Feature Films – Gen Iwama : ON THE SCENE

The Past Is Always New, The Future Is Always Nostalgic: Photographer Daido Moriyama (2020)
　

The Past Is Always New, The Future Is Always Nostalgic: Photographer Daido Moriyama (2020) Iwama’s first feature-length film as a director grew out of a question posed by an audience member at a 20-year retrospective of his 1996 TV documentary on Daido Moriyama: “Photography has changed so much in these 20 years—from digital back to analog, with entirely new equipment and printing methods—so why not film Moriyama as he works today?” Beginning in 2018, Iwama spent a full year accompanying Moriyama on his street photography, capturing his creative process in an intimate one-on-one collaboration. Armed only with a small, outdated compact camera, Moriyama moved alone through the streets of Tokyo—Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Shibuya, Roppongi, Akihabara, Asakusa, Kanda, Nakameguro, Nakano, Kamata, Sangenjaya, Yokohama, Yokosuka, Haneda, Zushi, Omotesando—snapping images at lightning speed without lighting or tripod. The film intercuts these street scenes with the meticulous process of reprinting one of Moriyama’s photo books, Japan, A Photo Theater (Nippon Gekijō Shashin-chō), highlighting the physical and artistic labor behind his work. Critic Sadao Yamane praised the film in Kinema Junpo: “Moriyama’s daily walks and relentless photographing are the very repetition that generates his photography. This film reveals the essence of living in the present—a quality that resonates with the core of cinema itself. Truly, vigorous cinema does exist.” The world premiere took place at Paris Photo 2019, though its theatrical release was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. When it opened in 2021 at Shinjuku Musashino-kan, audiences flocked even during emergency restrictions, prompting multiple extensions. The film was invited and nominated at international festivals worldwide and received theatrical releases in 20 German cinemas across Berlin, Munich, and Leipzig, earning broad international recognition. Reflecting afterward, Moriyama remarked to Iwama: “I was filmed at a good time. Photography is wonderful. I’m grateful to have photography in my life.”
　
Official Selections & Screenings
・Paris Photo, Film Section – World Premiere
・4th West Lake International Documentary Festival
・Smithsonian Institution, Freer & Sackler Galleries – New From Japan
・28th Raindance Film Festival (UK), ARTY Section
・22nd Jeonju International Film Festival, World Cinema Section
・11th International Art Book & Film Festival, Competition Section
・IMS Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil
・M+ Museum, Hong Kong – Makers & Making
・20th October in Japan Festival, Ravenna, Italy