SAKKA Online Streaming Service Set to Launch “NOISE” by Yusaku Matsumoto on March 24

US-based distribution Japanese film streamer SAKKA is set to distribute Yusaku Matsumoto’s debut film Noise later this week, March 24th.

Originally released in Japan in 2019, this is an ensemble drama about lost souls who gravitate around Tokyo’s Akihabara district. Urban alienation, sexual and workplace exploitation, and fractious family ties form the basis of much of the drama. It won high praise from film critics around the world, including the 25th Raindance Film Festival which is where I reviewed it for V-Cinema (I’ll republish my review here).

On top of streaming the film, SAKKA’s release will be accompanied by exclusive bonus content such as a newly edited behind-the-scenes featurette and the director’s scene commentary.

Here are the details on the film itself:

Japanese Films at the Berlin International Film Festival 2023

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival will be taking place from February 16 to 26.

What are the Japanese films programmed so far?

Chiba Film Festival Regular Screening Vol.1 (January 22nd): “In the Distance” and “Haruhara-san’s Recorder”

Here’s a great way to get closer to Japanese indie cinema!

Chiba Film Festival will hold an event running under the title Regular Screening Vol.1 at the Chiba City Lifelong Learning Center on January 22nd. As the title suggests, this is the first of a series of film screening events that will highlight independent films. There will be two indie films available to watch with the filmmakers in attendance!!!

Details below on the titles below:

Gon-mama, Journey Beyond the Night, Break of Dawn, Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Kuraki Yuuyami no Scherzo, Kokoro no Tsuyakusha-tachi – What a Wonderful World, Gekijouban Eien no ya Towa no ai Japanese Film Trailer

Happy Weekend

I hope you are well

This is the second of a two-part trailer post. You can find the first part here.

No reviews due to business. I’m doing festival work and my normal day job and going to the doctors a lot. I had a good time talking about Twilight Samurai as part of Heroic Purgatory. I’ve watched a horror film called Rampo Noir (2005) in preparation for a Halloween post. Maybe I should write about another film…

What else was released this weekend?

Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These Sakubou Part 1, “Sore” ga Iru Mori, My Broken Mariko, I Am Makimoto, Tatami Time Machine Blues, Aishiteru!, Nyantabi Tetsudo Movie, Sono Koe no Anata e, and Other Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend

I hope you are well

This is the first of a two-part trailer post since 20 Japanese films are entering cinemas this weekend. The first ten are here.

Offbeat Cops, Akira and Akira, Green Bullet, Gekido, Sky of Non-Self, Hito, Welcome to the Occult Forest: The Movie, Distant Thunder, Naretara, Japanese Film Trailer

Happy Weekend!

I hope you are well!

This is the first of a two-part trailer post so come back tomorrow for more. This first instalment has a nice variety of feature films while tomorrow’s has more shorts.

What are the first bunch of films released this weekend?

Plan 75, The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai, BL Metamorphosis, Koi wa Hikari, Youkai Sharehouse: The Movie, Kimitachi wa Mada Nagai Tonneru no Naka, Make the Devil Laugh, Japanese Film Trailers

Happy Weekend!

I hope you are well.

This is the first of a two-part trailer post because lots of films were released this weekend plus two My Hero Academia specials (which I won’t write about).

Here are the first batch of films:

Stream Contemporary Japanese Film with the Chicago Japan Film Collective (May 21st to 30th 2022)

Chicago Japan Film Collective is a Japanese film festival in America’s Midwest which was created with the express aim of introducing work created by women, the LGBTQ community and indie filmmakers to local audiences. This year’s run will last from May 21 to the 30, they will stream/screen 14 films that centre on the theme of love.

The films are a mixture of dramas and documentaries, many of them highly acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. The majority are streamable but there are three films that are going to be screened in cinemas. You can read some of my reviews and interviews with two of the directors via links below. There are also a lot of newer films and they look exciting!

What has been selected for the festival?

Third Window Films Releases “Zokki” on Blu-ray on April 25, 2022

Third Window Films will release anthology comedy “Zokki” on April 25th.

This film is based on a manga by Hiroyuki Ohashi, the creator of On-Gaku, the hit animated film. The manga contains many stories with humorous and pointed observations on life and these were brought to the screen by three top actors working as directors on each of the segments: Naoto Takenaka, Takayuki Yamada, Takumi Saitoh. Perhaps, due to to their star power, they have assembled a brilliant cast.

Don’t go in expecting too many laugh-out-loud moments, it’s a quiet dry comedy and very poignant in parts. It also has one VERY scary sequence that leans into the tragic then the comic. It’s very much worth watching it.

Details on the Blu-ray release follow below:

Third Window Films Brings “Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle” to UK Cinemas from April 15th, 2022 and blu-ray on May 16, 2022

Third Window Films are set to release Arthur Harari’s award-winning war movie Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle in UK cinemas on April 15th.

This French-Japanese co-production is based on a true story of a group of Japanese soldiers led by Hiroo Onoda who terrorised the Philippines It opened the Un Certain Regard section of last year’s Cannes Film Festival and went on to win prestigious accolades like Best Original Screenplay at the 47th Cesar Awards and Best French Film at the 74th French Association of Film Critics.

This title looks really exciting, a proper war film that looks at combat from the unique point of view of that troubled and troubling figure and it is done via a French filmmaker who cites Golden Age directors like Kurosawa and Mizoguchi as influences. You can listen to the director talk about his film on the Third Window Films podcast.

Details on cinema screenings and the blu-ray release follow below: