New York, NY (February 7, 2024) – Film at Lincoln Center announces GIFT: A Film by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi X Live Score by Eiko Ishibashi, taking place May 1 and 2 at the Walter Reade Theater with the composer performing live the score to Hamaguchi’s newest feature. These special performances are in anticipation of the release of Hamaguchi’s NYFF61 selection Evil Does Not Exist, opening on May 3 at FLC.

Multi-instrumentalist composer Eiko Ishibashi, who scored Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car (NYFF59), will perform live with the North American premiere of Hamaguchi’s silent film. This brand-new feature from the acclaimed Japanese director, developed in collaboration with Ishibashi, is something like the concentrated, wordless flipside of Evil Does Not Exist, which was awarded the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival, and is nominated for six Asian Film Awards, including Best Film. The sui generis ecopolitical thriller is set within a serene rural village that’s about to be disrupted by the construction of a glamping site for Tokyo tourists. How this scenario unfolds in GIFT is an altogether different experience: a silent feature that will only be presented with the live accompaniment of Ishibashi’s score, performed by the composer herself. 

Drive My Car and Evil Does Not Exist are Sideshow and Janus Films releases.

Organized by Florence Almozini and Manuel Santini.

Eiko Ishibashi is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist whose work has ranged from acclaimed singer- songwriter albums to scores for film, television, theater, and exhibitions to improvised music. She has collaborated with international artists such as Jim O’Rourke, Keiji Haino, Charlemagne Palestine, Merzbow, Giovanni Di Domenico, Oren Ambarchi, and many others. Her own records have been released by Drag City, Black Truffle, and Editions Mego, amongst others.

On May 4, Ishibashi will perform her score for Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar-winning NYFF59 selection Drive My Car at Le Poisson Rouge in New York for a one-night-only event. Her score won the Discovery of the Year award at The World Soundtrack Awards and the Best Original Music award at the Asian Film Awards.

Additional information about Eiko Ishibashi can be found at eikoishibashi.net.

Tickets for GIFT: A Film by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi X Live Score by Eiko Ishibashi will go on sale for $35 on Thursday, February 8 at 2pm, with an early access period for FLC Members for $30 starting at 12pm.

FILMS & DESCRIPTIONS
All film screenings take place at the Walter Reade Theater (WRT), 165 W. 65th St.


GIFT: A Film by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi X Live Score by Eiko Ishibashi
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2023, Japan, 74m
Silent with English subtitles
North American Premiere
Film at Lincoln Center welcomes multi-instrumentalist composer Eiko Ishibashi, who scored director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car (NYFF59), for the North American premiere of her live performance of GIFT. This brand-new feature from Hamaguchi, developed in collaboration with Ishibashi, is something like the concentrated, wordless flipside of Evil Does Not Exist (NYFF61, opening at FLC on May 3), a sui generis ecopolitical thriller set within a serene rural village that’s about to be disrupted by the construction of a glamping site for Tokyo tourists. How this scenario unfolds in GIFT is an altogether different experience: a silent feature that will only be presented with the live accompaniment of Ishibashi’s score, performed by the composer herself. Join us this May for what promises to be an unmissable event, presented for two nights only in the Walter Reade Theater.
Wednesday, May 1 at 7:00pm – Q&A with Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Eiko Ishibashi and Hitoshi Omika
Thursday, May 2 at 7:00pm & 9:15pm

***Opens May 3
Evil Does Not Exist
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2023, Japan, 105m
Japanese with English subtitles
Deep in the forest of the small rural village Harasawa, single parent Takumi lives with his young daughter, Hana, and takes care of odd jobs for locals, chopping wood and hauling pristine well water. The overpowering serenity of this untouched land of mountains and lakes, where deer peacefully roam free, is about to be disrupted by the imminent arrival of the Tokyo company Playmode, which is ready to start construction on a glamping site for city tourists—a plan, which Takumi and his neighbors discover, that will have dire consequences for the ecological health and cleanliness of their community. The potent and foreboding new film from Oscar-winning director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, both NYFF59) is a haunting, entirely unexpected cinematic experience that reconstitutes the boundaries of the ecopolitical thriller. Intensified by a rapturous, ominous score by Eiko Ishibashi, this mesmeric journey diverges from country-vs-city themes to straddle the line between the earthy and the metaphysical. A Sideshow/Janus Films release. An NYFF61 Main Slate selection.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER
Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) is a nonprofit organization that celebrates cinema as an essential art form and fosters a vibrant home for film culture to thrive. FLC presents premier film festivals, retrospectives, new releases, and restorations year-round in state-of-the-art theaters at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. FLC offers audiences the opportunity to discover works from established and emerging directors from around the world with a passionate community of film lovers at marquee events including the New York Film Festival and New Directors/New Films.  

Founded in 1969, FLC is committed to preserving the excitement of the theatrical experience for all audiences, advancing high-quality film journalism through the publication of Film Comment, cultivating the next generation of film industry professionals through our FLC Academies, and enriching the lives of all who engage with our programs. 

Film at Lincoln Center receives generous, year-round support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Film at Lincoln Center. For more information, visit filmlinc.org and follow @filmlinc on X and Instagram.

 

For press inquiries regarding Film at Lincoln Center, please contact:
John Kwiatkowski, Film at Lincoln Center, [email protected]
Eva Tooley, Film at Lincoln Center, [email protected] 

Publicity contact for Evil Does Not Exist: Julie Chappell, Cinetic, [email protected]