On Tuesday, 8th November Shebeen Flick will welcome Oscar® -nominated animation director Jimmy Murakami to a special screening showing his 1969 short The Good Friend and the documentary Jimmy Murakami – Non Alien directed by Sé Merry Doyle.
Jimmy T. Murakami is a world-renowned Oscar®- nominated animator whose credits include When the Wind Blows and The Snowman but there is one dark chapter in his life that he has not revealed until recently. During WW2, Japanese-American citizens like Jimmy and his family were evacuated to a concentration camp in the California desert. The term ‘Non Alien’ refers to the status the Japanese American people were given at that time. They were neither Citizen nor Alien.
Jimmy Murakami – Non Alien takes you on an extraordinary journey with Jimmy, from his adopted country Ireland, through his Hollywood career, climaxing with his return to camp to confront his childhood demons and his still present anger with the American government that put him there.
Murakami short ‘The Good Friend’, which opens the screening, is a bitter, yet blackly humorous comment on the nature of love, friendship and the unfolding of these relationships. This short is very different in conception and style. Using highly stylized characters and animation in almost mono-colour a comic-tragic series of surreal events unfold that result in the ultimate sacrifice being made for love and friendship.
Shebeen Flick is a weekly film night showing loved and unseen Irish films on Tuesdays at 7pm downstairs in Shebeen Chic, 4 Georges Street, Dublin 2. The initiative is run in association with Jameson and the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland. For more details on upcoming screenings visit www.facebook.com/shebeenflick
