An endless day of screenings, featuring works receiving their European premieres alongside unseen films that have remained buried and unprojected for over thirty years.
For its first encounter in Parma, ALMOST LOST UNDERGROUND, an event dedicated to promoting, rediscovering, and celebrating the enduring vitality of Japan’s underground and personal cinema scene, from the 1980s to the present day.

The event unfolds across two screening sessions, with an afternoon program at 5:00 PM and an evening program at 9:00 PM. A single ticket grants access to both screenings at Borgo Santa Brigida 5/a.

ALMOST LOST UNDERGROUND was conceived as a project to preserve and recirculate the film legacy of those who, over the course of nearly half a century, have helped shape Japanese personal cinema through their inner vision and sensitivities.

The inclusion of recent works alongside titles already familiar to the local festival circuit demonstrates just how alive this history remains, and how much there is still to unearthen.
Yet there is no denying that many original reels are still stored in inadequate conditions, and that the distribution and accessibility of these films remain all too fragmented.
PROJECT ALU therefore aims to recover and re-digitise many of these almost forgotten reels. The project’s first mission is dedicated to restoring and redistributing the immense film legacy of filmmaker Kenji Onishi.

More than three years ago, the very first screening at Borgo Santa Brigida devoted to Japanese underground cinema was a retrospective dedicated to his work. This is where we have chosen to begin again, launching a new collaboration with CINEMATRAIN.

We want to share a substantial selection of medium-length and short films with enthusiasts, the curious, and newcomers to this lesser-known history of different cinema, capturing the spirit of kojin eiga.

Distinct sensibilities, themes, and individual styles, sometimes worlds apart, converge in the extended Personal Focus “My View”.
The program thus opens up to a collective dimension, culminating in a special premiere of Hatsunetsu Tango, the latest work by filmmaker Yoichiro Serizawa, who passed away last year.
The program continues with the special section “Starting Point”: more than thirty years after they were made, the early works of Kaoru Tachibana, Kenji Onishi, and Junko Miura land in Italy for the first time, exclusively in their original 8mm and 16mm formats.

We return to the origins, to the starting point, chasing traces of ghosts and imprints of light in the darkness, accompanied by nothing but the rattling of the projector.
For this first encounter of ALMOST LOST UNDERGROUND, we are delighted to announce that filmmaker Junko Miura (Kodoku no Rinkaku, 1996; Sanagi ~ Gakkō ni Ikitakunai, 2012) will be joining us in person. She will share her reflections, memories, anecdotes, and insights into her filmmaking practice and her journey as a "woman with a movie camera.
Our most extensive and compelling program awaits you, ALMOST LOST UNDERGROUND: Selected Filmworks of Japanese Personal Cinema.

All films come from the filmmakers’ personal archives.

Special thanks to the Yoshiharu Ueoka Archive Project.

In memory of Yukiyasu Shimada, Yoshiharu Ueoka, and Yoichiro Serizawa.

Limited seats.
Ticket €8.
Advance reservations are available via:
Email: info.santabrigida5a@gmail.com
Messenger: facebook.com/borgosantabrigida5a