A R C H I V E1 9 9 0  
.9
  Janice Tanaka
Memories from the Department of Amnesia
  USA 1989
Videotape, 13:10, colour, mono
In a moving account, Janice Tanaka recalls the life of her mother. Recalls… There is no question of that in the beginning. Shreds of images: we barely recognise a man riding a bicycle through a restaurant. At first, we imagine ourselves in one of those tapes where the concrete presence of objects or persons is merely an opportunity to process them using advanced equipment so that their recognizability is sacrificed in favour of an aesthetic experience. But then the image changes radically. Biographical notes appear. Memories are called up. Then we realise that what has gone before was only a prelude for which there were, at first, no words. The past rests in the finale, worthy of a memorandum.

Henny Kamphuizen

Script: Eric Ryland, Janice Tanaka, Jonathan Treat, Camera: Bret Mann, Janice Tanaka, Jason Taubman, Editing: Janice Tanaka, Marilyn Wulff, Jason Taubman, Music: Paul Kern ('Room 291'), With: Joseph & Peter Cseh, Rebecca Gallardo, John Hopkins, Eric Manabat, Janice Tanaka, Jonathan Treat, Production: Janice Tanaka/AEON Productions