Bio
Aya Koretzky is an Artist and Filmmaker born in Tokyo, Japan. In 2006, she earned a degree in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Lisbon, and in 2013, she completed a Master’s in Cinema at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris 3, as a Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship recipient.
Her work often revolves around essay films, focusing on themes related to memory. Yama no Anata (2011) portrays the story of her journey from Tokyo to Coimbra, a documentary shaped like a family album. Around the World When You Were My Age (2018) draws from her Japanese father’s travel diary to recount the trip he made in the 1970s from Japan on a round-the-world journey. Filmed in 16mm by Koretzky, the film intertwines the narrated story of the journey with reenacted scenes of her father and personal archival footage.
Both films have been showcased at festivals and exhibitions, receiving numerous awards. Yama no Anata premiered in theaters in Lisbon and Porto after winning Best Feature Film at DocLisboa, in Santa Maria da Feira, and in Curitiba, among other accolades. The film was also displayed as an audiovisual installation at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Paris. Around the World When You Were My Age won the Bright Future Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), the Peter Liechti Prize at the Bildrausch Filmfest Basel, and the Teenage Award at the Porto/Post/Doc Festival.
Her most recent film, Time Takes a Cigarette, was screened at the Closing Session of the Porto/Post/Doc Festival and had its international premiere at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival. She also presented the video installation Time Takes a Cigarette, developed from the short film of the same name, curated by Raquel Schefer at the MIRA Space.
She currently lives and works in Lisbon.