The Art of the Benshi

The Art of the Benshi
Western U.S. Tour, 2026

Following on the success of The Art of the Benshi 2024 World tour, the Yanai Initiative is thrilled to partner with three new venues to offer audiences a rare opportunity to experience the mesmerizing artistry of Japan’s celebrated benshi—“movie orators” who, since the days of Thomas Edison’s Kinetoscope, have been breathing life into silent film. Master benshi Ichiro Kataoka will be joined by pianist Makia Matsumura for the Art of the Benshi Western U.S. Tour, 2026.

February 25

Brigham Young University International Cinema, Provo UT
250 KMBL
5:35 PM

A Page of Madness (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926)
Liberty (Leo McCarey, produced by Hal Roach, 1929)
Chongire hebi (A Snipped Snake, Jun’ichi Kōuchi, 1930)

Please join us for a rare and exciting evening with a Japanese benshi ("movie talker") by by Kataoka Ichiro. During Japan's silent film era, benshi artists regularly thrilled audiences with their dramatic and engaging narratives that accompanied film screenings.

To bring this event to BYU, the International Cinema program partnered with the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities at UCLA to organize a benshi tour that starts right here on campus.

Our Evening with a Benshi will feature one feature film —the cult favorite A Page of Madness (Kurutta ichipeiji, 1926)— and two short films, Liberty (Leo McCarey, 1929), and the rare Japanese animated film, Chongire hebi (Chopped Snake) (Kouchi Junichi, 1930).