Portrait of Mr. O
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
Portrait of Mr. O is the first of three experimental films made by butoh dancer OHNO Kazuo and directed by documentary filmmaker NAGANO Chiaki. Released in 1969, it was shot over a period of about a year in and around Ohno’s home, the boiler room of Soshin Girl’s School (where Ohno was working at the time as a PE teacher), the uninhabited island of Sarushima in Tokyo Bay, and Hōshōji Temple in Yokohama, Japan. Ohno was, together with HIJIKATA Tatsumi, one of the leading figures in the creation of the art of butoh. This avant-garde performance-based art originating in Japan in the late 1950s has by now achieved international acclaim, spanning borders, generations and geography, and making a significant impact on contemporary art and performance around the world.
Nagano and Ohno developed a unique collaborative method: Nagano described his camerawork as dancing alongside Ohno, responding to him as though he too were dancing. The results are experimental and dreamlike, blurring the line between documentary and dance film.
This newly digitally remastered screening forms part of Rebellious Bodies Festival 2026, an international programme exploring Japanese butoh and its legacies, running across London venues in autumn 2026. For the other films of Nagano and Ohno’s trilogy, please see the festival’s full programme.
The event will be chaired by Dr Irene González-López (Birkbeck), and introduced by Irene González-López and Mai Burns, director of Rebellious Bodies Festival.
Screening: Portrait of Mr. O (65 minutes)
Contact name: Matthew Barrington
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