Thursday, April 9, 2026 at 8:00 PM
WHAMMY!, Los Angeles
*Los Angeles restoration premiere!* Of a pair with his 8mm debut *Saint Terrorism*, Masashi Yamamoto’s *jishu-eiga* (self-produced) breakthrough *Carnival in the Night* unfurls with a palpable sense of rage and abandon, capturing images of Shinjuku’s underground and transforming its DIY scene into a purgatorial and claustrophobic realm. Aspiring punk rocker and single mother Kumi (Kumiko Ohta) drops off her child with her ex-husband and the world is bled of colour as she hits town for one last bender. This begins a phantasmagorical journey of self-discovery and self-destruction; a pitch black look at the margins of society contrasted by a backhanded, yet no less poignant, reflection on responsibility and motherhood. Yamamoto’s film — shot in an hypnotizing vérité style — propels Kumi forward as she crosses path with a variety of addicts, sex workers, squatters and bomb-makers, her march ‘till dawn marked by senseless acts of violence. Anticipating the squatter’s eden depicted in *Robinson’s Garden* (where Kumiko Ota returns as another version of herself) as well as the anti-capitalist global antics of *What’s Up Connection*, *Carnival in the Night* also prefigures Japanese punk cinema classics such as Sogo Ishii’s *Burst City* (1982) and Shinya Tsukamoto’s *Bullet Ballet* (1998). Restored from its original 16mm negatives, it is Masashi Yamamoto at his most anarchic and transgressive. (Kani Releasing) "These are Yamamoto’s politics: to squat, to squander, and to soil reality. Whether anyone takes notice is beyond him; his unceasing state of resistance exists beyond society and blooms by virtue of its separation from its norms." — Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer, Screen Slate **dir. Masashi Yamamoto, 1981***Japan, digital projection*109 min ## THURSDAY, 4/97:30 DOORS8:00 SCREENING $10 general admission, $9 for members. *Courtesty of Kani Releasing. Named after Yasujiro Ozu’s custom tatami-level tripod, Kani Releasing is a boutique film distributor dedicated to leveling the gaze and furthering the availability of Asian cinema in North America. We aim to expand the canon, bolster up-and-coming filmmakers and reintroduce repertory classics.* *Whammy! is located in the REAR unit of 2514 Sunset Blvd, entrance access is via Rampart Blvd.*