= Day on the Mat =

Director, cinematography, editing: Aaron Dylan Kearns
Interviewees: Kennedy Sensei (George Kennedy), Tangman Sensei (Darrell Tangman), Shomu Sensei (Samiran Banerjee), Arlene Arias, and Anna Gallagher
Music: Thank you to Junko Takeo and Takana Miyamoto for permitting the use of selections from Music for Koto and a Jazz Piano Trio
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 24:15
Budget: $0
Release Date: July 3, 2013

This film was my first real film and documentary project, made the summer I was 15, on a lowly 2008 JVC MS120 camcorder, which has only 800K pixels, but actually had a nice zoom. I was taking Aikido at the time and that personal interest made the subject a natural choice. The film took about a month to shoot, with me doing the interviewing and being the sole cinematographer, and a week to edit. The relaxed demeanor of the interviewees, coupled with their ease in relating some of the depth of their knowledge, and our acquaintance in the dojo, made for what I believe is a good documentary on the art of Aikido, despite my youth and inexperience, The title was inspired, of course, by Kubrick's first film, a documentary short titled, Day of the Fight.

Thank you to The Aikido Center of Atlanta, Kennedy Sensei (George Kennedy), Tangman Sensei (Darrell Tangman), Shomu Sensei (Samiran Banerjee), Arlene Arias, and Anna Gallagher.

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