One of the most revered filmmakers of all time curated by Australia’s most famous critic? The Sydney Film Festival are going big for 2017 with a program of 10 essential films directed by the great Japanese director. Joining forces with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) and The Japan Foundation, the curated collection of films will screen throughout the festival between 7 and 18 June 2017.
“Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, Akira Kurosawa created many masterpieces in his over 50 years of filmmaking,” notes Festival diretcor Nashen Moodley in a press release. “Kurosawa really opened up the eyes of the western world to Japanese cinema, and with more than 30 films to his credit this retrospective is an essential guide to Kurosawa’s greatest hits, and certainly crucial viewing for film fans.
David Stratton will introduce all of the Sydney Film festival screenings and “a number of the Melbourne and Canberra screenings.” The 10 films, many of which will be screened on specially imported 35mm prints courtesy of The Japan Foundation and Toho Co. Ltd, are:
Rashomon (1950)
Living (Ikiru) 35mm (1952)
Seven Samurai 35mm (1954)
Throne of Blood 35mm (1957)
The Hidden Fortress 35mm (1958)
Yojimbo 35mm (1961)
High and Low 35mm (1963)
Red Beard 35mm (1965)
Kagemusha (1980)
Ran (1985)
Entitled Essential Kurosawa: Selected by David Stratton, the curated films will screen as a retrospective program at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Dendy Opera Quays cinema, as part of the 64th Sydney Film Festival (7-18 June). The retrospective will also screen in Melbourne at ACMI (25 May-8 June) and in Canberra at NFSA’s Arc cinema (14 June-30 June).
