17 years of Asian cinema. 17 years of Asian culture. In other words: 17 years of the
Far East Film Festival. Less than two months to go until the opening of the 2015 edition,
number 17, and FEFF has a completely different Opening Night in store this time round, as
Udine will welcome its guests by speaking a universal language, that transcends barriers and differences, a language that needs no translation:
music.
Thursday 23rd April at 8.30pm, Teatro Nuovo “Giovanni da Udine” will have the honour of hosting
one of the great musicians of our time, JOE HISAISHI, on the occasion of the opening of
Far East Film Festival 17. The Maestro,
in Italy for the very first time, will also receive the
Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award! Mr. Hisaishi, a real
idol in his home country
Japan and
cult figure in the rest of the world, is a multifaceted and multitalented artist, he is all of the following: composer, pianist, orchestra director, film director and writer. He is best known for composing the scores of masterpieces by
Miyazaki Hayao (including
My Neighbour Totoro and
Spirited Away) and
Takeshi Kitano, as well as the score for the wonderful film
Departures (2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film winner, distributed in Italy by Tucker Film). The
Special Gala Concert, organised exclusively for the
Far East Film Festival, will feature Joe Hisaishi directing the
RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and
playing the piano. The setlist will include pieces from both film scores and solo albums, creating a perfect balance between cinema and music. Hisaishi’s unique musical style is a blend of sophisticated minimalism and more epic and joyous sounds, which makes him one of the last great composers of
symphonic music for the big screen. The
rich and varied concert programme, divided into
two sets, will feature pieces such as
Links,
MKWAJU and
Oriental Wind, beloved by Hisaishi fans, and
world-famous pieces composed for films such as
Departures,
Howl’s Moving Castle and
Kiki’s Delivery Service. As always with great artists, a single performance is not enough to fully represent the genius of Mr. Hisaishi’s work and his amazingly
eventful life, filled with
applause and praise (he has received the Japan Academy Award for Best Music six times) and
legendary partnerships, like the one with
Studio Ghibli, celebrated by the mega live concert
Joe Hisaishi in Budokan – 25 years with the Animations of Miyazaki Hayao.
Here is a quote by
Miyazaki Hayao on his friend
Joe Hisaishi: «I've worked with Joe on a total of nine films. I’ve been fortunate in many ways, but meeting Hisaishi is one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me!».
FEFF 17’s Special Gala Concert is a co-production between the
Far East Film Festival &
Teatro Nuovo “Giovanni da Udine” with
Newbility Arts & Entertainment Limited and
Azalea Promotion. Presented by
AMGA – Energia & Servizi, Centro Commerciale Città Fiera, Credifriuli – Credito Cooperativo Friuli, Demar Caffè, GLP – Intellectual Property Office, H.I.S. – Specialisti dei viaggi in Giappone; IDEAPROTOTIPI – Prototypes for the Industry and Nonino Distillatori.
Joe Hisaishi was born in Nagano, Japan, in 1950. He discovered his passion for music when he started to take violin lessons at the age of five. Realizing his love, he attended the Kunitachi College of Music in 1969 to major in music composition. He was a student of legendary anime composer Takeo Watanabe. After collaborating with minimalist artists, he composed the music for a small animation called
Gyatoruzu and for the anime series
Sasuga no Sarutobi and
Futari Taka. Hisaishi’s compositions were influenced by Japanese popular music (J-Pop), electronic music (especially thanks to the band Yellow Magic Orchestra), and new-age music, genres that flourished in Japan in the 70s. He has composed many solo albums. His debut album
MKWAJU was released in 1981, with
Information, Piano Stories, My Lost City, Etude – A Wish to the Moon, Asian XTC and Another Piano Stories (The End of the World) being released in the following years. In the same period he started
writing music for cinema. He chose the stage name Joe Hisaishi as a homage to
Quincy Jones. Retranscribed in Japanese, "Quincy Jones" became "Joe Hisaishi" ("Quincy," pronounced "Kuinshi" in Japanese, can be written using the same kanji in "Hisaishi"; "Joe" comes from "Jones."). Hisaishi and director
Miyazaki Hayao became great friends and would
work together on 9 future projects, including
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984),
My Neighbour Totoro (1988),
Porco Rosso (1992),
Princess Mononoke (1997),
Spirited Away (2001),
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008),
The Wind Rises (2013). He has also composed the score for 7 of Takeshi Kitano’s films, including
Sonatine (1993),
Kids Return (1996),
Hana-bi (1997),
Kikujiro (1999) and
Dolls (2002). In the 80s and 90s he became one of the great composers of soundtracks for
anime series, including
Futari Taka,
Alpen Rose, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Genesis Climber MOSPEADA, Mobile Suit Gundam, Arion, Robot Carnival, and
Venus Wars. He also did theme song arrangements and composed other anime titles's opening, closing and insert themes such as
Mahō Shōjo Lalabel, Hello! Sandybell, Belle and Sebastien, Voltron, Ai Shite Knight, Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel: Curtain Call, and
Kimagure Orange Road. As his career grew, he initiated a solo career, began to produce music, and created his own label (Wonder Land Inc.). As a result of his work throughout the years, Hisaishi has won the
Japanese Academy Award for Best Music six times. In 1997 he also received the 48th Newcomer Award from the Ministry of Education. Thanks to all these awards, he is recognised as an influential figure in the Japanese music industry. In 1998, he provided the soundtrack to the 1998 Winter Paralympics and the following year, he composed the music for the third instalment in a series of popular computer-animated educational films about the human body. In 2001, he produced the music for Takeshi Kitano's film
Brother and Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece
Spirited Away. He also served as executive producer of the
Night Fantasia 4 Movement at the 2001 Fukushima Expo. In 2001, Hisaishi made his
debut as a film director in Quartet, for which he wrote the music and co-wrote the script. The film received excellent reviews at the Montreal Film Festival. His first soundtrack for a foreign film, Le Petit Poucet, was released the same year. From 3rd to 29th November 2004, he embarked on his
Joe Hisaishi Freedom – Piano Stories tour with Canadian musicians. In 2004, he became the
first Japanese musician to conduct an orchestra at the Cannes International Film Festival; the orchestra performed the score for the comedy masterpiece “The General” by Buster Keaton. In 2006, he collaborated with the top philharmonic orchestras of 5 different cities during a successful tour in Asia. In 2005, he composed the soundtrack for the Korean film
Welcome to Dongmakgol (won Best Music at the Korean Film Awards and the
Audience Award at the Far East Film Festival in 2006) and for the Chinese film
The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (won Best Original Film Score at the
Hong Kong Film Awards). In 2006 he released the studio album Asian X.T.C., the compositions of which demonstrated a significantly eclectic and contemporary Eastern style. The following year, he composed the soundtrack for Frederic Lepage's
Sunny and the Elephant and for the Miyazaki film
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, as well as the score for Jiang Wen's film The Sun Also Rises and the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film winner
Departures (distributed in Italy by Tucker Film) and
I'd Rather Be a Shellfish, a post-World War II war crimes trial drama based on the 1959 Tetsutaro Kato novel. In August 2008 he directed a
1200-piece orchestra on the occasion of
Joe Hisaishi in Budokan - 25 years with the Animations of Hayao Miyazaki, while also co-performing by playing the piano. In 2009, he released his solo album ”Minima Rhythm” together with the
London Philharmonic Orchestra. They subsequently toured together, playing in 12 cities in Japan. The same year, he was awarded with a
Purple Ribbon Medal of Honor by the Government of Japan and in 2010 he composed the soundtrack for the video game
Ni no Kuni. On 28th June 2013, Hisaishi was among those invited to join the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), an honour extended to those who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. In 2013 his music scored
Legends of the Deep: Giant squid, a BBC wildlife documentary narrated by David Attenborough.
Press Office/Udine Far East Film 17
Gianmatteo Pellizzari & Ippolita Nigris Cosattini stampafareastfilm@gmail.com -
feff@cecudine.org VignaPR – Luigi Vignando luigi.vignando@gmail.com