YAMAVICASCOPE: THE SHORT FILMS OF ISAO YAMADA

Part of BEST OF SPECTACLE 2025

THURSDAY, JANUARY 8 - 10 PM
MONDAY, JANUARY 12 - 10 PM
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24 - 10 PM
TUESDAY, JANUARY 27 - 7:30 PM

Since 1977, Isao Yamada, director of instant Spectacle classic I’VE HEARD THE AMMONITE MURMUR, has produced over a hundred experimental short film-poetries in a collection he calls Yamavicascope. These films emphasize the “non-digital optical sensation” produced by the 8mm (and occasionally 16mm) film with which they are shot and hand-edited by Yamada. This emphasis on materiality is seen throughout his artistic output, which includes paintings, manga, graphic design, and a calligraphic font known as “Yamada-moji,” which he uses for the titles and type in his films.

We are proud to present a condensed version of our original YAMAVICASCOPE retrospective, a career-spanning glimpse into the director’s “private films.”

Special thanks to Eiichi Aso, Yamavica Film, and YHI.