38th PIA FILM FESTIVAL
Pia Festival Highlights Vintage 8mm Work
Venue(s): National Film CenterSeptember 10 to September 23, 2016
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Official website: pff.jp/38th/
Tariff: Hachimiri Madness: General:￥1,500 / Collleage students: ￥1,100 / H.S. Students: ￥520 / Seniors: ￥1,100 / PIA members: ￥1,200
Advance tickets: Hachimiri Madness: ¥1,200
Talk event: Talk event after each screening
Title: 第38回 PFF (Dai 38 Kai PFF)
Although it flies below the radar of many Japan-based foreign audiences because it doesn’t screen its Japanese lineup with English subs, the venerable Pia Film Festival (PFF) — now in its 38th year — has discovered and nurtured hordes of Japan’s now-acclaimed directors. PFF is a favorite with overseas indie film festivals, since Pia staff devote extraordinary efforts to making sure their winners receive screenings abroad.
Happily, we locals finally get to see a rich lineup of English-subbed Japanese titles at his year’s PFF, which is featuring a special section with early 8mm Japanese punk films. Dubbed Hachimiri Madness – Japanese Indies from the Punk Years, and co-curated by Pia Director Keiko Araki, Jacob Wong (Hong Kong Film Festival) and Christoph Terhechte (Berlinale Forum), the must-see selection premiered in February at the Berlin Film Festival.
The newly digitized works date from 1977 to 1990 and represent the groundbreaking early works of some of today’s highest profile directors, such as Sion Sono, Shinya Tsukamoto, Sogo/ Gakuryu Ishii, Masashi Yamamoto, Nobuhiro Suwa and Shinobu Yaguchi. These little-seen (at least internationally) films include Sono’s I am Sion Sono!!, in which the then 22-year-old proclaims himself a punk poet; Tsukamoto’s cyberpunk precursor to Tetsuo, The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo; Yamamoto’s Saint Terrorism, in which a brightly dressed girl shoots innocents with a gun concealed in her handbag; and Yaguchi’s The Rain Women, in which two gals ride their bikes through a convenience store, wander around a sodden landscape and warble “Singing in the Rain.”
Of course there are many other treats in the Pia lineup, so be sure to check out the festival website. But for Tokyo Filmgoer, Hachimiri Madness it is. We hope to see you there!
Here’s the full Hachimiri Madness: Japanese Indies from the Punk Years lineup:
National Film Center
Although it flies below the radar of many Japan-based foreign audiences because it doesn’t screen its Japanese lineup with English subs, the venerable Pia Film Festival (PFF) — now in its 38th year — has discovered and nurtured hordes of Japan’s now-acclaimed directors. PFF is a favorite with overseas indie film festivals, since Pia staff devote extraordinary efforts to making sure their winners receive screenings abroad.
Happily, we locals finally get to see a rich lineup of English-subbed Japanese titles at his year’s PFF, which is featuring a special section with early 8mm Japanese punk films. Dubbed Hachimiri Madness – Japanese Indies from the Punk Years, and co-curated by Pia Director Keiko Araki, Jacob Wong (Hong Kong Film Festival) and Christoph Terhechte (Berlinale Forum), the must-see selection premiered in February at the Berlin Film Festival.
The newly digitized works date from 1977 to 1990 and represent the groundbreaking early works of some of today’s highest profile directors, such as Sion Sono, Shinya Tsukamoto, Sogo/ Gakuryu Ishii, Masashi Yamamoto, Nobuhiro Suwa and Shinobu Yaguchi. These little-seen (at least internationally) films include Sono’s I am Sion Sono!!, in which the then 22-year-old proclaims himself a punk poet; Tsukamoto’s cyberpunk precursor to Tetsuo, The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo; Yamamoto’s Saint Terrorism, in which a brightly dressed girl shoots innocents with a gun concealed in her handbag; and Yaguchi’s The Rain Women, in which two gals ride their bikes through a convenience store, wander around a sodden landscape and warble “Singing in the Rain.”
Of course there are many other treats in the Pia lineup, so be sure to check out the festival website. But for Tokyo Filmgoer, Hachimiri Madness it is. We hope to see you there!
Here’s the full Hachimiri Madness: Japanese Indies from the Punk Years lineup:
National Film Center
Please be sure to check with the theater before going.