Dir. Kaori Oda | Japan | 2024 | 83min

A sonic and visual ode to the subterranean Okinawan gamas and their accumulated histories – both geological and human. Structured between two characters: artist and dancer Nao Yoshigawa who acts as the silent ‘shadow’ of the film and Mitsuo Mitsunaga, the cave guide, who recounts the tragic history of the Battle of Okinawa following the invasion of American troops in 1945, Underground considers the (im)possibilities of articulating such irreconcilable histories.

Divesting from conventional narrative propulsion in favour of a sensorial cinema of presence, Oda gently balances exploring the depths of grief with sequences of staggering beauty – a shadow of a hand pressed against the rock face; the blue face of a still lake. Filmed on 16mm, Oda’s elliptical work negotiates both the formal and symbolic potential of making an image within a space that cannot reflect light, accentuating the tension between speech and touch; word and noise; light, shadow and darkness.

Curated by Cici Peng, Sine Screen. Followed by an in-person Q&A with Kaori Oda.

With thanks to Daiwa Foundation for making this retrospective possible.