YOUR GUIDE TO JAPANESE FILMS WITH ENGLISH SUBS
LIM KAH WAI RETROSPECTIVE - This exciting retrospective spotlights the border-crossing cinema of Lim Kah Wai, the Malaysian-born, Osaka-based filmmaker whose work — like the… ...
PAPER CITY - Tokyo-based Australian filmmaker Adrian Francis devoted seven years to assuring that the remaining survivors of the Tokyo firebombings on March… ...
RENTAL FAMILY - Already a hit in the US and Europe, Rental Family finally opens nationwide on February 27, with its principal Tokyo engagement… ...
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SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2023 AUTUMN - If you missed the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFFA) in June, now is your chance to catch the 2023 winners at its annual Screening in Autumn event at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography from October 19 to 22. There are additional screenings at several other venues: at… ...
SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-CINEMA FESTIVAL 2023 - The Skip City International D-Cinema Festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, an amazing feat of longevity from one of the first international festivals to focus exclusively on digital cinema — which is now, obviously, the standard format for films. Established in 2004 at a spacious 4K projector-equipped home… ...
SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2022 - The Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia has found its comfort zone as a hybrid event with its 24th edition, offering a select lineup of films in person — all free — at four venues around Tokyo from June 7-20, as well as online viewing available across Japan through June… ...
OSAKA ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2021 - For the second year in a row, the Osaka Asian Film Festival is going ahead with a physical edition, despite the insurmountable challenges of bringing over foreign filmmakers and hosting Q&A sessions. While the presence of creators is a seemingly essential facet of film festivals, so is big-screen projection and… ...
SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2020 AUTUMN - Asia’s largest international festival of short-form cinema, the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFFA), is back for its annual Autumn event, with four days of encore screenings of the winners from its hybrid September iteration (delayed from June by the pandemic), as well as other highlights, including an online… ...
NARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2020 - The biennial Nara International Film Festival, overseen by founder and acclaimed filmmaker Naomi Kawase, is back for its 6th edition, this time as a hybrid event that will allow viewers in Japan who can’t make it to Nara to watch some of the featured films online. The entire lineup will… ...
SHORT SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL & ASIA 2020 - This year’s 22nd edition of the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia returns in expanded form, with viewing now available throughout Japan via online screenings. SSFFA already went hybrid for its 2019 festival, when selected titles were streamed long before it was deemed necessary to do so. This year’s festival… ...
ONLINE: JAPANESE ANIMATED FILM CLASSICS - It's been over a year since we posted this link to the National Film Archive of Japan's website streaming 64 early Japanese animated films online, for free, including some with English subtitles. The site includes a nice FAQ with info on the history of animation, and the three main sections… ...
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AKIO FUJIMOTO RETROSPECTIVE - Ahead of the April 24 Japanese release of the latest feature from internationally acclaimed director Akio Fujimoto, Lost Land, special… ...
BLACK BOX DIARIES - If you have not yet experienced journalist-filmmaker Shiori Ito’s Oscar-nominated Black Box Diaries, do not miss the opportunity to see it… ...
KANEKO FUMIKO - It’s been 100 years since Kaneko Fumiko died in solitary confinement at Tochigi Women’s Prison, age 23. A nihilist who… ...
JOURNEY THROUGH JAPANESE AND KOREAN CINEMAS - As part of the Japan–Korea cinema exchange program Journey Through Japanese & Korean Cinemas, co-presented by Korea’s Indie Space and… ...
IN MEMORY OF FILM FIGURES WE LOST IN 2023-2024: Kenji Fukuma - The National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ) continues its tribute to important Japanese film figures who died recently, focusing on… ...
WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS — KEIJI SADA CENTENARY RETROSPECTIVE - Jimbocho Theater is marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of actor Keiji Sada (1926–1964) with a special retrospective. Although… ...
TOKYO MELODY: A FILM ABOUT RYUICHI SAKAMOTO - This 1985 French–Japanese co-production is a rarely screened documentary portrait of beloved musician, Ryuichi Sakamoto, captured by American multimedia artist… ...
TWO SEASONS, TWO STRANGERS - Sho Miyake’s surprise Locarno Golden Leopard Award winner (marking the first Japanese win in nearly two decades) finally arrives with… ...
Outer World X Christmas SP - If you’re a fan of indie sci-fi—or if you’ve never heard of the genre but are curious—head to Theatre Bacchus… ...
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ROUNDUP: Our Critic’s Top 5 of 2018 - This has been a significant year for Japanese cinema, particularly in terms of reaffirming its quality with international audiences: Asako… ...
OSAKA ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2018 - Each March, Osaka is the essential destination for Japan-based cinephiles. The Osaka Asian Film Festival, now in its 13th year,… ...
ROUNDUP: Our Critic’s Top 5 of 2017 - 2017 has been a lackluster year for Japanese cinema, considering how eventful 2016 was: no resurgence of Godzilla (let’s forget… ...
ROUNDUP: JAPANESE CINEMA SPLASH AT 30TH TIFF - TIFF Programming Director Yoshi Yatabe once again selected a wide variety of independent films for the Japanese Cinema Splash section,… ...
TOKYO FILMeX INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017 - The cinephile’s delight that is Tokyo FILMeX returns for its 18th iteration with another meticulously curated lineup of international titles… ...
REVIEW: SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF AT BIFF 2017 - Shiyo-massetsu (枝葉末節) is a Japanese idiom that indicates something unessential, just trivial details. The expression comes from the example of… ...
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