Kokoro
is for Heart (1999, 7 minutes, 16mm)

Camera and Editing: Philip Hoffman
Sound Composition and Performance: Gerry Shikatani
Spoken text in English, Japanese and French
Kokoro is for Heart features poet Gerry Shikatani and explores the relationships
surrounding language, image and sound, set to the backdrop of a gravel
pit. When I got the footage back from the lab I was disappointed because
of the periodic flipping of the image. After screening the footage several
times I realised that the malfunctioning camera rendered the filmed-nature
unnatural ...and this poses questions: what is nature? What is natural?
Philip Hoffman
"Communication takes a poetic turn in Kokora is for Heart. Originating
as a performance piece, the director, Phil Hoffman, screened segments
of this film in a random order selected by the audience (Opening Series
3). Accompanying this was the sound poetry of Gerry Shikatani. From
this process the film has found its organic and final structure.· (Liz
Czach, Toronto International Film Festival 1999)
Award: Best Experimental at Athens International Film and Video Festival
Available from:
Canadian Filmmakers' Distribution Centre
401 Richmond St. W., Suite 119
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5V 3A8
telephone: 416-588-0725,
email: bookings@cfmdc.org web:
www.cfmdc.org
