IN FOCUS
Over the last years, she has perfected the work of intervened photography. Sumie concentrates most of her work on architectural and landscape photography, be it rural or urban. As for the interventions, Sumie has developed characteristic techniques, such as embroidering printed photography with gold thread, or using brass slabs as dividing elements.
Sumie’s work also extends beyond photography and into filmmaking. She directed the documentary Relato Familiar, which premiered in the international competition of the Visions du Réel 2017 festival in Switzerland. Relato Familiar has won “Best Documentary Short Film” at the Morelia International Film Festival, among others and was nominated for the 2018 Ariel by the Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Documentary Short Film. The short was part of the Tribeca Film Institute’s IF/THEN Shorts program for Cathay Airlines. Her short film Los Años participated in more than 10 international experimental film festivals and screenings including the “Nuevos Caminos” section of FIC Valdivia. Her new film project, Mapas para Después de la Verdad, is currently in development.
Most recently, Sumie directed and co-produced a feature documentary called Yūrei (ghosts). This film will be premiered during the International Film Festival in Morelia, Mexico on October of this year. The piece portrays unknown stories of Japanese descendants in Mexico lyrically portrayed through landscape and dance, challenging the idea of identity and immigration.
