Shot in CinemaScope 35mm, “Engram Of Returning” is a powerful epic film about memory which transforms anonymous “found footage” into a metaphysical voyage. Taking this unknown archive material, Saïto deconstructs space and time to create an imaginary location made of memories, producing highly expressive and picturesque images, suggestions of landscapes that are never completely perceptible, as if they were recollections from dreams. In addition to the aesthetic and formal aspects that are close to collage and abstract painting, the hypnotic improvised music by jazz artist Jason Sharp adds to the piercing beauty of the film. Born in Japan, Daïchi Saïto lives and works in Montreal, where he founded the Double Negative Collective which brings together various artists working in experimental cinema, His film “Trees Of Syntax, Leaves Of Axis” (2009) was screened as a competition entry in Vila do Conde in 2010. In 2013, the dual projection “Never a Foot Too Far, Even” (2011) was presented at the “Film” exhibition at the Solar – Cinematic Art Gallery and in the same year Daïchi Saïto was a member of the Curtas Competition jury. (MD)