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Wim Wenders says, "If in our century something sacred still existed… if there were something like a sacred treasure of the cinema, then for me that would have to be the work of the Japanese director, Yasujiro Ozu. He made fifty-four films. Silent films in the Twenties, black-and-white films in the Thirties and Forties, and finally colour films until his death on December 12th, 1963, on his sixtieth birthday. As thoroughly Japanese as they are, these films are, at the same time, universal. In them, I've been able to recognize all families, in all the countries of the world, as well as my parents, my brother and myself. For me, never before and never again since has the cinema been so close to its essence and its purpose: to present an image of man in our century, a usable, true and valid image, in which he not only recognizes himself but from which, above all, he may learn about himself.
A RETROSPECTIVE FOR
December 12, 2003 will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of film director Yasujiro Ozu. On this occasion, the Berlin International Film Festival will devote a retrospective to this master of Japanese cinema. Thanks to the copyright holders Shochiku Co. Ltd., it will be possible for the Berlinale to pay tribute to director Yasujiro Ozu. At the Berlinale Palast, his most famous work Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story) will be screened. Other works by and about Yasujiro Ozu will be featured in various program sections of the Berlinale. An extensive retrospective of his films will be presented following the festival at the Arsenal movie theater. Yasujiro Ozu, who passed away in 1963, is regarded internationally as one of the most renowned figures in the history of Japanese cinema. His works have influenced filmmakers like Wim Wenders, Paul Schrader
or Hou Hsiao Hsien. The Berlin International Film Festival is delighted
to be able to present this retrospective for the first time. It
will do so in collaboration with Shochiku Co. Ltd. and with the
support of the Japanese Embassy in Berlin and the Japan Foundation
in Cologne. The retrospective will be screened afterwards at other
international festivals, for example, in Hong Kong or New York.
December 11, 2002
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