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No Rule Is Our Rule: Video Diary by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui

This is a story of friendship between two independent female artists and their body memories each willingly carry. In January 2020, New York based, interdisciplinary performing artist Eiko Otake arrived in Beijing to visit Wen Hui, a Chinese choreographer and filmmaker. Eight years apart, Eiko grew up in postwar Japan and Wen during the Cultural Revolution. They planned to visit each other for a month to converse and collaborate. The surge of COVID-19 abruptly cut off Eiko's visit and the pandemic has so far made Wen's visit to the USA impossible but not the collaboration. Looking back on the video diaries they shot without a script, Eiko and Wen continued their dialogue on Zoom, sharing past works that form a deeper understanding of their circumstantial differences and characteristic similarities. Chinese film director Yiru Chen, once Eiko’s student, joined the team as a co-editor.

No Rule Is Our Rule has been selected by Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, Munich New Wave Film Festival, and Kalakari Film Festival, and the film has received awards at the Japan International Film Festival, WRPN Women’s International Film Festival, and Toronto Indie Filmmakers Festival. The film has also been screened at Asia Society New York, Asian Arts Initiative, and several universities, including Wesleyan University, Yale University, Duke University, and Cornell University.