Mark Player

Sorry, I only just saw this. Thanks for coming along and it was nice to finally meet in person.

I'm not sure, actually. The university hasn't mentioned it. I plan to record the audio and might turn it into a transcript if everything goes well.

Japan mutuals:

I'm doing a talk based on my book Japanese Cinema and Punk at Nagoya University next week (9 December)

Attendance is free
Talk is in English with Japanese visual materials
Includes screening of rare Nagoya punk short film: Crazy Dolls (1984)

info below👇

Thank you for the kind words. I talk (very briefly) about Fish Story towards the end of the book. Brass Knuckle Boys (Merikensack, 2008) is also another great film from that era about punk.

'Trailer' for Crazy Dolls (1984).

A rarely seen and almost lost 8mm short featuring the Nagoya punk scene of the early 80s.

Full address:

Room 211, the Liberal Arts and Sciences North Building, Higashiyama Campus, Nagoya University
名古屋大学東山キャンパス 全学教育棟北棟211

About 5 mins walk from Nagoyadaigaku station

Japan mutuals:

I'm doing a talk based on my book Japanese Cinema and Punk at Nagoya University next week (9 December)

Attendance is free
Talk is in English with Japanese visual materials
Includes screening of rare Nagoya punk short film: Crazy Dolls (1984)

info below👇

Finally visited Video Market in Shinjuku, which stocks cult Blu-ray/DVD imports.

It's pleasantly strange seeing releases I've worked on in a Japanese shop, like 88 Films' recent blu of Zebraman (I wrote the essay).

Also decided to treat myself to the new New Wave Video release of Rubber's Lover.

Tokyo Tower at night🗼

An important dispatch from 'the other site'

Many thanks again to Hiroshi Harada for helping with my research.

I'm off to Japan next week to give out more copies of Japanese Cinema and Punk to other filmmakers whose input made this project possible.

Mark Player著「Japanese Cinema and Punk: Intermedial Exchanges」(日本映画とパンク/2025年刊) に、1992年「地下幻燈劇画 少女椿」赤猫座興行と、1986年 京都ライブハウス CBGBで「二度と目覚めぬ子守唄」と 氷室京介主演「裸の24時間」が同時上映された事が掲載されました。

Tatsuya Nakadai riding a demon motorcycle to death in The Wicked City. What a legend.

I'm planning to do a deeper dive into Tetsuo's (and other Japanese media's) cyberpunk-ness as part of a bigger project on cyberpunk and Japan. But that might be a few years away yet 😅

My book touches on Tetsuo's connection to cyberpunk a little, as this was often how the film was understood/marketed at the time, especially overseas (its 1st London screening called it 'cyberpunk splatter'). But my focus was more on the film's relationship to punk rather than the 'cyber'.

Shocked to hear of the death of Oki Hiroyuki, one of the pioneer queer filmmakers in Japan. He was only 61. Working in a variety of media and genres, from experimental and documentary film to performance art, Oki-san was a daring artist who made the body both the subject and the method of his art.

世界各国の監督の声を届けたい　山形映画祭がCFでインタビュー集：朝日新聞 山形市で9日に開幕する山形国際ドキュメンタリー映画祭で、世界各国から訪れる映画監督のインタビュー集を作る資金をクラウドファンディング（CF）で募っている。インタビュー集編集長の小野聖子さんは「様々な…

My partner appears in the Asahi newspaper, describing the collection of interviews she is putting together of filmmakers attending this year's Yamagata Film Festival.. Please support the crowd funding if you can.

www.asahi.com/articles/AST...

YouTube video by イーチタイム 映画『こんな事があった』予告編｜9.13公開

Yoshihiko Matsui, director of Noisy Requiem, has made a new film - his first in 18 years. It's called Kon'na koto ga atta (こんな事があった)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLT5...

If you're at FrightFest this weekend, I look forward to seeing you on Sunday, with a wad of banknotes in your hand which I'll happily exchange for a signed copy of the new edition of Behind the Pink Curtain! #frightfest #pinkueiga #pinkfilm #behindthepinkcurtain #fabpress @fabpress.bsky.social

Call for Papers: Mechademia 2026 Conference
Theme: Traversing Trans-Asian Imaginaries: Anime, Manga, and Media Cultures
Dates: 29–30 May, 2026
Location: National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore
networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

Calling film fans in the UK!

Hong Kong Film Festival UK has announced full line-up for their latest edition. Opening with MONTAGES OF A MODERN MOTHERHOOD (dir. Oliver Chan) and concluding with DRIFTING PETALS (dir. Clara Law).

For details: www.hkff.uk/fullprogramme

Darkness Visible: The Cinema of Jonathan Glazer - Sticking Place Books John Bleasdale Jonathan Glazer has created some of the most unforgettable images in twenty-first-century cinema. From the dreamlike menace of Sexy Beast to the haunting abstractions of Under the Skin ...

Happy Publication Day to Me

Darkness Visible the Cinema of Jonathan Glazer is available from the publisher at the lowest price £16 in the UK or $18 US

stickingplacebooks.com/darkness-vis...

Keishi Kondo's slowburn horror NEW RELIGION is part of our 20th Anniversary #Sale going on til June 6 @terracottadist.bsky.social‬!
20% off in cart!
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Bluray has loads of bonus features @keishikondo.bsky.social‬
Region free release

Save 20% on all Third Window x Nobuhiko Obayashi blurays until June 6th as part of our 20th Anniversary Sale going on now @terracottadist.bsky.social‬!
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Out today. Still can't quite believe it.

Can't quite believe I'm at Harvard (!) this weekend, talking about amateur film in 1950s Japan and this little guy

So happy to see TOKYO POP on Bluray in the UK. About 10 years ago, I tried to find a print to screen theatrically, and even the director has no idea where to find so much as a negative. Since then, one was located and this is the resulting restoration. Really a film you wanna see.

Pop back to Tokyo in the 80s with these two amazing music based films playing back to back on April 25 in London @thenickelcinema.bsky.social!
Hosted by Will Stewart of Madegood Films!
Tickets at thenickel.co.uk

Great to see 88 Films' new UK blu of PINOCCHIO 964 out in the wild today. Writing the booklet essay for this was a dream gig.

Hi Eli. Thanks for your question.

It wasn't a conscious choice per se; it's just my focus is more on the production/screening practices of these filmmakers and how their aesthetics speak to the era. Genre is part of the discussion (esp. with Burst City and Tetsuo), but it's not the main thrust.