The Nippon Connection Film Festival takes place from May 23 to 28, 2017and it will be held in Frankfurt am Main. The organisers released details of the 100+ short and feature length films which will be screened and there are many top titles that will allow audiences to get a perfect snapshot of the myriad of stories and talents that the Japanese film industry is producing.
In terms of anime we have two of the most critically acclaimed movies in recent times in the shape of A Silent Voice and In This Corner of the World. There are also some CG and stop motion movies that might not normally get seen outside of festival spaces as well. Nippon Connection also continues its trend of highlighting new voices by working with the film academic Catherine Munroe Hotes and using her special programming skills to bring the latest in indie anime
What is on the programme, then? You can view trailers and more details for each on the films by clicking on the links:
The Barbican are running an exhibition about Japanese homes and domestic architecture called The Japanese House: Architecture and Life after 1945. It began on March 23rd and lasts until June 25th. As part of the exhibition there will be films screened. The next film in this exhibition is Yasujiro Ozu’s, An Autumn Afternoon on May 21st at 16:00 :
Yasujiro Ozu is a titan of Japanese cinema transcending the Golden Age and becoming a name known amongst many generations. He made a career spanning from crime films at the start to a stint in the military before finally chronicling middle-class Japanese life in the post-war period. He worked with many directors such as Shohei Imamura and Yoji Yamada and consequently, the younger generations either aspired to be him or question him. This is his last film and one of only four he made in colour. It is another family drama exploring the changes in Japan, the journey to wealth the nation was making, ageing parents and loyal children and, ultimately, an examination of family ties.
Nothing says autumn in Japan like the taste of sanma but in this film, one man in the autumn of his life must help his daughter break away from their family home and find happiness.
Synopsis: Shuhei Hirayama (Ryu) is a widower who, despite some reluctance, wants his loyal daughter Michiko (Iwashita) to get married because he realises that she would be miserable if she spent her life as a single woman looking after him. He comes to this decision after attending a school reunion and meeting his former secondary school teacher who also has a daughter in a similar position. The man is a drunk and the woman is at risk of turning in an embittered spinster. Can Shuhei release his daughter to the world and will she be able to find someone or something to give her life more meaning?
The London Korean Film Festival is hosting another of its teaser screeningsin the form of Queen of Walking, a hit comedy starring Shim Eun-kyung an actor most famous for her role in the 2014 box-office smashMiss Granny. The Regent Street Cinema is playing host to the UK premiere of the film on May 22nd while the Cambridge Picturehouse will screen it on May 29th.
Genkinahito 