heARTwork by Yuri: War Brides of Japan documentary

Showing posts with label War Brides of Japan documentary. Show all posts

Thursday, June 9, 2022

summer fun!

happy summer to all heARTists and heART lovers everywhere.

it’s the 9th day of the 6th month, and we are shamefully a day late in getting this post up!

the looming summer is looking hectic as we juggle several arts projects. paramount, of course, is the film and graphic novel about our favorite heARTist, Yuriko.

our research begins next month with a thorough inventory of all of Yuri’s oil paintings, silk paintings, wood carvings and other heARTwork. we hope to gather enough material by fall to begin this long delayed project.

here are some samples.

this is noren, or Japanese doorway banner, that Yuri sewed many years ago:

Yuriko's noren

Yuriko's painting

and, above is one of her paintings:

meanwhile, all five parts of ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’ is now available on Gumroad: https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com

enjoy your summer. watch our films. and, we shall meet again on September 8.

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

picture this!

greetings fellow heARTists around the planet!

it’s the 8th day of the 9th month, and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

however, this month we’re going to focus on our upcoming film about the legendary heARTist, haiku writer, traditional Japanese dancer, photographer, painter and home chef extraordinaire—Yuriko!

Yuriko dances the role of Sanshiro Sugata, a male judo master

the film will feature old super 8mm footage from the 1960’s that Yuri shot of her family, and we’re also including slides and photos of Yuri over the years.

here's an example of family footage on Youtube shot by one of her daughters:

pop!1969 : TEEN STAR OF TACOMA

Yuriko in backyard garden with Lulu, circa 1970's

although she was born in an affluent part of Tokyo, Yuri and her family were plunged into poverty when her father suddenly died.

the film will tell the story of how Yuri found herself working as a live-in nanny at age 13; and, how she gave up a career in fashion design because Japan had engaged in so many wars that its citizens had to toil in arms-producing factories.

Yuriko in her 20's

we’ll also show how Yuri’s marriage to an African American GI following WWII changed her life completely.

Yuri's changing life

speaking of that, our War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory film series is currently available on Vimeo for just a few more weeks. here’s the link:

https://vimeo.com/watermelonsushi/vod_pages

and, here's our website:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

looking toward 2021 and Yuriko’s film, we remain…

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Sunday, December 8, 2019

"War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory" for heARTist Yuriko

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers all over this great big planet and beyond!

Yuri as a young woman in Japan, front, 2nd from right

it’s the 8th day of the 12th (and last) month, and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

we recently spent several weeks cataloguing her paintings, wood carvings, handmade dolls and other trinkets, so now we have a good record of all Yuri’s incredible heARTwork.

in 2020, we’ll begin a film about her life, so we’ll be posting some never-before-seen photos. please stay in touch!

meanwhile this month, we’re once again veering from Yuriko's heARTwork to tell you about the many awards that our “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory” has won. after all, the film reflects Yuri’s story, too.

several days ago, we learned that we're a Finalist in the Rome Prisma Film Awards. our trailer, “The Chase”, was first an Official Selection, then a Semi-Finalist, and now a Finalist. we will know in a few days if we will be the final winner, but it doesn’t really matter because we are just so proud to have been selected for the Finalist category in the first place.

https://www.romeprismafilmawards.com/2019/12/05/prisma-november-2019-finalists/

*Picasso Einstein Buddha International Film Festival, Rishikesh Uttarakhand India:

in November, we had several Official Selections in this fest. the final result was that we won a Best Trailer award for “The Chase” and a Best Film Poster award for “The Culture”.

*Indie Visions Film Festival, Tehran Iran and the State of Virginia:

in October, our trailer, “The Chase”, was an Official Selection in this fest.

*Visualis Film Festival, St. Petersburg Federated States of Russia:

we had two film posters, "The Kids" and "The Culture" that were selected as Semi-Finalists in this fest.

*Great Message International Film Festival, Pune Maharashtra India:

in September, several of our entires became Official Selections in this fest, including “The Chase”, which earned a Best Trailer award, and “Herstory”, a short experimental doc featuring two historians discussing Japanese war brides.

*Lift-Off Global Network, Sessions 2019, Pinewood Studios, England:

the first festival we entered in January, was an online competition. for that, we presented a 5-minute short titled “The Race” which was a conglomeration of snippets from our 5 short films.

and below at our last post, you can see that our promo trailer, “This Doc Rocks! (Buddha)” was awarded Best Trailer at *The Buddha International Film Festival in Pune Maharashtra India and our “BFF’s; Buddhist Friends Forever” short doc won a Best Concept award there.

also, when we first began in September 2016, we were the Featured Documentary of the Month of our Fiscal Sponsor, *From the Heart Productions--due to our fundraising campaign.

we cannot thank our generous donors enough! you guys rock!

heARTist Yuriko is now honored in the 5 films that makes up “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory”—which are all currently available for rent on Vimeo:

TRENDING TRAILERS:

The Chase:

https://vimeo.com/285660140

Herstory:

https://vimeo.com/337430653

and, here are the 5 films available on Vimeo:

Herstory:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wbojherstory/338403897

The Brides:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wbojbrides/337486782

The Kids:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wbojkids/338506008

The Culture:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wbojculture/337437295

BFF’s; Buddhist Friends Forever:

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wbojbffsvod/337438784

and, please stay updated at these links:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

https://www.facebook.com/WarBridesOfJapan/

https://www.facebook.com/throwingriceproductions/

for more on Yuriko’s heARTwork, please visit this website:

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko

omedettou gozaimasu! happy new year, and see you in 2020 on January 8.

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Saturday, June 8, 2019

heARTwork by War Brides of Japan, a docu*MEMORY

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers everywhere!

it’s the 8th day of the 6th month, and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

but this time, we’re going to showcase another kind of art. the following posters are for the 5-part film series titled “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory” that will be released to the public over the next few days.

you may already know that as a Japanese war bride, Yuri used art to overcome hardships in her life. in her honor, we produced a film about Japanese war brides.

here are film 5 trailers you can watch on Vimeo:

Herstory:

https://vimeo.com/337430653

The Brides:

https://vimeo.com/337432897

The Kids:

https://vimeo.com/337436195

The Culture:

https://vimeo.com/337747906

BFF’s: Buddhist Friends Forever:

https://vimeo.com/337749810

and, the good news is that our promo trailer, "This Doc Rocks! (Buddha)" and our film, “BFF’s; Buddhist Friends Forever”, were both official selections in The Buddha Film Festival of Pune Maharashtra India--screening this weekend!

This Doc Rocks! (Buddha)

https://vimeo.com/305290266

please stay updated about the film at the following sites:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

https://www.facebook.com/WarBridesOfJapan/

https://www.facebook.com/throwingriceproductions/

as for the amazingly incredible artist Yuriko, you can view her heARTwork at this site:

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko

until September 8, ja. mate ne?

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Saturday, December 8, 2018

heARTing the War Brides of Japan docu*MEMORY

konnichi-wa, heARTists and heART lovers of the world!

heARTist Yuri with her ichi-ban supporter

it’s the 8th day of the 12th month, and time to show all heARTists some love. arrigatou gozaimashita for your past support!

we apologize but, due to our busy schedule, we’re moving to a quarterly posting. with all the activities going on with our War Brides of Japan docu*MEMORY, our time is so limited.

in 2019, please look for this blog’s updates on March 8, June 8, September 8 and December 8.

meanwhile, we’d like to share some of Yuriko’s pieces that depict geisha.

an important part of Japanese history, geisha continue to maintain important aspects of Japanese culture. as entertainers, they’re responsible for keeping alive the playing of instruments like koto and shamisen, and certain traditional songs and dances. in the War Brides of Japan docu*MEMORY film, one of our participants shares information about geisha and the story of her own mother as an entertainer in Little Tokyo, Japantown, Los Angeles.

Yuri made this geisha from scrap material

here's Yuri's version of hagoita, used for New Year's

here are a couple of promo trailers we’ve recently created for the film:

no matter how many times you knock him down, daruma always bounces back:

daruma

sweet kokeshi nods her head in agreement:

kokeshi

below are the usual links to everything you want to know about the film:

please stay updated about at our website at www.warbridesofjapan.com

war brides of Japan videos:

vimeo the chase

youtube the chase

youtube 88.1 Fresno interview
vimeo behind-the-scenes trailer
youtube behind-the-scenes trailer
vimeo pre-production trailer
youtube pre-production trailer
youtube v.2
youtube v.1

war brides of Japan websites:
warbridesofjapan.com
weebly
jimdo

war brides of Japan news:
stubborn hearts
multiracial media
DIFT interview
NBC
international examiner
international examiner 2
discover nikkei

war brides of Japan facebook:
fan page

throwing rice productions facebook:
fan page

war brides of Japan linkedIn:
how they learned to forgive and love the enemy
making love, not war
those bad ass brides!

war brides of Japan twitter:
watermelonsushi

war brides of Japan G+:
google plus

war brides of Japan blogs:
on the road
tumblR

a war bride's artwork:
iamartistyuriko
heartworkbyyuri

happy holidays to all our readers! until we meet again on March 8, akemashite omedettou gozaimasu!

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Saturday, September 8, 2018

home is where the heART is

Yuriko with her mother in Tokyo 1965

konnichi-wa, heARTists and heART lovers of the universe!

it’s the 8th day of the 9th month and time to celebrate Yuriko’s heARTwork.

one of the best ways we’ve been doing that is by making a docu*MEMORY about Japanese war brides like herself. and, we’re very close to premiering that film for you.

during filming, we heard stories of how most Japanese war brides were unable to return to Japan to see their families for nearly a decade. back in the 1950’s, air travel was costly, rare and inaccessible for most brides married to low-salaried US military men. imagine how much you would miss your country, culture and family after spending dozens of years away from them.

in the photo above, Yuri visits her mother in Tokyo in 1965.

here’s a piece she painted of a farmhouse. although it depicted neither the home she grew up in, nor the home she later lived in, it carries the essence of family and home to her.

please take a look at the trailer we created to promote the War Brides of Japan docu*MEMORY.

on vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/285660140

on you tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDpNuvT0vos

the best way to keep updated about our film project is by checking our website at www.warbridesofjapan.com, and following the links below.

war brides of Japan videos:

youtube 88.1 Fresno interview
vimeo behind-the-scenes trailer
youtube behind-the-scenes trailer
vimeo pre-production trailer
youtube pre-production trailer
youtube v.2
youtube v.1

war brides of Japan websites:
warbridesofjapan.com
weebly
jimdo

war brides of Japan news:
Stubborn Hearts
multiracial media
DIFT interview
NBC
international examiner
international examiner 2
discover nikkei

war brides of Japan Facebook:
fan page

Throwing Rice Productions on Facebook:
fan page

war brides of Japan LinkedIn:
how they learned to forgive and love the enemy
making love, not war
those bad ass brides!

war brides of Japan Twitter:
watermelonsushi

war brides of Japan G+:
google plus

war brides of Japan blogs:
on the road
tumblR

a war bride's artwork:
iamartistyuriko
heartworkbyyuri

good fortune to all our readers until we meet again on December 8.

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

dog days with heARTist Yuriko

konnichi-wa all heARTists and heART lovers of the universe!

Yuri cooks and Muffin waits

it’s the 8th day of the 11th month and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

at this point, you probably know that our documentary, War Brides of Japan—featuring women like Yuri, is well into post-production and our title has been added to IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7354346/?ref_=ttmi_tt

but back to Yuri and her heARTwork. last month, we shared some of Yuri’s cat paintings, so this month we’ll post the photo of her single dog painting--her portrait of the regal Princess. ironically, while Yuri loved painting cats (as attested to by her numerous portraits of them), she preferred the company of dogs.

check it out!