ARTISTS

Hiroyuki Oki (1964–2025) was an experimental filmmaker and pioneer of Japanese queer cinema. This early work depicts the morning routine of Buddy Matsumae, a fictional second-year middle school student. The film narrates Buddy’s inner thoughts from the moment he wakes up until he leaves for school through a voiceover read by Oki himself. Using 8mm film, Oki cuts together shots of snow-covered landscapes on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, his own hand-drawn illustrations, and moving images that he projects through the illustrated paper—a mélange of images to bring forth Buddy’s varied emotions. In Oki’s words, the film shows “the changing light over the course of a day; the changes in the weather, day after day; the boy’s sense of time, as conveyed through albums and other things; and time within the boy himself.”