By Kristin Reiber Harris
Flower Punk, Alison Klayman’s film recently released on The New Yorker documentary site, delights visually and aesthetically with the bonus of illuminating Japanese cultural traditions regarding the natural world. Alison Klayman is a veteran director who has created a body of work frequently focusing on artists. Her debut feature, Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry premiered at Sundance in 2012. There it was awarded a US Documentary Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Defiance and was later shortlisted for an Academy Award.
Klayman recently had a conversation with NYWIFT board member Joyce Pierpoline about Flower Punk and her career. Alison clearly enjoyed directing her film project documenting the life and work of Japanese botanical artist Azuma Makoto. The film follows Azuma in his Tokyo studio and beyond. Originally from a small town in Japan, he came to Tokyo with a high school buddy to play in a punk band. His buddy, photographer Shiinoki Shunsuketo, is now his partner in their botanical art business JARDIN des FLEURS. Shiinoki documents Azuma’s work in still, timelapse, and video. Some of their more unusual projects include botanical sculpture sent into space and under the ocean. There appear to be no bounds to the team’s creative energy and desire to experiment.
As Azuma weaves his magic arranging flowers, he talks about his passion for flowers and his philosophy. Cut flowers have a 10 day life span. This makes him feel like he is chasing the game of life. He even finds beauty in the dying out of those flowers. A deeply spiritual man, Azuma was very moved by the devastation of the tsunami in Fukushima. He delivered floral arrangements to local schools and planted sunflowers in the radioactive areas of the disaster. Azuma marveled at nature’s ability to regenerate in those regions contaminated by radioactivity. He clearly has a deep connection to the natural world and great reverence for life; plants in particular. Alison joined Azuma in his home village with his mother and other family members. He said his mother taught him to love flowers, saying they were God’s work and should be picked and displayed.
Lush imagery and a fascinating, articulate artist make this 30-minute documentary a must see film for anyone interested in how human’s actively connect to the natural world and flowers as a form of creative expression.
Watch the full NYWIFT conversation with filmmaker Alison Klayman here:
Kristin Harris
Kristin Reiber Harris is an artist, animator and educator. She tells stories about the connection of all life on Earth and the wonder and wisdom of the natural world. Her films have been screened in numerous film festivals for over 20 years. Recently Kristin received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to create a series of drawings celebrating the connection of all life. The drawings are inspired by visits to Narrows Botanical Gardens in Brooklyn and Islamic geometrical symmetries. Learn more about her work at KristinHarrisDesign.com and follow @kristinharrisdesign. She is documenting her process and progress on the NYSCA grant on https://lifeisinthebalance.blogspot.com.
Related Posts
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Jennifer Sklias-Gahan
Welcome to NYWIFT, Jennifer Sklias-Gahan! Jennifer is a New York-based actress, writer, and filmmaker. She is the founder of Demivoula Studios and 18 Bleecker Films, an award-winning production house. She is known for her work in The Urban Ghost Story: Matilda, a short film she wrote and stars in with actor Sean Avery, produced by Academy Award-winner Christine Vachon and 18 Bleecker Films. Matilda took home several honors on the festival circuit, including Best Short Film. She recently completed the indie feature The Cutting Room Floor, and has two other features filmed in 2025 (The Wingers and Windows) being released in 2026. Jennifer’s gothic ghost story book, The House in the Middle of the Street, the first in a series of dark tales, is now available worldwide, distributed by Simon and Schuster. A gorgeous vinyl version, beautifully illustrated by Myles Mullen, is available through Rare Bird publications. The audio version, narrated by Jennifer herself, will have a worldwide release this summer. She’s currently writing the next book in her gothic series, The Last Days and Nights of Ellie Boread. Jennifer plans to create this ancestral narrative into a feature film. In our interview, we discuss her career through acting, directing, writing, and owning a production company; gothic aesthetics; and her upcoming projects.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Katie Shannon
Welcome to NYWIFT, Katie Shannon! Katie Shannon is a producer and casting professional based in Brooklyn, with a storied background in marketing and brand management. She now works in administration at Weiden+Kennedy while bringing her creativity and organizational skills to various New York-based film and theater productions. She will be producing a one-woman show with Temi Wilkey at The Brick on October 8th. Her show, Lover Girl, got accepted into the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the SoHo Theatre in London.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Fozhan Gharib
Welcome to NYWIFT, Fozhan Gharib! Fozhan (Fou) Gharib is a New York-based filmmaker, editor, and screenwriter who transitions seamlessly between performance and cinematic storytelling. After studying for her Master’s in Screenwriting at the University of Tehran, she relocated to the U.S. in 2023, earning a Master’s in Media Studies from The New School. Her work weaves psychological drama with a deeply poetic exploration of memory and resilience. Fou’s recent award-winning narrative short, Night of Melancholia, has screened at prestigious festivals globally and across New York City, cementing her voice as a vital new force in independent cinema. In our interview, Fozhan discussed her journey into filmmaking, the various inspirations behind her work, and her passion for building her projects from the ground up.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Aayushi Shah
Welcome to NYWIFT, Aayushi Shah! Aayushi is an award-winning South Asian screenwriter/filmmaker based in New York. Her screenplays have gained recognition from Oscar-qualifying festivals across the USA, while her filmmaking work (directing/producing/assistant-directing) includes shorts and features that’ve been showcased at festivals around the world or have streamed on Netflix and other platforms. Throughout her film career, she has worked for leading organizations like Bloomberg, The Juilliard School, PVH Corp., Industrial Scripts, and the Berlinale. Recently, she served as a juror for the FOLCS International Short Film Competition. Her writing has been published online and her work has been featured in the press.
READ MORE
Comments are closed