Wisdom Gone Wild
-
-
Join us for a post-screening discussion with filmmaker Rea Tajiri, in person.
Wisdom Gone Wild follows the personal and loving story of the filmmaker caring for her Japanese American mother Rose as she experiences dementia. With its non-linear structure moving between hospice, early onset, and mid-term dementia, Rose’s own ‘travels through time’ are woven into the very fabric of the film, allowing viewers to ‘enter the world’ of the person living with the condition. Rea sits calmly during her mother’s dramatic outbursts, listens deeply to her fragmented anecdotes, believes in her visions of animals, and joins her in spontaneous musical serenades. Accepting her mother’s cognitive changes, Rea discovers a poetic language to communicate with her. They develop a vibrant relationship based on play, connection, and humor, where Rose’s dementia is revealed as a form of wisdom that has gone wild. (Rea Tajiri, 2023, DCP, 90 minutes)
Preceded by History and Memory: For Akiko and Takashige, an exploration of how personal histories are guided by memory as well as by intergenerational remembering (1991, digital, 32 minutes).
About the Speaker
Rea Tajiri is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist and educator who creates installation, documentary, and experimental films. Her work situates itself in poetic, non-traditional storytelling forms to encourage dialog and reflection around buried histories. Tajiri is a Sansei who grew up in Rogers Park, Chicago and Van Nuys, California. She earned her BFA and MFA from the California Institute of the Arts where she studied post-studio art. Upon graduation, Tajiri began working in video art and two of her early shorts were included in the Whitney Biennials of 1989 and 1991. History and Memory: For Akiko & Takashige received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association, a Special Jury Award from the San Francisco International Film Festival, and Best Experimental Video from the Atlanta Film and Video Festival. Her latest documentary feature Wisdom Gone Wild premiered at the Blackstar Film Festival and has, so far, received seven awards and had a broadcast premiere on the POV documentary series on PBS in Season 36. Tajjiri is a professor of film and media arts at Temple University, Philadelphia, and a recipient of a USA Artist Fellowship for 2025.
You may also like
