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ちよ Chiyo
Chiyo is a poetic exploration of the Japanese suburbs through the artist's reflection on the life of her grandmother. With a series of everyday moments in Yashio, from a summer fair to Buddhist rituals, the film meditates on family, intimacy and ageing.
日本の郊外に住む祖母のもとで、短い期間生活を共にしながら、彼女の見た夢、郊外での生活、夏祭り、お盆風景を通して、作者が描く祖母像を16ミリフィルムで描く。家族、老齢、親密さ、時間、記憶をテーマとした短編作品。
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Credits
Chiyo Kobayashi as: Chiyo
Sound mix by: Ed Chappell
Colour grading by: Alex Grigoras
Written, produced, directed, shot, sound recorded, and edited by: Chiemi Shimada
Exhibitions & Screenings
2025
- Available Light, Courtisane Festival, Ghent, BE
- Grandma's Grammar, Sapieha Palace, Vilnius, LT
2024
- Open City Documentary Festival, London, UK
- films. Domestic/Intimate, Feb gallery Tokyo, JP
2023
- I was baptised in Fortnite, Antwerp Mansion, Manchester, UK
- Otonari san Short Film Festival, SOOO dramatic!, Tokyo, JP
2022
- NAE Open, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK
- Girls in Film Festival — Baesianz presents: short films from Asian diaspora, House of Vans, London, UK
- Babfilmfest, Matchstick Piehouse, London, UK
- aCinema, Wisconsin, US (streaming)
- Slow Forward #4, Indeks, Bandung, ID (streaming)
2021
- hungry eyes festival, Giessen, DE
- Sixteen Journal, Paris, FR (streaming)
- Gunma Biennale for Young Artists, Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, JP
- Moscow International Experimental Film Festival, RU
- Typography Center for Contemporary Art, Krasnodar, RU
- Wathann Film Festival, Yangon, MM
- Videograms Film programme “Desire-Love”, Vilnius, LT
2020
- London Short Film Festival, UK
- Aswan International Women Film Festival, EG
- Courtisane Festival, Ghent, BE (canceled due to COVID)
- Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection, Frankfurt, DE
- Minikino Film Week: Bali International Short Film Festival, ID
- SeaShorts Film Festival, Ipoh, MY
- Vdrome (15–28 September, streaming)
- dresdner schmalfilmtage, Dresden, DE
- Linea d’Ombra Festival, Salerno, IT
- Visions in the Nunnery, London, UK
2019
- Sheffield Doc/Fest, UK
- San Sebastián International Film Festival, ES
- Open City Documentary Film Festival, London, UK
- Image Forum Festival, Tokyo, Nagoya & Kyoto, JP
- Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival, London, UK
- Unforeseen International Experimental Film Festival, Belgrade, RS
- Place M Film Festival, Tokyo, JP
- Wilden: Mekas, Menken, Rindland, and Shimada, Wolf Kino, Berlin, DE
- System of Care Season, Deptford Cinema, London, UK
- Nagaoka Geijutsu Koujichu (長岡芸術工事中), JP