This year’s San Sebastian International Film Festival runs from September 18th to the 26th and they have announced their selection of films. Due to the Covid-19, the festival has reduced what it will show and created a mixed programme of physical and online activities (details here). There are three Japanese films, as far as I am aware and they are detailed below. Take a look!
Happy weekend, everyone!
I hope you are all well.
I have been back in work on the regular this week but, despite that, I managed to get some writing done. I’m covering some titles at the New York Asian Film Festival. I covered the Toronto International Film Festival and L’Etrange Festival (a post I enjoyed writing) and I have a few more things planned. In terms of films that I watched, Jackie Chan featured heavily with Police Story 1 and 2 and The Protector. I am struggling to read The Bonfire of the Vanities but storming through the game Front Mission 3.
What is released this weekend?
The L’Etrange Festival is set to run at Forum des Images for its 26th edition from 
September 02 to 13 as a physical event and it comes during the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, rules have been put in place (read them here) to ensure everybody’s safety so they can enjoy some masterful cinematographical delights on a big screen. The Japanese focus features three familiar films from Seijun Suzuki, a fanciful delight from the son of manga genius Osamu Tezuka and a short film from new young star Nao Yoshigai.
What Japanese films are programmed at L’Etrange this year?
Continue reading “Japanese Films at L’Etrange Festival 2020”
This year’s Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 10th to the 20th and they have announced their selection of films. Due to the Covid-19, it is a reduced festival with just 50 titles but there are works from major directors as well as plenty of new talents. In terms of attending the fest, there are some in-person events like drive-ins, outdoor screenings and some indoor screenings, that will be mixed with online screenings and virtual press conferences talks. There are two Japanese films and they are both by leading ladies in the industry. Take a look!
Happy weekend, everyone.
I hope you are well.
This week, I posted about the Venice International Film Festival, a review for Milocrorze: A Love Story and a short preview of Summer of Horror Hiho which I have included below.
Summer of Horror Hiho is running for another year and goes live from 
August to September in Tokyo: Kineka Oomori (August 21st – September 03rd) in Shinagawa ward; Nagoya: Cinema SKHole (August 29th – September 18th) in Nakamura ward; Osaka: Theater Seven (August 27th – September 04th) in Yodogawa ward. The main features of this fest are new Japanese horror movies, a celebration of director Mario Bava with a screening of four of his films and a revival screening of The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (1974).
I have included the two Japanese films from the fest in this trailer post.
Here are the films:
Milocrorze: A Love Story 
ミロクローゼ 「Mirokuroze」
Release date: May 08th, 2011
Duration: 90 mins.
Director: Yoshimasa Ishibashi
Starring: Takayuki Yamada (Bresson, Tamon, Ovreneli), Anna Ishibashi (Yuri), Seijun Suzuki (Tattooist), Maiko (Milocrorze), Eiji Okuda (Onsen Owner),
Milocrorze: A Love Story is a film all about love. How it shows love in its many-splendoured forms is what makes it a treat as its endlessly inventive and surprising visual execution has maximum impact and much fun.
Milocrorze follows three stories about love from the perspective of three characters and they are done in varying styles. The perspectives audiences are given include a one-eyed ronin named Tamon who inhabits a warped samurai drama, an unconventional relationship therapist named Kumagai Bresson, and Ovreneli Vreneligare, a man-child at the mercy of a mysterious woman’s whims.
All but one of the characters is played entirely by Takayuki Yamada and he approaches the roles as caricatures through which he displays loud emotions.
Continue reading “Milocrorze: A Love Story ミロクローゼ Dir: Yoshimasa Ishibashi (2011)”
The Venice International Film Festival is going to take place from September 02nd to September 12th. It is the 77th edition and the first big film festival to take place physically since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. There is one Japanese feature and two VR experiences with a Japanese connection. Without further ado, here are the films!
Happy weekend, people.
I hope you are all well.
This week, I went to work twice and spent a bit of time helping to programme a festival coming up in the autumn. I watched and reviewed Fish Story and posted a preview of the many fantastic Japanese films at the New York Asian Film Festival 2020 and at the Fantasia International Film Festival, both of which are online but are limited to people in the US and Canada respectively.
What is released this weekend? Inception gets a re-release and there are also these:
The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 24th edition as a virtual event due to Covid-19. A variety of film screenings, panels and workshops will be accessible to viewers across Canada from August 20th through to September 2nd, 2020. There is a decent Japanese contingent of contemporary films and some recent titles stretching back 10 years.
The festival’s full lineup was announced last week. Here are the Japanese titles:
The New York Asian Film Festival 2020 launches on August 28th and runs until September 12th and there are around 51 films programmed with 8 from Japan.
The festival, like many others, will deliver its to audiences films via the internet rather than through any physical screenings and the fest is only open to people in America. The method of watching the films is via an app called Smart Cinema which can be installed on smartphones and tablets. This means that people have the chance to watch the films safely in the comfort of their own homes.
As of writing, there is no indication of any Q&As or introductions but there are a LOT of films for people to enjoy. I will highlight the Japanese films and a range of other titles that I have covered at the Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) so, hopefully, it can help you when you are making a choice about what to watch.
What are the films programmed?
Genkinahito 