May 11, 1995 Contact: Barbara McKenna (408/459-2495)

FILMMAKER TO PRESENT EXCERPTS FROM HIS FILM ON THE APPEAL OF AMERICA TO JAPANESE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--When a magazine collector in Japan described the allure of America to young Japanese, he told film director Chip Lord that this country has an "aroma of enchantment." Lord knew he had just heard the title for his documentary-in-progress. In a talk titled "The Aroma of Enchantment and Other Works," Lord will show excerpts from and discuss his film on the image of America in Japan.

The talk, which is free and open to the public, takes place Tuesday, May 16, at 8 p.m. in the Performing Arts Concert Hall, at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lord's talk is being presented as part of both UCSC's Inaugural Lecture series and the Pacific Rim Film Festival.

Lord is a professor of theater arts at UCSC where he teaches courses in film and video. He filmed The Aroma of Enchantment during a 1991 fellowship in Tokyo with the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission. Lord says that during the filming he discovered that, "The idea that many Japanese have about America derives from the post-World War II years and from media images at the time, such as ads depicting big cars and suburban homes. That Norman Rockwell idea of America has remained alive in the Japanese imagination."

In the film, Lord connects interviews with people like the magazine collector and a female jazz singer to his own experiences as a foreigner in Japan. Since its completion in 1992, The Aroma of Enchantment has been shown in a number of festivals around the world, including the Hawaii International Film Festival, the Image Forum Festival in Japan, and the Dallas Video Festival.

Lord will also show other works including Cadillac Ranch (1974/1994), a roadside sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, consisting of ten buried Cadillacs. The sculpture was installed by Lord and former partners in the group Ant Farm.

Inaugural Lectures are presented to celebrate a UCSC faculty member's promotion or appointment to the position of full professor. The lectures are presented by UCSC Arts & Lectures and supported by the Offices of the Chancellor and Executive Vice Chancellor, the Council of Provosts, and University Affiliates. For more information, call (408) 459-2159 (voice or TDD).

Press Releases Home | Search Press Releases | Press Release Archive | Services for Journalists

Maintained by:pioweb@cats.ucsc.edu