By One of the best parts about being an Asian film lover in New York is the late-June-through-mid-July run of Asian-centric festivals. The second half of that time is taken up by the Japan Cuts Film Festival, a showcase at the New York Japan Society that makes variety a priority, meaning that the slate is fantastically diverse, with the addition of restorations and experimental films to the lineup to really drive that home.
But there’s something different this year: Japan Cuts and the New York Asian Film Festival are no longer connected. The opening weekend of Japan Cuts is not the final weekend of NYAFF, though they unfortunately continue to overlap. (Meaning I need to clone myself or make some very tough decisions.)
But now that Japan Cuts has finally announced its lineup (and what a lineup it is!), it’s time for me to start figuring out what I need to see. It’s a lot to take in, and the press release posted below is the cliff notes version. The nearly 9,000 word original was simply more than our poor system could handle.
If that all sounds good to you (and it should), then you should head below and/or over to the Japan Society website. If past years have been any indication, it’s going to be a great time.
JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film Announces Full Slate of NY Premieres
Expanded 9th Edition Boasts Nearly 30 Features, Dozens of Shorts, Classic Restorations and Most Special Guests Ever
July 9-19, 2015, at Japan Society
New York, NY – North America’s largest festival of Japanese cinema, JAPAN CUTS: Festival of NewJapanese Film celebrates nearly a decade of bringing the best blockbusters and independent cinema from the island nation of Japan to the shores of Manhattan with an expanded ninth edition. From July 9-19Japan Society’s renowned summer film festival presents 28 features never before seen in New York (over half of which making their North American debut), plus dozens of new shorts, and 15 special guests fromJapan, NYC, and beyond–the most in the festival’s history. Audiences will gain access to visiting filmmakers and star performers in in-depth Q&A’s, as well as during the festival’s signature themed parties rocking Japan Society’s historic theater and waterfall atrium.
JAPAN CUTS’ ninth edition boasts one of its most fresh and diverse lineups yet, including 2 World Premieres, 3 International Premieres, 14 North American Premieres, 3 U.S. Premieres, 4 East Coast Premieres, 1 New York Premiere, and 1 special sneak preview, with a shorts program featuring numerous World Premieres and works new to the NYC film scene.
The festival kicks off on Thursday, July 9 with special guest director Yu Irie–known for indie music comedies–turning the spy genre up to eleven in the breathtaking thriller JOKER GAME, making its North American Premiere. Irie then presents the festival’s Opening Night Film, his soulful punk comedy HIBI ROCK: Puke Afro and the Pop Star having its North American Premiere, followed by a rowdy rock-themed Opening Night Party.
JAPAN CUTS is proud to present actress Sakura Ando with the CUT ABOVE Award for Outstanding Performance in Film, presenting her latest great performances in two new films for the festival’sCenterpiece Presentation. Shingo Wakagi’s elegant Banana Yoshimoto adaptation Asleep makes its North American Premiere, and Masaharu Take’s fantastic slacker-to-boxer pathos-drenched comedy 100 Yen Love is presented in its North American Premiere, followed by the PUNCH LOVE Party.
Ando first appeared on the independent film scene in 2007 in breakout supporting roles in films by Sion Sono, Yu Irie and Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Through her increasing leading roles, she has become recognized as one of the most highly respected actresses in the industry, recently ranked as the 8th Best JapaneseActress of all time by Kinema Junpo tied with legendary actress Kinuyo Tanaka. She was also awarded the 88th Kinema Junpo Award and 24th Japan Film Critics Awards’ Best Actress prize for her roles in 100 Yen Love and 0.5mm (which had its World Premiere at JAPAN CUTS 2014), and nominated for Best Actress at the studio-driven 38th Japanese Academy Awards for her role in 0.5mm.
The festival’s Closing Film is perhaps one of the most memorable Japanese titles of the decade:Juichiro Yamasaki’s Sanchu Uprising: Voices at Dawn, being shown for the first time outside of Japan. Director Yamasaki appears at the festival to present this remarkable independent period film, which offers a valuable fable for the political consciousness of the contemporary moment.
In a nod to Japan Society’s rich history of discovering a wide spectrum of cutting-edge cinema, the ever-evolving JAPAN CUTS festival expands this year with highlight sections of programming: Feature Slate,Documentary Focus, Classics: Restorations & Rediscoveries and Experimental Spotlight.
The Documentary Focus section features works pushing the limits of film form and examining contemporary life in Japan, including the first screening in a Western country of Haruhiko Daishima and Koshiro Otsu’s look back on the Sanrizuka struggle, The Wages of Resistance, making its North American Premiere. Acclaimed director Hisako Matsui (guest of JAPAN CUTS 2012 with Leonie) joins to present the International Premiere of What Are You Afraid Of?, an in-depth look at the history of feminism in Japan.
Classics: Restorations & Rediscoveries presents newly restored favorites and forgotten classics, initiating this section with the much-anticipated East Coast Premiere of the 4K restoration of Nagisa Oshima’s early masterpiece Cruel Story of Youth. A must-see for animation fans, the just completed 4K restoration of Eiichi Yamamoto’s Belladonna of Sadness will be presented as a special sneak preview—seen like never before for the first time at Japan Society.
Marking entirely new territory for JAPAN CUTS, the inaugural Experimental Spotlight program brings together the vibrant avant-garde film and video communities of New York and Tokyo. Organized as a collaboration between Japan Society, New York’s Mono No Aware, and Tokyo’s [+] (Plus), it features shorts by artists between their creative spheres (many joining in-person), as well as the work of participants in a Direct Filmmaking/Animation Workshop led by Mono No Aware to be held at JapanSociety June 21.
In addition to the tentpole Opening, Closing, and Centerpiece titles, the Feature Slate holds a rich selection of dynamic independent and studio titles. Of particular note is the World Premiere of This Country’s Sky, written and directed by prolific screenwriter and critic Haruhiko Arai. Arai joins to present this film, which marks his return to the director’s chair since the acclaimed 1997 Body and Soul, also unveiling the North American Premiere of Hiroshi Ando’s Undulant Fever, on which he worked as screenwriter. Internationally known This Country’s Sky actress Youki Kudoh (first coming to notoriety in the U.S. through Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train and alongside Ethan Hawke in Snow Falling on Cedars) will also join for the premiere. On the opposite end of the spectrum, JAPAN CUTS 2015’s second World Premiere is the ambitious sequel to Neko Samurai (audience favorite at JAPAN CUTS 2014, selling out in a matter of days), Neko Samurai 2: A Tropical Adventure.
While her films have long been a festival favorite for their plays on genre and gender, celebrated directorYuki Tanada makes her long awaited first visit to JAPAN CUTS with the North American Premiere ofRound Trip Heart starring former AKB48 idol Yuko Oshima, which sees Tanada’s return to directing her first original screenplay since the 2008 One Million Yen Girl.
The lineup presents many additional twists on genre, including the North American Premiere of Kei Morikawa’s Makeup Room, an inventive comic drama set entirely in the prep space outside an AV porn set, and the U.S. Premiere of Ryuichi Hiroki’s Her Granddaughter, a touching romance that begins with a less than “meet cute.” The East Coast Premiere of Yuya Ishii’s The Vancouver Asahi and New York Premiere of Setsuro Wakamatsu’s Snow on the Blades see the debut of exemplary sports and period swordplay action-dramas, while the North American Premiere of Takahisa Zeze’s Strayer’s Chronicle(starring Masaki Okada and Shota Sometani, special guest at JAPAN CUTS 2011) features a tour-de-force reworking of the mutant sci-fi action epic.
The festival features two outstanding dramas that focus on outsider stories in a country popularly believed (from in and outside Japan) to be entirely homogeneous. First, a favorite guest of JAPAN CUTS, veteran independent director Masashi Yamamoto returns with the North American Premiere of the widely praisedThe Voice of Water, about a woman embroiled in a religious organization in Tokyo’s Korean community. Mipo O’s ravishing The Light Shines Only There, about a tortured romance on the wrong side of the tracks in Hakodate, was Japan’s entry in the 2015 Academy Awards and makes its highly anticipated East Coast Premiere here.
The 2015 edition also highlights strong rural stories, including the U.S. Premiere of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s masterpiece Seven Weeks, the North American Premiere of Suzuki Matsuo’s urban exodus comedy A Farewell to Jinu, and the North American Premiere of the Tochigi Prefecture filmmaking collective FOOLISH PIGGIES’ surreal deadpan comedy And the Mud Ship Sails Away.
JAPAN CUTS‘ reputation for premiering the work of numerous exciting new young directors continues in 2015, from the North American Premiere of acclaimed documentarian Daishi Matsunaga’s feature debutPieta in the Toilet, to Kei Horie’s brilliant fantastical teen romance Forget Me Not in its U.S. Premiere. The North American Premiere of Sho Tsukikawa’s I Alone represents one of this year’s biggest discoveries in a rebellious tale of youth and middle-aged rebellion, while the North American Premiere of Lisa Takeba’s Haruko’s Paranormal Laboratory sees the maturity of one of the most entertaining andcutting social critics Japanese cinema has seen for many years (her The Pinkie was a hit at JAPAN CUTS2014). Finally, the East Coast Premiere of Out of My Hand, shot in Liberia and New York by Japan-bornTakeshi Fukunaga, represents a new and assured voice in international film. Fukunaga will attend the festival with writer/producer Donari Braxton.
Discussing the 2015 lineup, JAPAN CUTS Programmer Joel Neville Anderson, returning for his second consecutive festival, notes a trend in Japanese cinema represented here towards the rebellious edge of contemporary Japan. “A palpable anti-establishment energy emerges,” writes Anderson in his Program notes. “There are films by young directors like 100 Yen Love or HIBI ROCK that exhibit a restless energy or punk spirit, and then titles such as Sanchu Uprising: Voices at Dawn, The Vancouver Asahi, Out of My Hand, and I Alone which demonstrate a political consciousness and historical knowledge of struggles for social justice and against corruption in and outside Japan’s borders. Connecting these to films by seasoned filmmakers such as The Wages of Resistance, What Are You Afraid Of? and Seven Weeks, there’s the suggestion of waves of filmmakers interested in social engagement and cultural critique—different from the generation of post-bubble 1990s filmmakers, often said to be primarily inward-looking. I think those elements together show something important about the state of film culture in Japan today… this rebellious energy is newly tangible while also precarious and unpredictable, suggesting new waves of talent that JAPAN CUTS will continue to present in the coming years and decades.”
Tickets: $13/$10 Japan Society members, seniors and students, except for the July 9 screening Hibi Rock: Puke Afro and the Pop Star and the July 16 screening of 100 Yen Love: $20/$15, including after parties. Patrons who purchase more than 5 tickets for at least 5 different films receive $2 off of each ticket (this special offer is available only in person at the box office or by telephone, not with online purchases, and is not valid for the July 9 screening of Hibi Rock: Puke Afro and the Pop Star and July 16 screening of100 Yen Love). General admission tickets may be purchased in person at Japan Society, by calling the box office at 212-715-1258, or at www.japansociety.org. The box office will be closed July 4-7 in observance of the July 4th holiday weekend.
JAPAN CUTS 2015 SCREENINGS
All films are in Japanese with English subtitles unless otherwise noted.
FEATURE SLATE (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
100 Yen Love (Hyaku En no Koi)
Thursday, July 16 at 8:45 pm
**North American Premiere – CENTERPIECE PRESENTATION
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with actress Sakura Ando, with CUT ABOVE Award Ceremony, Followed by PUNCH LOVE Party!
Japan. 2014. 113 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Masaharu Take. With Sakura Ando, Hirofumi Arai, Miyoko Inagawa, Saori Koide, Yozaburo Ito.
And the Mud Ship Sails Away (Soshite Dorobune wa Yuku)
Saturday, July 11 at 12:30 pm
**North American Premiere
Japan. 2013. 88 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Hirobumi Watanabe. With Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Ayasa Takahashi, Kaori Iida, Satoshi Haneishi, Misao Hirayama.
Asleep (Shirakawa Yofune)
Thursday, July 16 at 6:30 pm
**North American Premiere – CENTERPIECE PRESENTATION
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with actress Sakura Ando
Japan. 2015. 91 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Shingo Wakagi. With Sakura Ando, Arata Iura, Mitsuki Tanimura, Guama, Yoshiaki Takahashi.
A Farewell to Jinu (Jinu yo Saraba ~ Kamuroba Mura e)
Friday, July 17 at 6:30 pm
**North American Premiere
Japan. 2015. 121 min. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Suzuki Matsuo. With Ryuhei Matsuda, Sadao Abe, Takako Matsu, Fumi Nikaido, Toshiyuki Nishida.
Forget Me Not (Wasurenai to Chikatta Boku ga Ita)
Sunday, July 19 at 1:30 pm
**U.S. Premiere
Japan. 2015. 94 min. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Kei Horie. With Nijiro Murakami, Akari Hayami, Yoshikazu Nishikawa, Yutaro Watanabe, Hikaru Osawa.
Haruko’s Paranormal Laboratory (Haruko Chojo Gensho Kenkyujo)
Sunday, July 12 at 6:30 pm
**North American Premiere
Japan. 2015. 76 min. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Lisa Takeba. With Aoi Nakamura, Moeka Nozaki, Sayaka Aoki.
Her Granddaughter (Otoko no Issho)
Sunday, July 12 at Noon
**U.S. Premiere
Japan. 2015. 119 min. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Ryuichi Hiroki. With Nana Eikura, Etsushi Toyokawa, Osamu Mukai, Sakura Ando, Tomoya Maeno.
Opening Film, followed by OPENING NIGHT Party!
HIBI ROCK: Puke Afro and the Pop Star (Hibi Rokku) – OPENING FILM
Thursday, July 9 at 9:00 pm
**North American Premiere
**Intro and Q&A with director Yu Irie, followed by OPENING NIGHT Party!
Japan. 2014. 110 min. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Yu Irie. With Shuhei Nomura, Fumi Nikaido, Naoto Takenaka, Tomoya Maeno.
I Alone (Kono Yo De Ore/ Boku Dake)
Sunday, July 12 at 4:15 pm
**North American Premiere
Japan. 2015. 109 min. Blu-ray, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Sho Tsukikawa. With Makita Sports, Sosuke Ikematsu, Shiro Sano, Masako Chiba, Ryusuke Komakine.
JOKER GAME (Joka Gemu)
Thursday, July 9 at 6:30 pm
**North American Premiere
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with director Yu Irie
Japan. 2015. 108 min. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Yu Irie. With Kazuya Kamenashi, Kyoko Fukada, Yusuke Iseya, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Keisuke Koide.
The Light Shines Only There (Sokonomi nite Hikari Kagayaku)
Wednesday, July 15 at 9:30 pm
**East Coast Premiere
Japan. 2014. 120 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Mipo O. With Go Ayano, Chizuru Ikewaki, Masaki Suda, Kazuya Takahashi, Hiroko Isayama.
Makeup Room (Meiku Rumu)
Friday, July 10 at 8:45 pm
**North American Premiere
Japan. 2015. 86 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Kei Morikawa. With Beni Ito, Aki Morita, Nanami Kawakami, Riri Kuribayashi.
Neko Samurai 2: A Tropical Adventure (Neko Samurai 2: Minami no Shima ni Yuku)
Saturday, July 18 at 8:45 pm
**World Premiere
Japan. 2015. 85 min. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Takeshi Watanabe. With Kazuki Kitamura.
Saturday, July 11 at 5:00 pm
**East Coast Premiere
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with director Takeshi Fukunaga and writer/producer Donari Braxton
USA/Liberia. 2015. 87 min. DCP, in Liberian English with English subtitles. Directed by Takeshi Fukunaga. With Bishop Blay, Zenobia Taylor, Duke Murphy Dennis, Rodney Rogers Beckley, David Roberts.
Pieta in the Toilet (Toire no Pieta)
Tuesday, July 14 at 9:00 pm
**North American Premiere
Japan. 2015. 120 min. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Daishi Matsunaga. With Yojiro Noda, Hana Sugisaki, Lily Franky, Saya Ichikawa, Rie Miyazawa.
Round Trip Heart (Romansu)
Friday, July 10 at 6:30 pm
**North American Premiere
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with director Yuki Tanada
Japan. 2015. 97 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Yuki Tanada. With Yuko Oshima, Koji Okura, Yoshimi Nozaki, Masataka Kubota.
Sanchu Uprising: Voices at Dawn (Atarashiki Tami)– CLOSING FILM
Sunday, July 19 at 6:00 pm
**International Premiere
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with director Juichiro Yamasaki
Japan. 2014. 117 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Juichiro Yamasaki. With Naohisa Nakagaki, Kano Kajiwara, Shoichi Honda, Yota Kawase, Hotaru.
Seven Weeks (Nononanananoka)
Saturday, July 11 at 7:30 pm
**U.S. Premiere
Japan. 2014. 171 min. Blu-ray, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. With Toru Shinagawa, Saki Terashima, Takako Tokiwa, Yumi Adachi, Tokie Hidari.
Snow on the Blades (Zakurozaka no Adauchi)
Tuesday, July 14 at 6:30 pm
**New York Premiere
Japan. 2014. 121 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Setsuro Wakamatsu. With Kiichi Nakai, Hiroshi Abe, Ryoko Hirosue, Kichiemon Nakamura.
Strayer’s Chronicle (Sutoreiyazu Kuronikuru)
Sunday, July 19 at 3:30 pm
**International Premiere
Japan. 2015. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Takahisa Zeze. With Masaki Okada, Shota Sometani, Riko Narumi, Yuina Kuroshima, Mayu Matsuoka.
This Country’s Sky (Kono Kuni no Sora)
Saturday, July 18 at 6:00 pm
**World Premiere
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with director Haruhiko Arai and actress Youki Kudoh
Japan. 2015. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Haruhiko Arai. With Fumi Nikaido, Hiroki Hasegawa, Youki Kudoh.
Undulant Fever (Umi wo Kanjiru Toki)
Saturday, July 18 at 3:15 pm
**North American Premiere
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with screenwriter Haruhiko Arai
Japan. 2014. 118 min. HDCAM-SR, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Hiroshi Ando. With Yui Ichikawa, Sosuke Ikematsu, Madoka Sakai, Kumi Nakamura, Sakiko Takao.
The Vancouver Asahi (Bankuba no Asahi)
Saturday, July 11 at 2:30 pm
**East Coast Premiere
Japan. 2014. 132 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Yuya Ishii. With Satoshi Tsumabuki, Kazuya Kamenashi, Ryo Katsuji, Yusuke Kamiji, Sosuke Ikematsu.
In Vancouver of the 1930s there was a bustling Japantown with a local baseball team called the Vancouver
The Voice of Water (Mizu no Koe wo Kiku)
Friday, July 17 at 8:45 pm
**North American Premiere
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with director Masashi Yamamoto
Japan. 2014. 129 min. HDCAM, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Masashi Yamamoto. With Hyunri, Shuri, Jun Murakami.
DOCUMENTARY FOCUS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
The Wages of Resistance: Narita Stories (Sanrizuka ni Ikiru)
Saturday, July 18 at 12:30 pm
**North American Premiere
Japan. 2014. 140 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Haruhiko Daishima, Koshiro Otsu.
What Are You Afraid Of? (Nani wo Osoreru)
Wednesday, July 15 at 6:30 pm
**International Premiere
**Featuring Intro and Q&A with director Hisako Matsui
Japan. 2015. 120 min. Blu-ray, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Hisako Matsui. With Mitsu Tanaka, Chizuko Ueno, Kimiko Tanaka, Tomoko Yonetsu, Keiko Higuchi.
CLASSICS: REDISCOVERIES & RESTORATIONS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
Belladonna of Sadness (Kanashimi no Beradonna) (4K restoration)
Friday, July 10 at 10:30 pm
**Special Sneak Preview
Japan. 1973. 89 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto. With Aiko Nagayama, Takao Ito, Tatsuya Nakadai.
Cruel Story of Youth (Seishun Zankoku Monogatari) (4K restoration)
Sunday, July 12 at 2:15 pm
**East Coast Premiere
Japan. 1961. 96 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Nagisa Oshima. With Miyuki Kuwano, Yusuke Kawazu, Yoshiko Kuga.
EXPERIMENTAL SPOTLIGHT (ORDER OF SCREENING)
Sunday, July 12 at 8:45 pm
**Featuring introduction with filmmakers Steve Cossman, Akiko Maruyama, Tomonari Nishikawa, Joel Schlemowitz, Ted Wiggin, followed by a reception
Mono No Aware Direct Filmmaking/Animation Workshop Films. 2015. Approx. 8 min. 16mm.
RELAY, Steve Cossman. 2014. 11 min. Super 8mm to HDV.
Koropokkuru, Akiko Maruyama. 2015. 5 min. 16mm.
Louis Armstrong Obon, Joel Schlemowitz. 2015. 14 min. Super 8mm and HD to HDV.
EMBLEM, Rei Hayama. 2012. 16 min. 16mm to HDCAM.
Stella Nova, Ted Wiggin. 2015. 4 min. 16mm.
Emaki/Light, Takashi Makino & Takashi Ishida. 2011. 16 min. 35mm & 16mm to HDCAM.
sound of a million insects, light of a thousand stars, Tomonari Nishikawa. 2014. 2 min. 35mm.
DUB HOUSE Experience in Material No.52, Kei Shichiri & Ryoji Suzuki. 2012. 16 min. 35mm.
JAPAN CUTS gives cinephiles their first (and sometimes only) chance to discover the next waves of film from Japan today, showing the diversity and vitality of one of the most exciting world cinemas. Since its launch in 2007, the festival has attracted nearly 40,000 filmgoers and presented over 200 feature films, many never-before seen in the U.S. The first annual JAPAN CUTS was one of the most successful single events in the Society’s 2007-08 centennial celebration. Noted for its “rich and varied selection of recentJapanese films” (The New York Times), JAPAN CUTS has premiered several films that have gone on to garner international acclaim, including: 0.5mm, About Her Brother, Buddha, Confessions, Death Note,Fish Story, Gantz, Haru’s Journey, Kamome Diner, Love Exposure, Milocrorze, The Mourning Forest,Ninja Kids!!!, Sawako Decides, Sukiyaki Western Django, Sway, Sketches of Kaitan City, The Tale of Iya, Killers, United Red Army, Vacation, Why Don’t You Play in Hell? and Yasukuni. Every year JAPAN CUTSfeatures a number of post-screening parties, and exclusive Q&As with filmmakers and actors. Past festivals have included appearances by Koji Yakusho, Masami Nagasawa, Kenji Kohashi, Sora Aoi, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Yoshimasa Ishibashi, Shusuke Kaneko, Naomi Kawase, Kazuki Kitamura, Masahiro Kobayashi, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, Kentaro Moriya, Fumi Nikaido, Miwa Nishikawa, Naoko Ogigami, Natsuki Seta, Shota Sometani, Sion Sono, Tomorowo Taguchi, Gen Takahashi, Toshiaki Toyoda, Hitoshi Yazaki, and Isao Yukisada.
The Japan Society Film Program offers a diverse selection of Japanese films, from classics to contemporary independent productions. Its aim is to entertain, educate and support activities in the Society’s arts and culture programs. Japan Society has actively introduced Japanese cinema to New York’s international audiences since the 1970s, presenting works by the era’s then-new giants such as Shohei Imamura, Seijun Suzuki, and Hiroshi Teshigahara upon their first release, and groundbreaking retrospectives on now canonical figures such as Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu. The Film Program has featured retrospectives of great directors, thematic series and many U.S. premieres, and toured some series to other U.S. venues. While Japan Society’s repertory film programming gained new momentum and institutional support in the 70s as a full-fledged program, the first screening at Japan Society was actually in 1922, a four-reel film of then Crown Prince Hirohito’s 1921 visit to Europe. For more, visithttp://www.japansociety.org/film.
Founded in 1907, Japan Society is a multidisciplinary hub for global leaders, artists, scholars, educators, and English and Japanese-speaking audiences. At the Society, more than 100 events each year feature sophisticated, topically relevant presentations of Japanese art and culture and open, critical dialogue on issues of vital importance to the U.S., Japan and East Asia. An American nonprofit, nonpolitical organization, the Society cultivates a constructive, resonant and dynamic relationship between the people of the U.S. and Japan. More at http://www.japansociety.org.
Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street between First and Second avenues (accessible by the 4/5/6 and 7 subway at Grand Central or the E and M subway at Lexington Avenue). For more information, call 212-832-1155 or visit www.japansociety.org.