Mayumi Nakazaki

From 20-05-2000 until 27-06-2000


During the Canadian Media Art exhibition the work of Mayumi Nakazaki (1970; Japan), the winner of the 1999 René Coelho Award, will be shown in 2 Hoog Achter. She won the Award last year with 'Sushi's world,' a multicultural comedy. The Award, named for René Coelho, the founder and former director of Montevideo, consists of a sum of HFl. 2500 and the offer of production facilities to a value of HFl. 7500 in order to produce a new work. Both 'Sushi's world' and Nakazaki's new work 'Out of sight' will be shown.

Sushi's world

The jury said of Mayumi Nakazaki's 'Sushi's world': 'The short film `Sushi's world' has a fluent, surprising narrative structure and an interesting, multi-layered intercultural complexity; it is a work made by a Japanese artist, the actors playing the main roles are Africans, and the story is filmed, and takes place, in The Netherlands. The Jury is particularly impressed by the absurdist spirit that finds its expression in this multicultural comedy. Nakazaki is able to raise issues such as the contrasts between East and West and the problematic between men and women casually and with good humor. In addition, the work is made with great professional competency; it was originally recorded on a digital video camera, then edited in the computer and ultimately transferred to 16 mm film. `Sushi's world' is a simple story with sharp corners. These various ingredients and the manner in which they are structured make it a particularly attractive and challenging film.'

Out of sight

Mayumi Nakazaki's new work, 'Out of sight,' was created with the assistance of the René Coelho Award. In 'Out of sight' a man wakes up in the morning with plaster over his eyes. Lost, he does not know what he should go, or where he came from. He leaves the park and enters the streets, moving through the city. He tries to find a place where he belongs.

This year the Netherlands Media Art Institute will again be awarding the René Coelho Award to an art academy student who is graduating in the field of multimedia. The academies are asked to submit nominations.