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The Legacy of Frida Kahlo

 

This documentary film is about Hasselblad Foundation International Award winning photographer Miyako Ishiuchi's encounter with iconic Mexican painter Frida Khalo's personal belongings that were uncovered 58 years after her death. 

The film shows Ishiuchi shooting photographs of Frida's belongings, Ishiuchi's exhibition at the "Paris Photo," an art exhibition at the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris featuring Frida's and her husband Diego Rivera's works. 

By capturing the production process of Oaxaca's traditional embroideries used for the tribal costume that Frida left, a local festival Day of the dead (Dia de Los Muerto), and a Mexican funeral in a small town, Ishiuchi pursues the sign of how Frida lived and depicts the view of life and death in Mexican culture.

Director: Tadasuke Kotani

Producers: Emi Ueyama, Kazuo Osawa

Language: Japanese Japanese, Spanish, English, French 
2015 (Japan) , 89min
Filming Locations: Mexico City Oaxaca, Paris 

DOCUMENTARY

Award-winning photographer Miyako Ishiuchi travels to Mexico to inventory iconic artist Frida Kahlo's wardrobe and personal belongings when they're suddenly discovered 58 years after her death. Kahlo left behind a wealth of possessions in nearly mint condition—traditional Oaxacan costumes, exquisite embroideries, ornately painted braces, even nail polish and pills—that hint at how she lived. A documentary where fashion and "women's work" are given the respect and importance they deserve, The Legacy of Frida Kahlo captures the artistic process as it unfolds between two artists and two worlds: Japan and Mexico, the living and the dead. Evocative scenes shot on the Day of the Dead add a stirring emotional element to this artistic itemization, and give the impression that bringing back the dead through their second skins—their clothing, talismans and traditions—is well within grasp if the breeze and light are just right. Angie Driscoll

 

DIRECTOR : Tadasuke KOTANI

After his graduation from the Visual Arts College of Osaka in 2002, his directorial debut of a feature film, Lullaby (2002), won the second prize at the Kyoto International Student Film & Video Festival. His second feature film, Good Girl (2006), was screened and highly regarded at the Pia Film Festival. His first feature documentary film, Line, was a winner of the Cult Award at the 2009 Torino Film Festival. His second feature documentary, The Cat That Lived a Million Times (2012), was premiered at the Busan International Film Festival. The film was also showcased at numerous international film festivals including the Dubai International Film Festival, Torino Film Festival, and Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema.

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