The REF’s homage to Ryuichi Sakamoto continues with Opus, a film/concert directed by Neo Sora that focuses on the last performance of the great Japanese musician and composer. It is a testament- as well as a dedication of love- which attempts to distill the essence of Sakamoto’s work and to capture his very particular relationship with the piano, in a delicate and poetic manner.
Bio
Neo Sora: Born in New York, NY, raised in New York and Tokyo. Graduated from Philosophy and Film Studies at Wesleyan University. Neo is a filmmaker, artist, and translator living in Tokyo and New York. As a filmmaker, Neo has directed, shot, and produced short narrative films, documentaries, music videos, fashion spots, and a concert film. In 2017, Neo participated in Talents Tokyo 2017 as director. In 2015, Neo shot and co-directed an ethnographic documentary and art project entitled Ainu Neno An Ainu, along with artist collective Lunch Bee House, which he is a part of. An installation version of the project has been exhibited at Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Tokyo in 2017, and G/P Gallery in Tokyo in 2018. In 2022, the project was selected for the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions. As part of artist-filmmaker collective Zakkubalan, Neo has shown installation and video artworks at the 2019 Singapore Biennale, the 2019 Dojima River Biennale, Watari-um Museum of Contemporary Art, and the 2017 Reborn-Art Festival, among others. His newest short film, The Chicken, an adaptation of a short story by Naoya Shiga premiered at Locarno International Film Festival 2020 and has subsequently played at New York Film Festival 2020 among others. It was written up in Variety and Cahiers Du Cinema. Recently, Filmmaker Magazine has named Neo one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
Neo was a fellow at the 2022 Sundance Screenwriters and Director’s Lab.
Credits
Film stills copyright information: © 2022 KAB Inc.
Conceived and orchestrated by Sakamoto himself
Music composed and performed by: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Director: Neo Sora
Director of Photography: Bill Kirstein
Editing: Takuya Kawakami
Sound: ZAK
Production Credits
Production: KAB (Norika Sora, Albert Tholen, Aiko Masubuchi, Eric Nyari)
Executive Production: Recorded Picture Company (Jeremy Thomas)
