Mujōkan "An appreciation for the fleetingness of all existence.”

Mujōkan is a contemplative short film exploring impermanence as both an emotional and aesthetic state. Rooted in the understanding that life, relationships, and even the spaces we build or inhabit are transient, the film reflects on the idea that material forms inevitably dissolve — what endures is the essence we leave behind.

The second work in Samana’s portrait series, Mujōkan follows celebrated Butoh dancer Marie-Gabrielle Rotie as she confronts the profound transition of leaving the home she and her partner designed together: a minimalist, architectural sanctuary shaped by devotion, intention, and shared vision. After the relationship ended, the act of departing the space became an existential and artistic threshold. Through movement, stillness, and philosophical reflection, Rotie reclaims the house not as an object of attachment, but as a site of transformation — an artistic gesture that allows her to leave behind a legacy that transcends the self.Shot on analogue 8mm film, Mujōkan captures a fleeting moment in time through a delicate interplay of gesture, sound, and architectural presence. The work stands as evidence, as witness, and ultimately as a gift offered back to the house and its space — a final collaboration between body and structure before they part ways.