TOKO SHIIKI
Experimental
"Han" (2020)
Director: Toko Shiiki, Composer: Jung Yoon Wie,
Dancers: Rie Kim, Jun Wakabayashi
Musicians: Converge String Quartet (Megan Rohrer, Malhar Kute, Ryan McDonald, Hanna Rumora)
Ouroboros (2022)
The search for a portal to birth other worlds continues, again.
Director/ Director of Photography/ Editor: Toko Shiiki, Story: Graem Whyte
Series produced by Donald Harrison and Kresge Arts in Detroit.
Documentary
"Rachel" (2022)
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Toko Shiiki
Animator Rachel Reid exudes joy as she talks about being an animator, encouraging others to follow in her footsteps.
Series produced by Donald Harrison and Kresge Arts in Detroit.
"Complexion" (2024) Trailer
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Toko Shiiki
Painter Miranda Kyle continues to paint, conveying a message to black people through watercolor: they don't need to hide their true selves. She aims to celebrate and honor the genuine beauty of black people, along with many others, while encouraging them to embrace and celebrate their identity.
Series produced by 7 Cylinders Studio and Kresge Arts in Detroit.
"Tsumugu: Spinning the Thread of Life" (2024) Trailer
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Toko Shiiki
A Japanese Manga Artist/survivor of childhood trauma gleaned invaluable insights on spinning the thread of life from her personal journey.
"A Thousand Pebbles on the Ground" (2021) Trailer
Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor: Toko Shiiki
Roger is a medical lab technician near Philadelphia working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic; he is Chinese-American and facing rising anti-Asian sentiment, he’s grieving the loss of his father, but he loves to perform and make people laugh.
About the film
"In the Wake of..." (2016)
This is a reconstruction of a series of “eureka" moments "carved into" filmmaker Toko Shiiki by the revered Japanese poet Gozo Yoshimasu/ 吉増剛造 (born 1939, Tokyo).
Stary: Gozo Yoshimasu
Director/Writer/Cinematographer/Editor: Toko Shiiki
Music: Erik Santos
Special Thanks: University of Iowa – The International Writing Program, The Japanese Program, The Center for Asian and Pacific Studies. A project of the Japan Foundation Institutional Project Support to the University of Iowa, 2016.
"We Women Weave" (2020) excerpt
This is an excerpt from a film showing the process of 8 women creating a special bond and finding powerful each self, voice, and wisdom all together by developing a performance group.
Director/Director of Photography/Editor: Toko Shiiki
Producer: Fred Collin, Donald Harrison
Sound Design: Soundopolis, LLC
"Over The Sky" この空を越えて (2018) Trailer
A short documentary about the power of music as seen through a music teacher and her junior high school brass band who live around the coastal area in Fukushima affected by the 2011 disasters.
Director: Toko Shiiki, Sound Engineer: Erik Santos
(theme song: "Rolling On" written by October Babies, Arranged and performed by Kuniyoshi Kiyosu)
This film is available on Academic Video Online:
alexanderstreet.com/products/academic-video-online
"Passing the Baton" つなぐひと (2018) Trailer
A documentary about the Niida-Honke chief sake brewer Yasuhiko Niida in Koriyama Fukushima Japan.
This film is available on Academic Video Online:
alexanderstreet.com/products/academic-video-online