Benshi: Cinema of the Dead
Phillip Warnell & Juri Akiyama
film work (split-screen), 38mins, 2026

Benshi is the art of accompaniment for silent cinema. The term literally translates as ‘explainer’. Practiced in Asia since the inception of cinema, it remains inherent to a community of practitioners in Tokyo. This new work, made with the participation of Benshi Yata and Koyata Aso, channels the atmosphere, scripted characters and quirky correspondance between the Benshi and film, which motivates their narration. 



Yata Aso, Benshi, 2026

Two archival film works, ‘A Page of Madness’  (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926) and ‘Nosferatu’ (FW Murnau, 1922) form the project’s spine, with narration switching between the father and daughter Benshi. Supported by the Daiwa Foundation, Sasakawa Foundation and University of Lincoln, the project launches in 2026.

Phillip Warnell is writing a book on Benshi, and the newer phenomenon of blind cinema narration for Anthem Press (co-authored by Associate Professor Yu Ming): ‘Sensitivity and Listening in Cinema: Seeing from the Heart’, mixing philosophy and compassionate approaches to theorising cinema practices.