Shingo Ota Film director, Actor
Born in 1985, Nagano Prefecture. Ota graduated from Waseda University, where he studied philosophy and narratology. “Graduation received an award at Image Forum Festival 2010. His first full-length documentary film “The End of the Special Time We Were Allowed (2013) was presented at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2013 and distributed in 12 countries over the world. Other works include, “Fragile (2014) with direction and acting, a short film “Sunrise Vibration (2021), a documentary film “Imagination (2021) and TV series “Food Trucker Minami Minegishi (8 episodes broadcasted from July 12th). Since his first appearance on stage for “Five days in March by chelfitsch in Hong Kong (2010), he continues his career as an actor. He has appeared in stage works like “Crazy Honey produced by PARCO (2011) and “Unfulfilled Ghost and Monster produced by KAAT (2021) and in TV series “To Give a Dream (WOWOW, 2015) and “Tokyo Kaiki Sake (TV Tokyo, 2021).
Shingo Ota(Hydroblast)
- Contact person :
- ハイドロブラスト
- Position :
- 俳優・映画監督/ Performer and Film Director
- Link :
- http://hydroblast.asia/
Last update : 17 Mar. 2024
Works
The 3rd performance of Hydroblast’s "Last Geisha”
Written and directed by Shingo Ota
Performed by Kyoko Takenaka, Terunobu Osaki, Shingo Ota
Music composed and performed by Kazuhisa Uchihashi
A performance work inspired by geisha culture.
Geishas entertain guests with their polished dance and singing.Unfortunately, they are disappearing from many parts of Japan as a profession, But at the same time, they are seen as conveying Japanese hospitality and aesthetic sensibilities. This work is an attempt to observe this seemingly obvious form of "hospitality" through the actors’ movements. Since last fall, we have been interviewing active geishas and practicing the art.We have been creating this work while challenging issues such as cultural heritage, entertainment system hierarchy, biological gender and gender identity.
https://hydroblast.asia/menu/984482
The 2rd performance of Hydroblast’s ”Ghost Takes a Taxi" (2019)
Redefining “ghost” as an act of “thinking about the deceased” rather than as a noun. Following this idea, the cast ride a taxi to the deceased they wish to meet to imagine an interview and a dialogue with the dead. An attempt to use the text written through that process while making full use of the body and images and reconsidering abstract concepts such as "boundaries" and "territories" by blending dance, rakugo and documentary.
Short Film "At Kinosaki" (2021)
https://kinosaki-film.com/index-en.php
Synopsis
As coronavirus infections continue to spread in Europe, Nui, a French actress loses her male co-star to COVID-19. Just a few days earlier, she was kissing him on stage. Why did Nui survive? Unable to find an answer to these recurring questions, Nui one day loses her voice and decides to return to Japan for the first time in five years and goes to the Kinosaki Onsen for treatment. Her friends died by chance, and she survived by chance. Unable to affirm her own life, she meets Takogawa, the Insect Energy Research Institute’s director.
“Living and dying were not polar opposites. I felt there was not so much difference between them.”
Due to the loss of Ota’s close friend to suicide in 2013, his films often focused on life and death, improving mental health, and life on the periphery of society. He was eager to adapt this novel into a movie based on the COVID pandemic of 2021. He immediately developed the project with Paris-based actor Kyoko Takenaka and internationally active dancer Miwa Okuno. Although many people tried to discourage them, saying it would be too hard to obtain permission from Shiga's family, miraculously, they succeeded. The film adaptation of the short story, sealed for many years, began.
Film Festival
Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival 2022 (Japan)
ACROSS ASIA FILM FESTIVAL 2022 (Italy)