotated by Junji Hori
  • Junji Hori, “Reading ‘The Ontology of the Photographic Image’ as a Palimpsest: Malraux, Sartre, Bazin before Bazin"
  • Dudley Andrew, “Ontology of a Fetish,” translated by Kentaro Sudoh
  • Hideyuki Nakamura, “Notes on André Bazin’s Concept of ‘présence’”
  • Tom Gunning, “The World in Its Own Image: Myth of Total Cinema,” translated by Tetsuya Miura
  • André Bazin, “La fin du montage,” translated by Chita Izuno
  • André Bazin, “Le Procès du Cinémascope: le Cinémascope n’a pas tué le gros plan,” translated by Chita Izuno
  • Chita Izuno, “André Bazin’s Multi-Layered Concept of Realism”
[Feature] Rethinking the “Politique des auteurs” Part II
  • François Truffaut, “Sir Abel Gance,” translated by Kiyoaki Okubo
  • François Truffaut, “Abel Gance, désordre et génie,” translated by Kiyoaki Okubo
  • André Bazin, “Réflexion sur la critique,” translated by Kan Nozaki
*All the translations are accompanied by introductory essays by the translator.