The Japanese Film Festival (JFF) returns in 2016 for its whopping 20th anniversary with a huge national tour of Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, shining a spotlight on the best of Japanese culture from October 14th to December 4th. Today they announce the first titles for the program along with the dates for each city.
The typical mixture of comedy, samurai and yakuza action, manga adaptations, high school romance and more will include CREEPY, the latest film from Japan’s leading horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure) about a former detective who investigates the case of a missing family. Other crime and mystery programming includes ERASED, basedon the award-winning manga be Kei Sanbe, the awesomely named DESTRUCTION BABIES, and the unrequited love of Keisuke Yoshida’s HIME-ANOLE.
JFF will also screen CHIHAYAFURU PART I and II, a live action adaptation of the popular manga series of the same name, and a documentary which captures the unique culture of the world’s largest seafood market, TSUKIJI WONDERLAND. From director Naotaro Endo, it screened earlier this year at the Seattle International Film Festival – and they know their fish markets in Seattle.
Yoshihiro Nakamura (Prophecy and The Snow White Murder Case) brings the horror with THE INERASABLE, while comedy is bountiful, including SAMURAI HUSTLE RETURNS.
There’s also a selection of classic Japanese films this year as well. The free (!) classics program will include Tadashi Imai’s BLUE MOUNTAINS, a two-part film where school teacher Yukiko, played by Setsuko Hara, attempts to introduce democracy into her classroom at a time when feudal ideologies still ran strong. There’s also Kaneto Shindo’s 1952 docudrama CHILDREN OF HIROSHIMA, a heartfelt film telling the stories of children affected by the bombing incident in World War II.
The program is available via www.japanesefilmfestival.net
- CANBERRA – 14 to 23 October 2016 at Capital Cinemas, Manuka
- ADELAIDE – 21 to 30 October 2016 at at Mercury Cinema
- BRISBANE – 26 to 30 October 2016 at Event Cinemas Brisbane City Myer Centre
- PERTH – 2 to 6 November 2016 at Hoyts Carousel, Cannington
- SYDNEY – 17 to 27 November 2016 at Event Cinemas George Street
- MELBOURNE – 24 November to 4 December 2016 at Hoyts Melbourne Central & ACMI Cinemas
- SYDNEY CLASSICS – 8 October to 6 November 2016 at Art Gallery of NSW – Free admission. Tickets are issued at the Domain Theatre one hour before.
