One of the biggest dedicated Japanese film festivals in the world has announced its full slate of titles for the 2021 edition.
The 21st Nippon Connection Film Festival, held exclusively online from 1 to 6 June 2021, has a slate of 80 current Japanese short and feature-length films playing online in Germany with selected films available outside the country as well.
Some of the highlights include Miwa Nishikawa’s drama UNDER THE OPEN SKY (すばらしき世界), cult hit SPECIAL ACTORS (スペシャルアクターズ), Sion Sono’s RED POST ON ESCHER STREET (エッシャー通りの赤いポスト), the unbelievably good KONTORA (コントラ), and the gut-punch power of THE DAY OF DESTRUCTION (破壊の日).
With a special focus on family and films about filmmaking, Nippon Connection 2021 also marks the tenth anniversary of the triple disaster on 11 March 2011. The emotionally resonant VOICES IN THE WIND (風の電話) speaks directly to the lingering impacts of this tragedy.
Filled with animation, cultural events and a general celebration of Japan, the full program, tickets and information are available from May 22, 2021 on the festival website NipponConnection.com.
NIPPON CINEMA
Aristocrats (Anoko wa kizoku) by Yukiko Sode, J 2020, 124 min., German premiere
Bolt by Kaizo Hayashi, J 2019, 79 min., European premiere
Can’t Stop The Dancing (Dance With Me) by Shinobu Yaguchi, J 2019, 103 min.
The Day Of Destruction (Hakai no hi) by Toshiaki Toyoda, J 2020, 57 min.
Family Of Strangers (Heisa byoto sorezore no asa) by Hideyuki Hirayama, J 2019, 120 min., German premiere
A Girl Missing (Yokogao) by Koji Fukada, J/FR 2019, 111 min., German premiere
his by Rikiya Imaizumi, J 2020, 127 min., German premiere
Hit Me Anyone One More Time (Kioku ni gozaimasen!) by Koki Mitani, J 2019, 127 min., German premiere
My Blood And Bones In A Flowing Galaxy (Kudakechiru tokoro o misete ageru) by SABU, J 2019, 126 min., German premiere
One Night (Hitoyo) by Kazuya Shiraishi, J 2019, 123 min.
Our 30-Minute Sessions (Sayonara made no 30 pun) by Kentaro Hagiwara, J 2020, 114 min.
The Promised Land (Rakuen) by Takahisa Zeze, J 2019, 129 min., German premiere
Red Post On Escher Street (Escher dori no akai posuto) by Sion Sono, J 2020, 147 min.
Sea Of Revival (Nagimachi) by Kazuya Shiraishi, J 2019, 124 min., German premiere
Shiver (Senritsu seshimeyo) by Toshiaki Toyoda, J 2021, 89 min., no dialog
Special Actors by Shinichiro Ueda, J 2019, 109 min., German premiere
The Stormy Family (Taifu kazoku) by Masahide Ichii, J 2019, 108 min., European premiere
To The Ends Of The Earth (Tabi no owari sekai no hajimari) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, J/Uzbekistan 2019, 120 min., original version with German and French subtitles
Under The Open Sky (Subarashiki sekai) by Miwa Nishikawa, J 2021, 126 min., German premiere
Voices In The Wind (Kaze no denwa) by Nobuhiro Suwa, J 2020, 139 min.
Wolf’s Calling (Noroshi ga yobu) by Toshiaki Toyoda, J 2019, 16 min., no dialog, German premiere
Wonderful Paradise (Noten paradaisu) by Masashi Yamamoto, J 2020, 97 min., German premiere
Special screening: A Town And A Tall Chimney (Aru machi no takai entotsu) by Katsuya Matsumura, J 2019, 130 min., original version with German subtitles
NIPPON VISIONS
Ainu Mosir by Takeshi Fukunaga, J/US/China 2020, 84 min., German premiere
Along The Sea (Umibe no kanojotachi) by Akio Fujimoto, J/Vietnam 2020, 88 min., German premiere
Aster School Days by Mone Inada, J 2020, 38 min.
Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes (Droste no hate de bokura) by Junta Yamaguchi, J 2020, 70 min., German premiere
Birdland by Takeshi Kogahara, J 2019, 20 min., European premiere
Company Retreat (Aru shokuba) by Atsushi Funahashi, J 2020, 135 min., German premiere
Daughters by Hajime Tsuda, J 2020, 104 min., German premiere
Extraneous Matter–Complete Edition (Ibutsu -kanzenban-) by Kenichi Ugana, J 2021, 61 min., world premiere
Idol by Ryushi Lindsay, J 2020, 21 min., German premiere
I’m Really Good (Watashi wa genki) by Hirobumi Watanabe, J 2020, 61 min., German premiere
It’s A Summer Film! (Sama firumu ni notte) by Soshi Matsumoto, J 2020, 97 min., international premiere
Kamata Prelude (Kamata zensokyoku) by Ryutaro Nakagawa, Mayu Akiyama, Yuka Yasukawa & Hirobumi Watanabe, J 2020, 117 min., international premiere
Kontora by Anshul Chauhan, J 2019, 144 min., German premiere
Lucky Owl With Shimako by Yoko Kuno & Nobuhiro Yamashita, J 2020, 1 min., no dialog, German premiere
Montage Of Hong Kong by Ikuma Hori, J 2020, 28 min., European premiere
Muito Prazer by Jengil Park, J 2020, 31 min., European premiere
Nosari: Impermanent Eternity (Nosari no shima) by Tatsuya Yamamoto, J 2021, 129 min., European premiere
O-Bon, Anecdotes From Kyoto by Jénay Vogel, Schweiz 2021, 10 min., German premiere
Project TANUKI (Tanuki keikaku) by Yu Hsin Chiueh, J 2020, 41 min.
Sasaki In My Mind by Takuya Uchiyama, J 2020, 118 min., international premiere
Stay by Naoya Fujita, J 2020, 37 min., Original version with German subtitles, international premiere
Then I Add Colors To A Panda And A Zebra by Karin Takeda, J 2019, 39 min., international premiere
The Town Of Headcounts (Ninzu no machi) by Shinji Araki, J 2020, 111 min., German premiere
Weather Map by Nana Kawabata, J 2021, 9 min., no dialog, German premiere
Where Bibi Went by Tadasuke Kotani, J 2020, 15 min., German premiere
yes, yes, yes by Akihiko Yano, J 2021, 75 min., international premiere
NIPPON DOCS
Ainu Neno An Ainu by Laura Liverani, Neo Sora & Valý Þórsteinsdóttir, J 2019, 72 min., world premiere
I Quit, Being “Friends” (Tomodachi yameta.) by Ayako Imamura, J 2020, 84 min. OmeU, international premiere
Koshien: Japan’s Field Of Dreams by Ema Ryan Yamazaki, J/US 2019, 94 min., German premiere
Me And The Cult Leader (Aganai – Chikatetsu sarinjiken to watashi) by Atsushi Sakahara, J 2020, 114 min., German premiere
Sayonara TV (Sayonara terebi) by Koji Hijikata, J 2019, 109 min., international premiere
SUMODO ~The Successors Of Samurai~ (Sumodo ~Samurai o tsugu mono tachi~) by Eiji Sakata, J 2020, 104 min., European premiere
The Witches Of The Orient by Julien Faraut, Frankreich 2021, 100 min., German premiere
A new feature documentary by Thomas Ash (details coming soon) world premiere
NIPPON ANIMATION
A Break In The Clouds by Anna Takagi, J 2021, 7 min., no dialog, German premiere
Boy With Child by Yoshiro Kawakami, J 2020, 10 min., German premiere
Castle by Ryotaro Miyajima, J 2019, 5 min., no dialog
Difference And Repetition And Coffee by Masa Kudo, J 2020, 5 min., no dialog, German premiere
Empty Hands by Emari Okayama, J 2020, 7 min., German premiere
I Am A Motif by Sijia Luo, J 2020, 8 min., German premiere
Leaking Life by Shunsaku Hayashi, J 2019, 15 min., no dialog
Locomotor by Isaku Kaneko, J 2019, 3 min., no dialog
Lupin III: The First (Lupin sansei THE FIRST) by Takashi Yamazaki, J 2019, 93 min., Original version with German subtitles, German premiere
Mubi by Tomoe Obayashi, J 2019, 6 min.
ON-GAKU: Our Sound (Ongaku) by Kenji Iwaisawa, J 2019, 71 min.
Our House / Notre maison by Caori Murata, J 2020, 3 min., German premiere
Our Little Pond by Namiko Ishidate, J 2021, 15 min., German premiere
parallax by Hayato Nove, J 2021, 33 min., no dialog, world premiere
Seven Days War (Bokura no nanokakan senso) by Yuta Murano, J 2019, 88 min., original version with German subtitles, German premiere
Small Life by Yueqi Wu, J 2021, 5 min., German premiere
Strawberry Candy by Nianze Li, J 2020, 7 min., German premiere
Sumikkogurashi: Good To Be In The Corner (Eiga sumikko gurashi tobidasu ehon to himitsu no ko) by Mankyu, J 2019, 60 min., original version with English subtitles / original version with German voice-over
The Balloon Catcher by Isaku Kaneko, J 2020, 6 min., no dialog, German premiere
The Big Tree In Front Of The House by Yinan Liu, J 2020, 6 min., German premiere
The Living Wall by Keita Kurosaka, J 2020, 6 min., no dialog
Wandala! by Akimi Miyamoto, J 2021, 6 min., German premier
