© 2021 Markus Nornes. All Rights Reserved.

  • Event Curation

Curation

I started programming exhibitions of film in college. After getting a taste of film festival culture at the Hawai'i International Film Festival in 1988, I organizing events large and small ever since.

  • St. Olaf Film Program, president, 1985-1986.
  • University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television Film Retrospectives, coordinated screenings, 1987-1988.
  • Hawai’i International Film Festival, personal assistant to the director, 30 November-5 December 1988.
  • Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, co-coordinated festival's overall planning, 6-11 October 1993. Visit
  • “Nichibei eigasen: Media Wars — Then & Now,” one of two programmers for a sidebar commemorating the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor; included 45 films and 9 guests from America, Philippines and Japan, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, 5-10 October 1991. Visit
  • “Pearl Harbor: 50 Years Later,” co-programmed a sidebar featuring 15 films and 4 guests from America and Japan, Hawai'i International Film Festival, 1-7 December 1991.
  • Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Co-coordinated festival's overall planning, 6-11 October 1993. Visit
  • “In Our Own Eyes — Indigenous Peoples' Film and Video Festival”, one of two programmers; included 27 works and symposiums with 29 guests representing Hopi (US), Cree (Canada), Maori (Aotearoa/New Zealand), Ainu Moshiri (Japan), Kayapo (Brazil), Okinawa (Japan), Puure (Australia), Hawai'i (US), and Qichua (Ecuador) nations; Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, 6-11 October 1993. Download Catalog
  • Megaron Txucamarrae, co-programmed lecture/screening about Kayapo Indian video activism by tribal leader, with Terry Turner (University of Chicago), University of Southern California, 20 October 1993.
  • Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, co-coordinating festival's overall planning, 3-10 October 1995. Visit
  • “Den'ei nana henge: Seven Transfigurations in Electric Shadows,” one of two programmers for sidebar celebrating the centenary of cinema; included 65 works and 6 guests; includes symposiums, benshi performances and music accompaniment by small groups and a full orchestra; Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, 3-10 October 1995. Visit
  • The Films of Lee Myung-se—New Comedy from Korea, co-curator, University of Michigan, November 1998.
  • Harada Masato & Kamikaze Taxi, co-curator, University of Michigan, February 2001.
  • The Other Anime, co-curator for film series, University of Michigan, Fall 2003.
  • Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, co-coordinated festival's overall planning with particular emphasis on Newsreel retrospective, 10-16 October 2003. Visit
  • Okada Mariko & Yoshida Kiju at UM, curator for book signing, film screening, and symposium on Ozu, University of Michigan, November 2003.
  • Three Films, co-curator for University of Michigan film series featuring discussions and lectures by Adachi Masao, Ueno Toshiya, Jonathan Hall and Christine Marran, Fall 2005.
  • Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, co-coordinated festival's overall planning, 8-13 October 2005. Visit
  • Nippon Connection, co-curator for film series, University of Michigan, Fall 2006.
  • Matsumoto Toshio: Selected Short Films 1968-1987, co-curator of director’s visit, Ann Arbor Film Festival, 20-25 March 2007.
  • X-Treme Private Documentary: A Conversation with Kazuo Hara + Michael Moore, co-coordinator, University of Michigan, 11-12 May 2007. Download Poster Download Report
  • Momoi in America, curator of Momoi Kaori visit, University of Michigan, November 28-December 1, 2007. Download Poster
  • Ann Arbor Film Festival, primarily selection, March 2008.
  • Yoshida Kiju and Okada Mariko retrospective, Harvard Film Archive, co-programming, Spring 2009.
  • Hara Kazuo and the Autobiographical Film, CCD Workstation, Beijing, China, May 2010. Download Poster
  • Hara Kazuo retrospective, Shanghai, China, May 2010.
  • Wang Bing retrospective, with visit by Wang Bing (visit canceled because of illness), University of Michigan and Ann Arbor Film Festival, Spring 2011.
  • City of Sadness, screening of 35mm restoration with lecture by Darrell Davis, Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 29 November 2011.
  • Chinese Documentary Series, with visit by filmmaker J.P. Sniadecki and Libbie Cohn, University of Michigan, Winter 2012.
  • 311 Anniversary Screening: Fukushima: Memories of a Lost Landscape, with visit by director Matsubayashi Yoju, University of Michigan/University of Chicago, 11 March 2012.
  • Bill T. Jones: A Good Man, with visit by Gordon Quinn, co-programmed with Stashu Kybartus, University of Michigan, 1 November 2012.
  • Artistic Residency of benshi Kataoka Ichiro, with Ozu silent film series, University of Michigan, Fall 2012.
  • King Hu Retrospective, with visit by Cheng Pei-pei, co-programmed with Sangjoon Lee, University of Michigan, Fall 2012.
  • Yunfest in Michigan, with visit by Yi Secheng, Mao Chenyu and Cong Feng, University of Michigan, Fall 2013.
  • The Social Protest Cinema of Ogawa Pro, with visit by Iizuka Toshio, University of Michigan, Fall 2013.
  • The Ethics Machine: Six Gazes of the Camera, four-day event with guests from Japan, China, Taiwan, USA, UK, Denmark, and Argentina, co-programmed with Fujioka Asako, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, 12-15 October 2013. Visit
  • The Fair Use Movement in America, with Gordon Quinn, John Junkerman and Yamagami Tetsujiro, Josai University, 18 October 2013.
  • Nuclear Nation, with Funahashi Atsushi, Aaron Gerow, Akira Lippitt, Kitano Keisuke, Hayashi Chiaki, Mark Roberts and Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano, co-programmed with Akira Lippitt and Aaron Gerow, Josai University, 18 July 20014.
  • Retrospective: Ogawa Productions—11 Flowers of Movement Cinema, with Wu Yii-feng, Akiyama Tamako, Hatanaka Hiroko, Taiwan Documentary Film Festival, 9-19 October 2014.
    • https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/category/shows/13
  • Most Beautiful: The War Films of Shirley Yamaguchi and Hara Setsuko, with Yomota Inuhiko, Darrell Davis, Japan Society of New York, 21 March-4 April 2015. Visit
  • Three Songs of “Exile”: Independent Chinese Filmmakers Far From Home, with Akiyama Tamako, Wang Wo, Ying Liang and Cui Zi’en, University of Michigan, 8 October-3 December 2016. Download Catalog
  • Page of Madness, screening with benshi Kataoka Ichiro and original score by Little Bang Theory, Ann Arbor Film Festival, 21 March 2017. Visit
  • “Axes of Dwelling: The Video Art of Yuan Goangming,” a film program and video installations, featuring visit by Yuan Goangming, Ann Arbor Film Festival, 21-26 March 2017. Visit
  • Matsumoto Toshio Tribute, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, 12-15 October 2017.
  • “Xu Bing: Origins of Creativity,” visit by Xu Bing with screening of Dragon Fly Eyes, co-programmed, University of Michigan, 6 October 2018. Visit
  • “Wada’s World: Wrestling with Existence,” visit by Wada Atsushi, Ann Arbor Film Festival, 30 March 2019. Visit
  • “Art of the Camera,” with visit by benshi Kataoka Ichiro (Covid-19 cancellation at the last minute), Center for Japanese Studies film series (Spring 2020).
  • “Imaging the Avant-garde: Taiwanese Film Experiments of the 1960s,” co-programmed with Wood Lin, Ann Arbor Film Festival, March 2020.
    • Download Catalog
  • “Nuclear Nation: A Screening and Conversation with Director Funahashi Atsushi,” Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 22 February 2021.

    • Stills

    • HIFF with Ogawa Shinsuke 1988

    • Krzystof Kieslowski, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Morisaki Azuma, Edward Yang at the YIDFF 1991

    • First Nations Theater, YIDFF 1993

    • First Nations Theater with Victor Masayesva, YIDFF 1993

    • First Nations Theater, YIDFF 1993

    • With Frederick Wiseman and Hara Kazuo, YIDFF 1993

    • Building the booth for Seven Transfigurations in Electric Shadows, YIDFF 1995

    • Seven Transfigurations in Electric Shadows, YIDFF 1995

    • Yanashita Mie accompanying silent films for Seven Transfigurations in Electric Shadows, YIDFF 1995

    • With Barbara Hammer and Kidlat Tahimik, YIDFF 1995

    • With Jon Jost at Komian Club, YIDFF 1997

    • Okada Mariko & Yoshida Kiju, UM 2003

    • Hara Kazuo and Kobayashi Sachiko, UM 2007

    • Momoi Kaori, UM 2007

    • Hara Kazuo and Feng Yan, CCD Workstation, Beijing 2010

    • Ozu Retrospective with benshi Kataoka Ichiro, UM 2011

    • Ozu Retrospective with benshi Kataoka Ichiro, UM 2011

    • Ethics of the Machine with Hara Kazuo and Joshua Oppenheimer, YIDFF 2013

    • Ogawa Retrospective, Taiwan, TIDF 2016

    • Hamaguchi Ryusuke, UM 2017

    • Kataoka Ichiro & Page of Madness, Ann Arbor Film Festival 2017

    • Yuan Guangming, Ann Arbor Film Festival 2017

    • Xu Bing, UM 2018

    • Wada Atsushi, Ann Arbor Film Festival 2019

    • Michael Moore & Hara Kazuo, UM 2007

    • Michael Moore & Hara Kazuo, UM 2007

    Contact

    Department of Film, Television and Media,
    University of Michigan,
    6348 North Quad,
    105 S. State Street,
    Ann Arbor, MI 48103,
    United States.

    email

    Ann Arbor / Fort Collins / Tokyo

    © Markus Nornes. All Rights Reserved.

    Back Top