A Page of Madness

A PAGE OF MADNESS (1926) – 72 mins run time
Live scored by Anju Singh.

Presentations:
June 2024 – VIFF (sold out, capacity of 170 attendees)
November 12th 2024 – VIFF

Upcoming Confirmed Bookings
Details TBA – Toronto, ON
Details TBA – Tokyo, Japan

Inquiries/In Progress
Seattle, WA – via Hierophant Booking
Portland, OR – via Hierophant Booking
Montreal, QC – via Initial Shock

ABOUT THE FILM AND THE SCORE

Experimental horror film A Page of Madness is a silent film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa and created through his avant-garde experimental group Shinkrikakuha. Written in collaboration with nobel prize winning writer Yasunari Kawabata, the film is celebrated as a masterpiece of silent film and is regarded in particular for its use of, and expansion beyond, European avant-garde and German expressionist techniques that were being explored in the 1920’s.

Using an empathetic and humanizing yet also raw and direct lens, the film shares the many faces of mental health struggles through narrative, cinematography, and experimental film techniques.

Anju uses her project The Nausea to reflect this experience and exploration of the film through a multi-instrumental live-scored composition written for the film. Never shying away from boundary pushing territory, the score uses percussion, strings, synthesizers, and electronics to echo the extremes, dissonances and nuances of mental health experiences that the film aims to portray. The event will provide an environment to facilitate a cathartic and reflective sonic and film experience.

This score will further develop concepts and themes that were first introduced in the live score presented by VIFF on June 16th 2024. Since then, the composer has refined the score and further developed the piece, taking it into the studio to record.

Testimonials

About the Artist

Anju Singh is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, video and sound artist exploring texture through the use of extended/experimental techniques, electronics, musical and non-musical materials, and processing. Her works are process-based, bringing contrasting themes and concepts together. A core process in her practice is using methods of deconstruction and reanimation to repurpose and contextualize materials in new compositional environments.

Anju has presented across Canada, in Europe, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States in a variety of spaces including Fylkingen in Stockholm, Sweden; Send + Receive Festival in Winnipeg; Vancouver Jazz Festival; Polygon Gallery; New Forms Festival, at Kill Town Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark; and most recently on tour in Japan with her project The Nausea. 

Best described as “Chamber Doom”, The Nausea uses the magnitude and force of texture to create dense and immersive environments that contrast and move between minimalist gestures and thick, overlapping layers resulting in performances that are often described as “cinematic”. Using live strings, percussion, voice, electronics, and noise, composer and multi-instrumentalist Anju Singh uses The Nausea’s live performances to build and move between dimensions and universes, carrying listeners through a composed and intentional journey that remains highly responsive and unique for each live performance. The Nausea has presented at festivals and toured across Canada, in Europe, and Japan.

Anju’s sound and video work has been commissioned and presented by Canadian League of Composers, re:Naissance Opera, and Vancouver New Music. Her music and composing journey has brought her into the world of film scoring, most recently with the score she composed for Director Jessie Anthony’s documentary film OSWÉ: GE Our Land, Our River, Our Way, a film exploring the lack of clean drinking water available for Six Nations of the Grand River.