Joji Hirota & Taiko Drummers to Storm Camden

Stonedog Productions, Camden’s international film collective, is shooting a unique video of the world famous Japanese Taiko percussionists, Joji Hirota and Taiko Drummers, at Proud Camden. Proud Camden is excited to host this production which will entail a free 75-minute concert for the gallery’s regular audiences and the general public. It will be shot in real-time, with no breaks. The repertoire will be purely acoustic, and will feature breathtaking Taiko drumming, intercut with Hirota’s virtuoso flute and vocal pieces. It is expected to be the ultimate testimony to the ensemble’s stamina, theatricality, and dazzling physicality.

A master percussionist, flautist, singer and composer, and prominent member of WOMAD since 1986, Hirota is widely recognised for raising the profile of Taiko music in Europe. He was honoured with the Japanese Ambassador’s Commendation, in 2004, in recognition of his distinguished service to the deepening of mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and other nations.

The six-camera video will be directed by multi-award winning New Zealand director Jeremy Mansford, whose work is noted for dynamic cinematic aesthetics and sharp, organic effects. It will be produced by Ishmael Annobil, director of cutting-edge documentaries on art and writer/director of the forthcoming feature, Cry for me, Baby, a homage to British Jews. Italian director Irene Maffei will shoot the behind-the-scenes documentary, which will form the basis of a feature length documentary on Joji Hirota’s life and works.