Diamonds by the Decade: The Best of CJS 75th Anniversary Film Series | A Night of Madness: A Page of Madness with benshi Nanako Yamauchi and Little Bang Theory

A Page of Madness is one of the greatest avant-garde films in history. It was directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa in 1926, and lost for nearly half a century. The story, by Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata, centers on a janitor at the insane asylum that holds his wife. Long considered a lost film, director Teinosuke Kinugasa thankfully found a negative in his garden storehouse in the 1970s.

Japanese benshi Nanako Yamauchi will narrate the film and Detroit area trio Little Bang Theory (Frank Pahl, Terri Sarris, and Doug Shimmin) will perform an original score written by Frank Pahl on toy and hand-made instruments.

Book your free tickets with the Michigan Theater here: https://myumi.ch/9P1en

Curated by Markus Nornes.

Cosponsored by the U-M Department of Film, Television, and Media.

Nanako Yamauchi
Nanako Yamauchi is a graduate of the Film Department at Nihon University, the oldest film school in Japan. She began studying the art of the benshi under Sawato Midori in 2010, performing for Matsuda Film Productions’ Friends of Silent Film Appreciation, various film festivals and the National Film Archive of Japan. In 2021 and 2022, Yamauchi was a supervising editor for Nasuno Mayuka’s manga about benshi entitled Ray—A Taisho Era Cinema Story.

Frank Pahl
As François Couture notes, Frank Pahl is "a true original, composer/musician/sound artist [spending] his musical career in the underground, amassing a small cult following. He charms his public with lovely avant-garde melodies played on an impressive array of neglected acoustic instruments and homemade automatons." His band Little Bang Theory, with Terri Sarris and Doug Shimmin, uses toy instruments to perform sophisticated and touching original scores.

Terri Sarris
Terri Sarris's creative work includes award-winning feature and short films (shot on 16mm, Super 8mm film, and digital media), film and television scripts, and work as a curator, film festival board member and festival juror in the larger media community, as well as performances in dance and music. Over three decades she helped build U-M's Department of Film, TV and Media Studies into a major presence in moving image media production and study.

Doug Shimmin
Doug Shimmin has been banging, strumming and singing his way around the metro Detroit area for more than 30 years. As a founding member of the award-winning, multi-ethnic group Immigrant Suns, Doug left behind his punk new wave flavors for the old world. After a great run of touring and performances, he sat down at a tiny table of toy instruments with friends Frank Pahl and Terri Sarris. From there they created Little Bang Theory, and it’s been miniature magic ever since.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.