Rebellious Bodies Festival and NPO Dance Archive Network present a special screening of Mr. O's Book of the Dead. Following the screening there will be a Q&A with Mitsuyo Uesugi, who will be visiting from Japan and sharing her experience of working on the film 50 years ago.
Mr. O's Book of the Dead is the final instalment in an experimental film trilogy by documentary filmmaker Chiaki Nagano and pioneering butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno. Shot in numerous places across Japan from Lake Shikotsu in Hokkaido to Yokodai Pig Farm in Kanagawa, the film features 'Mr. O' (Kazuo Ohno) and a troupe of his students, including Mitsuyo Uesugi. In an interview, Nagano once stated 'to die is to be resurrected at the same time', and that this film was 'about one of our deaths, and a starting point towards somewhere new'.
Rebellious Bodies Festival was set up in 2023, and seeks to introduce highly inspirational, well-established Japanese butoh dancers to audiences in the UK. This film is shown in partnership with NPO Dance Archive Network, who hold and manage the Kazuo Ohno and Yoshito archives.
