Review: Japanese Paper Films (Orphans at MoMA: At Play—Amateurs, Animators, and Avant-Gardes)

Attended the Orphans at MoMA: At Play—Amateurs, Animators, and Avant-Gardes program at the Museum of Modern Art today. What a delightful celebration of the miracle of film preservation! The showcase (a recurring component of the venue’s annual To Save and Project festival) revolved around an eclectic grab bag of obscure cinematic oddities: avant-garde experiments, documentaries, early talkies designed to be viewed in the comfort of one's own home, and much, much more.

The highlight of the screening for me was (of course) the Japanese Paper Film Project, a collection of shorts that were originally printed and projected on (as the title implies) paper—a fragile medium, obviously, which makes the gradual, delicate process of digitally archiving the material in question all the more impressive. In terms of subject matter, this was absolutely my cup of tea: the twenty movies (most of them animated, though a few were live-action, to my immeasurable astonishment), each averaging approximately two minutes in length, featured a veritable treasure trove of familiar icons from Japanese folklore and pop culture, including vengeful samurai Araki Mataemon, the belly-drumming tanuki, and the rabbit deity that resides on the moon. I am certainly not immune to such fanservice: when one-eyed, one-armed ronin Tange Sazen made a cameo appearance in the middle chapter of the three-part Unbeatable Ohei series, I could barely suppress the urge to cheer right there in the theater.

Glad I fought fatigue and braved the frigid weather to enjoy this quintessential arthouse experience; why even bother living in New York if I’m not going to take advantage of these rare opportunities?