Sylvia Schedelbauer's Polyphonic, Cinematic Assemblages
Sylvia Schedelbauer, a filmmaker from Tokyo, was born in 1973 to a German father and a Japanese mother. Her experimental films explore themes like silence, cultural dislocation, and Orientalism. Recently, her work was highlighted in a retrospective at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. She launched her career with "Memories" in 2004, a documentary that reflects on memory and cultural identity through family photos, revealing her parents' pasts. Moving away from traditional storytelling, she embraced an experimental style, creating films like "Remote Intimacy" (2007), "Sounding Glass" (2011), and "Wishing Well" (2018), which combine found footage and sound to tackle ecological and cultural themes. Her latest piece, "Oh, Butterfly!" (2022), critiques American imperialism while connecting personal and historical narratives.
Key facts
- Sylvia Schedelbauer was born in Tokyo in 1973 to a German father and Japanese mother.
- She moved to Berlin in her twenties to study at the Berlin University of the Arts.
- Her films were presented in a retrospective at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.
- Memories (2004) is a personal documentary on memory and cultural identification.
- Remote Intimacy (2007) uses archival footage from the United States and Japan.
- Sounding Glass (2011) features a half-Japanese orphan and uses orphan film.
- Wishing Well (2018) is a collage film about a boy collecting seeds, using 1970s educational footage.
- Oh, Butterfly! (2022) critiques American imperialism via Madama Butterfly.
Entities
Artists
- Sylvia Schedelbauer
- Pierre Loti
- John Luther Long
- Giacomo Puccini
- David Cronenberg
Institutions
- Berlin University of the Arts
- International Short Film Festival Oberhausen
Locations
- Tokyo
- Japan
- Berlin
- Germany
- United States