The legacy of Frida Kahlo was uncovered 50 years
after her death.
The Japanese photographer, Miyako ISHIUCHI
captures the real life of Frida Kahlo as a woman.
This film depicts “the record” and “the memories” of the two
women and how their lives have crossed.
Frida Kahlo is one of the most famous
female painters in Mexico. She was highly recognized as a surrealism artist in
Europe as well. She lived her life positively despite her physical
disability and the turbulence of the modernization of Mexico. Her way of
life resonates with many people from all over the world.
In 2004, 50 years after her death, the
legacy of Frida was uncovered. In 2012, a project to take pictures of her
belongings was launched by a Mexican curator, and Miyako Ishiuchi, a world-famous Japanese photographer, was chosen to take the photos. When Ishiuchi
visited the Frida Kahlo Museum called "the Blue House" in Mexico City,
she saw each of the enormous items arranged in front of her, such as Frida's
Mexican traditional costumes and accessories in which her identity originated, and
her medicines and corsets which evoked her ceaseless physical pain. They seemed
not only to be the evidence that Frida lived with various kinds of
"pain" as well as the joy and pride, but also to represent her
memories. As a painter, Frida Kahlo depicted what life was all about through
her life. How did Ishiuchi face the legacy of Frida and what did she
capture in her photographs?
This film shows the whole process of
Ishiuchi’s shooting for over three weeks. It describes, in a careful manner, how
the photographer faced the legacy and discovered the real life of Frida with
her photographs freeing her from her conventional image.
The film is directed by Daisuke Kotani, a
Japanese director who are highly acclaimed both domestically and
internationally with his documentary film, The Cat That Lived a Million Times.
By filming Ishiuchi's shooting process, he also captured the Mexican culture,
the tradition passed down from generations to generations, and women living in
the present time.
This is the documentary about “the record”
and “the memories”. The tokens of Frida’s life and the photographs that
captured them travel beyond space and time.
In this film, you can discover the new image of Frida
Kahlo that no one has ever imagined.
The official website of the film is here.
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Distributed
by Nondelaico
Cinematography:
Tadasuke KOTANI
Starring: Miyako ISHIUCHI
2015/Japan/89
min/Japanese, Spanish, English, French
In cooperation with: Embassy of the United Mexican States
Production:
Nondelaico
Cooperation in Advertisement: Tereza and
Sunny
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The original article written by Natsuko NAKAMURA
Translated by N. Tajima
