RIMA YAMAZAKI
Rima Yamazaki is an independent filmmaker who makes observational and creative documentary films. Her body of work consists of unusually patient and perceptive portraits of contemporary artists, buildings, and places. Her current focus is on the relationship between cityscapes and history. Yamazaki’s films have been shown at film festivals and venues around the world, including Cinéma du réel International Documentary Film Festival (Paris, France), Anthology Film Archives (New York, NY), the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), the International Festival of Films on Art (Montreal, Canada), and the Canadian Centre for Architecture (Montreal, Canada), among others.
Born 1982, Tokyo, Japan
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA
EDUCATION
2006 - 2008
BA in Film, Hunter College of The City University of New York (New York, NY)
2005 - 2006
Master’s Program Coursework, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan)
2001 - 2005
BA in Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan)
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
Title I (2022)
Untitled (Tania Project) (2020)
World Must Be Measured by Eye (2019)
Learning from Buffalo (2018)
Rackstraw Downes: a painter (2014)
Joan Jonas: Reanimation (2013)
James Casebere and Landscape with Houses (2011)
Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction (2010)
Yoshiko Chuma: A Page Out of Order (2009)
Maya Onoda: Nomadic Home (2008)
Color on Colors (2005)
SELECTED SCREENINGS, FILM FESTIVALS & EXHIBITIONS
2022
Untitled (Tania Project)
New York Jewish Film Festival, presented by The Jewish Museum & Film at Lincoln Center (Virtual, USA)
2020
The World Must Be Measured by Eye
Learning from Buffalo
National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC)
2019
Learning from Buffalo
Shoreline: Remembering a Waterfront Vision, El Museo (Buffalo, NY) [exhibition]
Cinéma du réel, International Competition (Paris, France)
Anthology Film Archives (New York, NY)
Rackstraw Downes: a painter
ADAA The Art Show (New York, NY)
2018
Learning from Buffalo
Buffalo International Film Festival (Buffalo, NY)
Rackstraw Downes: a painter
Betty Cuningham Gallery (New York, NY)
2017
Rackstraw Downes: a painter
MOVECINEARTE Film Festival (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Anthology Film Archives (New York, NY)
Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction
The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning (Buffalo, NY)
MAXXI (Rome, Italy)
2016
Rackstraw Downes: a painter
National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC)
The Lumberyard (Marfa, TX)
2015
Rackstraw Downes: a painter
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Philadelphia, PA)
Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction
Milano Design Film Festival in Seoul (Seoul, South Korea)
UrbanEye Film Festival (Bucharest, Romania)
Doku.Arts (Berlin, Germany)
Canadian Centre for Architecture (Montreal, Canada)
2014
Joan Jonas: Reanimation
Fondazione HangarBicocca (Milan, Italy)
Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction
Milano Design Film Festival (Milan, Italy)
BIA Urban Regeneration Forum (Bilbao, Spain)
Milano Design Film Festival in Venice (Venice, Italy)
Budapest Architecture Film Days (Budapest, Hungary)
2013
Joan Jonas: Reanimation
TEMPS D'IMAGES PRÉMIOS DE CINEMA para FILMES SOBRE ARTE (Lisbon, Portugal)
Performa 13 / Anthology Film Archives (New York, NY)
2012
Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction
Center for Architecture (New York, NY)
2011
Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction
TEMPS D'IMAGES PRÉMIOS DE CINEMA para FILMES SOBRE ARTE (Lisbon, Portugal)
Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
International Festival of Films on Art (Montreal, Canada)
Jaroslav Fragner Gallery (Prague, Czech Republic)
Color on Colors
ROKU, The ISE Cultural Foundation Gallery (New York, NY)
2010
Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction
DOC FEST (Rome, Italy)
2009
Maya Onoda: Nomadic Home
NewFilmmakers Spring Festival (New York, NY)
Globians Documentary Film Festival (Berlin, Germany)
GRANTS, AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2025
Grant
New York State Council on the Arts | Support for Artists Grant
2023
Grant
The Puffin Foundation
2020
Award
Society of Architectural Historians | Honorable Mention for SAH Award for Film and Video
2019
Award
Cinéma du réel | Special Mention for the Library Award
2017
Artist Residency
Creative Arts Initiative, University at Buffalo
2016
Finalist
Allotment Travel Award | Finalist
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Castro, Alonso. “Cinéma du réel 2019: Learning from Buffalo by Rima Yamazaki.” Desistfilm. March 15, 2019.
Sullivan, Robert. “A Film About the Painter Rackstraw Downes.” The New Yorker. September 21, 2018.
Packham, Chris. “Patient and Transcendent, ‘Rackstraw Downes: A Painter’ Honors the Act of Creation.” The Village Voice. April 26, 2017.
Risteen, Nicholas. “Review: Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction Nakagin Capsule Tower: Japanese Metabolist Landmark on the Edge of Destruction by Rima Yamazaki, director.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 73, No. 4. Ed. Swati Chattopadhyay. University of California Press, December 2014. 580- 581.
Den Hollander, Jord. “Utopia, the Ideal Scenario of Human Short Comings.” AFFR Programma magazine 2011. October 2011: 20-21.