Experimental film-maker Tomonari Nishikawa teaches in Toronto this summer

by Chris MaGee

Last year at the Toronto International Film Festival's Wavelengths programme we were lucky to see work by experimental film-maker Tomonari Nishikawa (check out our review of the event here). Getting a peek at what's going on the the film avant-garde in Japan is a rare treat, but thanks to the folks at LIFT, the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto, we will be getting to see even more of Tomonari Nishikawa in Toronto this summer.

Nishikawa, who has been living in upstate New York as an artist-in-residence at Binghamton University's Film Department, will be making his way across the border to Toronto next month to conduct a number of screenings and events in tandem with LIFT. One of these will be a special one day course titled "Zoetropes: Introduction to Pre-Cinema Technologies". the course will see Nishikawa teaching students how to construct their won zoetropes and phenakistoscopes, and he'll share with the class his own experiments using these first rudimentary persistence of vision devices.

"Zoetropes: Introduction to Pre-Cinema Technologies" will take place at LIFT's headquarters here in Toronto at 1137 Dupont Street on July 16th. For course fees and further details head to LIFT's website here.