Vulnerability and humanity are showcased through a gray-area emotional journey in Kosai Sekine's wonderful film “Stay Mum,” also known as “Hidden Things” and “Kakushigoto” in Japan. Based on the original story “Uso” by novelist Koji Kitakuni and a screenplay by Sekine, the director explores family love wrapped up in lies and moral dilemmas without ever feeling manipulative in how the movie presents itself. Anne Watanabe stars alongside a cast that includes Eiji Okuda and Toma Nakasu.
Stay Mum is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Following her mother's passing, writer Chisako Satoya temporarily moves back in with her father, Kozo, to help him. This proves hard for her because they haven't seen each other in forever due to a long-standing feud. Yet, her dad has dementia and is now living alone without support, so she becomes obligated to assist him. Plus, she is revealed to be still coping with...
Stay Mum is screening at Toronto Japanese Film Festival
Following her mother's passing, writer Chisako Satoya temporarily moves back in with her father, Kozo, to help him. This proves hard for her because they haven't seen each other in forever due to a long-standing feud. Yet, her dad has dementia and is now living alone without support, so she becomes obligated to assist him. Plus, she is revealed to be still coping with...
- 6/15/2024
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre's 13th annual Toronto Japanese Film Festival will be held from June 6th to 20th at the Jccc's Kobayashi Hall. The festival has now grown into one of the largest film events of its kind in the world and is recognized by the Japanese film industry as a vital conduit for bringing Japanese film to the world.
TorontoJFF is programmed to reflect the rich diversity of the world 4th largest film industry and the 2024 edition will feature 24 films including the International Premieres of Kosai Sekine's mystery drama Stay Mum「かくしごと 」starring Anne Watanabe and Eiji Okuda and Toshiyuki Teruya's heartwarming Okinawa-based comedy Kanasando「かなさんどー 」. The festival is also very proud to present the World Premiere of Alice Il Shin's Landscapes Of Home 「故郷の風景」 from producer Eiko Kawabe Brown. The film is an investigation of Japanese Canadian struggle from a new perspective redefining...
TorontoJFF is programmed to reflect the rich diversity of the world 4th largest film industry and the 2024 edition will feature 24 films including the International Premieres of Kosai Sekine's mystery drama Stay Mum「かくしごと 」starring Anne Watanabe and Eiji Okuda and Toshiyuki Teruya's heartwarming Okinawa-based comedy Kanasando「かなさんどー 」. The festival is also very proud to present the World Premiere of Alice Il Shin's Landscapes Of Home 「故郷の風景」 from producer Eiko Kawabe Brown. The film is an investigation of Japanese Canadian struggle from a new perspective redefining...
- 4/26/2024
- by Adam Symchuk
- AsianMoviePulse
The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre’s 13th annual Toronto Japanese Film Festival will be held from June 6th to 20th at the Jccc’s Kobayashi Hall. The festival has now grown into one of the largest film events of its kind in the world and is recognized by the Japanese film industry as a vital conduit for bringing Japanese film to the world.
Tjff is programmed to reflect the rich diversity of the world 4th largest film industry and the 2024 edition will feature 24 films including the International Premiere of Kosai Sekine’s mystery drama Stay Mum「かくしごと 」starring Anne Watanabe and Eiji Okuda.
North American Premieres include Hayato Kawai’s comic retelling of the 47 Ronin story Don’T Lose Your Head!「身代わり忠臣蔵 」, Sho Miyake’s gentle tale of friendship amid mental-health struggles, All The Long Nights「夜明けのすべて 」, Yoshiyuki Kishi’s winner of the Audience Award and Best Director at the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival,...
Tjff is programmed to reflect the rich diversity of the world 4th largest film industry and the 2024 edition will feature 24 films including the International Premiere of Kosai Sekine’s mystery drama Stay Mum「かくしごと 」starring Anne Watanabe and Eiji Okuda.
North American Premieres include Hayato Kawai’s comic retelling of the 47 Ronin story Don’T Lose Your Head!「身代わり忠臣蔵 」, Sho Miyake’s gentle tale of friendship amid mental-health struggles, All The Long Nights「夜明けのすべて 」, Yoshiyuki Kishi’s winner of the Audience Award and Best Director at the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival,...
- 4/18/2024
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
In the overwhelming plethora of yakuza movies that were produced from the Japanese movie industry, we have seen movies that portray the gangsters as heroic, as losers, or as they actually are, in a rather realistically dramatic fashion that has become more prevalent during the latest years. It is very rare, however, to watch a film of the category where the protagonist is a rather cunning coward, who spends all his energy trying to avoid becoming part of the action. This is exactly what happens in “Like a Rolling Stone” however, a film that also moves into drama/erotic paths and managed to win a plethora of local awards, mostly for the direction and the main protagonist, Eiji Okuda.
Tanaka is a yakuza whose main function is to collect protection money for his boss. Considering himself second in command, as soon as he is released from prison as the story begins,...
Tanaka is a yakuza whose main function is to collect protection money for his boss. Considering himself second in command, as soon as he is released from prison as the story begins,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Japan’s Tokyo Film Festival (TIFF) has revealed the official poster for its 2023 edition, which pays tribute to the country’s seminal filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu on the 120th anniversary of his birth. Check out the full poster below.
The poster was designed as a visual tribute to Ozu’s 1952 pic Tokyo Story and features actor-filmmaker Eiji Okuda and his daughter, filmmaker Momoko Ando, representing the relationship between Ryu Chishu and Hara Setsuko in Ozu’s film.
The resulting image was shot on the rooftop garden of the Kitte Marunouchi Building, with Tokyo station’s domes in the background. The visuals were created by Junko Koshino, a Japanese fashion designer who has worked on TIFF’s visuals since 2021. The posters will be displayed at theaters from August 18. This year, Momoko has also been appointed to the ceremonial role of TIFF festival navigator, formerly known as festival ambassador. Beginning as a filmmaker, Momoko now also operates an arthouse cinema in Kochi, southwestern Japan.
Discussing her new role, Momoko said: “Cinema can embody any story. Cinema can change the world. The world can be changed by films. I honestly believe that is true. Films reflect our thoughts. They project invisible winds, tiny creatures, and all life. They memorize and record the past and future in our minds. Now in 2023, what will we gaze at, and where will we be led? Film festivals are the compass of the world. Now, here, from Tokyo.”
Running October 23 — November 1, TIFF will host a large-scale tribute to Ozu throughout its program. Specific details about the festival’s Ozu tribute have yet to be announced.
The 36th TIFF opening ceremony will take place at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, as it did last year, while the closing ceremony will be held at Toho Cinemas Hibiya. In addition to three large theaters, Marunouchi Toei, Marunouchi Piccadilly, and Toho Cinemas Hibiya, Hulic Hall Tokyo will join as a new screening venue, along with TIFF’s regular theaters, Kadokawa Cinema Yurakucho, Cine Switch Ginza, Humantrust Cinema Yurakucho and Toho Cinemas Chanter.
The poster was designed as a visual tribute to Ozu’s 1952 pic Tokyo Story and features actor-filmmaker Eiji Okuda and his daughter, filmmaker Momoko Ando, representing the relationship between Ryu Chishu and Hara Setsuko in Ozu’s film.
The resulting image was shot on the rooftop garden of the Kitte Marunouchi Building, with Tokyo station’s domes in the background. The visuals were created by Junko Koshino, a Japanese fashion designer who has worked on TIFF’s visuals since 2021. The posters will be displayed at theaters from August 18. This year, Momoko has also been appointed to the ceremonial role of TIFF festival navigator, formerly known as festival ambassador. Beginning as a filmmaker, Momoko now also operates an arthouse cinema in Kochi, southwestern Japan.
Discussing her new role, Momoko said: “Cinema can embody any story. Cinema can change the world. The world can be changed by films. I honestly believe that is true. Films reflect our thoughts. They project invisible winds, tiny creatures, and all life. They memorize and record the past and future in our minds. Now in 2023, what will we gaze at, and where will we be led? Film festivals are the compass of the world. Now, here, from Tokyo.”
Running October 23 — November 1, TIFF will host a large-scale tribute to Ozu throughout its program. Specific details about the festival’s Ozu tribute have yet to be announced.
The 36th TIFF opening ceremony will take place at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, as it did last year, while the closing ceremony will be held at Toho Cinemas Hibiya. In addition to three large theaters, Marunouchi Toei, Marunouchi Piccadilly, and Toho Cinemas Hibiya, Hulic Hall Tokyo will join as a new screening venue, along with TIFF’s regular theaters, Kadokawa Cinema Yurakucho, Cine Switch Ginza, Humantrust Cinema Yurakucho and Toho Cinemas Chanter.
- 8/17/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The “Detective Team” that swept the world rampages in Tokyo! Chinatown detective duo Tan Len (Wang Baoqiang) and Chin Fung (Liu Haoran), who have settled the case internationally, are from Japanese detective Noda Hiroshi (Satoshi Tsumabuki). He was asked to cooperate in solving a difficult case and flew to Tokyo. This mission is a false accusation of Yakuza leader Masaru Watanabe (Tomokazu Miura), who was charged as a criminal in a closed-room murder case of the Mafia chairman in Southeast Asia. Thai detective and former detective Jack Jar (Tony Jaa) also participates and tries to solve it, but an incident occurs in which Anna Kobayashi (Masami Nagasawa), the secretary of the murdered chairman, is kidnapped. The case is complicated by the involvement of an elite detective, Naoki Tanaka (Tadanobu Asano), who boasts a 100% case resolution rate, and a mysterious wanted criminal, Akira Murata (Sota Sometani). In addition, detectives who are...
- 6/17/2021
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
Based on the homonymous novel by Shusaku Endo, which tells the story of downed American pilots in World War II who were vivisected by Japanese surgeons in medical experiments, “Sea and Poison” was a great success, winning the Silver Berlin Bear in Berlinale, Best Film and Director from Kinema Junpo and Mainichi, and Best Director from Blue Ribbon, and also an award for editing for Osamu Inoue from the Japanese Academy.
The film begins with an interrogation conducted in a cell by the American MP, headed by a Japanese officer who is quite harsh on the people he asks questions: two former interns, Suguro and Toda, and a nurse, Ueda. Through flashbacks deriving from their confessions, a rather harrowing tale is presented on screen. This story is split in two parts, with the bombings in Kyushu island, where the hospital of the story is based and the subsequent capturing of American pilots,...
The film begins with an interrogation conducted in a cell by the American MP, headed by a Japanese officer who is quite harsh on the people he asks questions: two former interns, Suguro and Toda, and a nurse, Ueda. Through flashbacks deriving from their confessions, a rather harrowing tale is presented on screen. This story is split in two parts, with the bombings in Kyushu island, where the hospital of the story is based and the subsequent capturing of American pilots,...
- 1/8/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Mixing genres through a barely coherent narrative and a visual presentation that borders on the epileptic through its use of intense coloring and frequency of cuts has been one of the traits of contemporary Japanese cinema for many years. This kind of productions usually end up in seemingly silly, but also quite rich in context and entertaining films, that also seem to “loan” from other, older movies. Probably the main representative of the style is Tetsuya Nakashima, but other directors, like Mika Ninagawa, have also adopted the approach, while Obayashi’s last works also moved towards the same direction. Yoshimasha Ishibashi tries his hand in the style.
“Milocrorze: A Love Story” is screening at Fantasia Festival
The story unfolds in four different axes. The first one is set like a children’s movie and revolves around a rather colorful boy (literally) named Ovreneli Vreneligare who eventually meets Milocrorze in a...
“Milocrorze: A Love Story” is screening at Fantasia Festival
The story unfolds in four different axes. The first one is set like a children’s movie and revolves around a rather colorful boy (literally) named Ovreneli Vreneligare who eventually meets Milocrorze in a...
- 8/21/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
In celebration of the Chinese New Year, Warner Bros. Pictures will invite audiences throughout the U.S. and Canada to experience the newest chapter in the hugely popular international franchise with the domestic theatrical release of “Detective Chinatown 3.” The action-comedy-mystery sequel is set to open in more than 150 theaters and limited IMAX engagements in major cities across North America, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Toronto and Vancouver, on January 24, 2020, day-and-date with the film’s much-anticipated release in China by Wanda Pictures. “Detective Chinatown 3” is one of the widest releases among all Mandarin language films in North America in recent years.
Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran reprise their roles as a mismatched crime-solving duo in the film, again written and directed by Chen Sicheng. Set in Tokyo, where the pair embarks on their latest misadventure, the film also features Thai martial arts superstar Tony Jaa...
Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran reprise their roles as a mismatched crime-solving duo in the film, again written and directed by Chen Sicheng. Set in Tokyo, where the pair embarks on their latest misadventure, the film also features Thai martial arts superstar Tony Jaa...
- 1/19/2020
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
Family dramas revolving around a family funeral are quite common in Japanese cinema. Toshiyuki Teruya, however, manages to distinguish himself from the plethora of similar productions by using Senkotsu (bone washing) as his base theme. Senkotsu is an Okinawan local ritual, during which involves taking the dead body out of the tomb, after all the flesh is gone, and after being cleaned by his/her close relatives, the bones are again buried in the tomb, which allows the soul to finally leave “this world”.
“Born Bone Born” is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival
Takashi comes back to his hometown in Aguni island, Okinawa for his mother’s Senkotsu. His father Nobutsuna is living alone after his wife’s death, and he has succumbed to alcoholism, an ailment that had troubled him and his family before. Takashi blames Nobutsuna for his mother’s death, since she worked very hard...
“Born Bone Born” is screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival
Takashi comes back to his hometown in Aguni island, Okinawa for his mother’s Senkotsu. His father Nobutsuna is living alone after his wife’s death, and he has succumbed to alcoholism, an ailment that had troubled him and his family before. Takashi blames Nobutsuna for his mother’s death, since she worked very hard...
- 11/20/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Other winners at Japanese festival were Filament, Nana-chan and Trash.
How To Bring Women Back Into A Good Humor, a Japanese comedy about a couple who can’t stop arguing over their wedding plans, won the audience award at the 11th Okinawa International Movie Festival (Oimf), which wrapped on Sunday night (April 21).
Veteran actor Eiji Okuda presented the award to director Shusuke Arita, who said when accepting the prize: “If there’re men who aren’t getting along with their wives and are thinking about getting a divorce, seeing this movie can make them change their minds”.
Films which received...
How To Bring Women Back Into A Good Humor, a Japanese comedy about a couple who can’t stop arguing over their wedding plans, won the audience award at the 11th Okinawa International Movie Festival (Oimf), which wrapped on Sunday night (April 21).
Veteran actor Eiji Okuda presented the award to director Shusuke Arita, who said when accepting the prize: “If there’re men who aren’t getting along with their wives and are thinking about getting a divorce, seeing this movie can make them change their minds”.
Films which received...
- 4/25/2019
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Family dramas revolving around a family funeral are quite common in Japanese cinema. Toshiyuki Teruya, however, manages to distinguish himself from the plethora of similar productions by using Senkotsu (bone washing) as his base theme. Senkotsu is an Okinawan local ritual, during which involves taking the dead body out of the tomb, after all the flesh is gone, and after being cleaned by his/her close relatives, the bones are again buried in the tomb, which allows the soul to finally leave “this world”.
Born Bone Born is screening at Japan Cuts 2018
Takashi comes back to his hometown in Aguni island, Okinawa for his mother’s Senkotsu. His father Nobutsuna is living alone after his wife’s death, and he has succumbed to alcoholism, an ailment that had troubled him and his family before. Takashi blames Nobutsuna for his mother’s death, since she worked very hard to pay the debt for his company.
Born Bone Born is screening at Japan Cuts 2018
Takashi comes back to his hometown in Aguni island, Okinawa for his mother’s Senkotsu. His father Nobutsuna is living alone after his wife’s death, and he has succumbed to alcoholism, an ailment that had troubled him and his family before. Takashi blames Nobutsuna for his mother’s death, since she worked very hard to pay the debt for his company.
- 7/22/2018
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Lemon Tree acquires the coming-of-age tale set in 1941 Japan.
Japan’s Free Stone Production has sold Hanagatami – the last film in director Nobuhiko Obayashi’s “wartime trilogy” after Casting Blossoms To The Sky (2012) and Seven Weeks (2014) – to China (Lemon Tree).
Based on a script Obayashi wrote prior to his 1977 debut feature House, Hanagatami is set in spring 1941 when Toshihiko, played by Shunsuke Kubozuka, shows up at the home of his aunt (Takaki Tokiwa) in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture. Entertaining a crush on his tubercular cousin Mina (Honoka Yahagi), while reveling in his “depraved” adolescence with other girls, he indulges in courage-testing...
Japan’s Free Stone Production has sold Hanagatami – the last film in director Nobuhiko Obayashi’s “wartime trilogy” after Casting Blossoms To The Sky (2012) and Seven Weeks (2014) – to China (Lemon Tree).
Based on a script Obayashi wrote prior to his 1977 debut feature House, Hanagatami is set in spring 1941 when Toshihiko, played by Shunsuke Kubozuka, shows up at the home of his aunt (Takaki Tokiwa) in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture. Entertaining a crush on his tubercular cousin Mina (Honoka Yahagi), while reveling in his “depraved” adolescence with other girls, he indulges in courage-testing...
- 3/20/2018
- by Jean Noh
- ScreenDaily
This year’s Pia Film Festival (Pff) was held from 12 to 24 September at the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, in Tokyo, with the award-winning ceremony taking place on the last day. The jury was comprised from Eiji Okuda, Keishi Otomo, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (directors), Kazushige Abe (author) and Yoshiaki Nishimura (producer). The winners were:
Grand Prize: A Road (Daichi Sugimoto)
Runner-up Award: Moonlight Honeymoona(Taro Tominaga)
Special Jury Prize: The Lie and the Taint (Yuko Igari), Goron,Batan,Q (Kan Yamamoto), I’m an Artist(Raita Yabushita)
Entertainment Award (Horipro prize): Deep tastes (Kohei Nakayama)
Audience Award: The Name of the Whale (Fumito Fujikawa)
Cinema Fan Award (Pia Eiga Seikatsu prize): Deep tastes (Kohei Nakayama)
Gemstone Award (Nikkatsu prize): Deep tastes (Kohei Nakayama)
Βραβείο P.E.N Club: The Name of the Whale (Fumito Fujikawa)
A road
Moonlight Honeymoon
The Lie and the Taint
Goron,...
Grand Prize: A Road (Daichi Sugimoto)
Runner-up Award: Moonlight Honeymoona(Taro Tominaga)
Special Jury Prize: The Lie and the Taint (Yuko Igari), Goron,Batan,Q (Kan Yamamoto), I’m an Artist(Raita Yabushita)
Entertainment Award (Horipro prize): Deep tastes (Kohei Nakayama)
Audience Award: The Name of the Whale (Fumito Fujikawa)
Cinema Fan Award (Pia Eiga Seikatsu prize): Deep tastes (Kohei Nakayama)
Gemstone Award (Nikkatsu prize): Deep tastes (Kohei Nakayama)
Βραβείο P.E.N Club: The Name of the Whale (Fumito Fujikawa)
A road
Moonlight Honeymoon
The Lie and the Taint
Goron,...
- 10/2/2015
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Netflix has revolutionized the home movie experience for fans of film with its instant streaming technology. Netflix Nuggets is my way of spreading the word about independent, classic and foreign films made available by Netflix for instant streaming.
The Beautiful Person (2008)
Streaming Available: 05/17/2011
Synopsis: After transferring to a new high school, beautiful Junie (Léa Seydoux) starts dating fellow student Otto (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), but she soon finds herself falling for Nemours (Louis Garrel), an Italian teacher already entangled in secret affairs with a pupil and colleague. Loosely based on Madame de Lafayette’s novel La Princesse de Clèves, this French drama explores the great pain that often accompanies love.
Average Netflix rating: 3.2 Araya (1959)
Streaming Available: 05/17/2011
Synopsis: Director Margot Benacerraf offers this acclaimed 1959 film that chronicles the harsh existence of Venezuelan laborers who manually recover salt from the tropical marshes in Araya, an ancient salt-producing region in that country.
Average Netflix rating: 3.3 Red,...
The Beautiful Person (2008)
Streaming Available: 05/17/2011
Synopsis: After transferring to a new high school, beautiful Junie (Léa Seydoux) starts dating fellow student Otto (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), but she soon finds herself falling for Nemours (Louis Garrel), an Italian teacher already entangled in secret affairs with a pupil and colleague. Loosely based on Madame de Lafayette’s novel La Princesse de Clèves, this French drama explores the great pain that often accompanies love.
Average Netflix rating: 3.2 Araya (1959)
Streaming Available: 05/17/2011
Synopsis: Director Margot Benacerraf offers this acclaimed 1959 film that chronicles the harsh existence of Venezuelan laborers who manually recover salt from the tropical marshes in Araya, an ancient salt-producing region in that country.
Average Netflix rating: 3.3 Red,...
- 5/17/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
[This review initially appeared when the film screened at Germany's Nippon Connection and with the film appearing this weekend at the Shinsedai Festival in Toronto we present it again now..]
If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...
If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...
- 7/21/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The official website for Shunya Ito‘s Lost Crime: Senkou has been updated with a longer trailer. Best known for directing the first three “Female Prisoner: Scorpion” films for Toei in the early 70s, Ito (73) has only directed two films in the past 11 years. His most recent film until now was the 2006 documentary “Eiga Kantoku tte Nanda!” (What is a Director?), which focused on an apparent flaw in Japanese copyright law which keeps film directors from retaining ownership of their work in the same way producers do.
The screenplay for Lost Crime was co-written by Ito and novelist/TV writer Shukei Nagasaka. Dai Watanabe (son of Ken Watanabe) stars as a young police detective partnered with a veteran cop Eiji Okuda. While attempting to solve a murder case, the pair eventually get close to tracking down a criminal involved in the real-life 300 million yen robbery, the largest heist in Japanese...
The screenplay for Lost Crime was co-written by Ito and novelist/TV writer Shukei Nagasaka. Dai Watanabe (son of Ken Watanabe) stars as a young police detective partnered with a veteran cop Eiji Okuda. While attempting to solve a murder case, the pair eventually get close to tracking down a criminal involved in the real-life 300 million yen robbery, the largest heist in Japanese...
- 5/2/2010
- Nippon Cinema
[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]
If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...
If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...
- 4/16/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The winners at the recently held World Film Festival in Montreal have been announced, with France's "Korkoro (Freedom)" by Tony Gatlif winning the Grand prix des Americas.
Also declared winners are Japan's "Villon's Wife," which won Best Director for Kichitaro Negishi, and China's "Weaving Girl" by Wang Quan'an, which took home the Special Grand Prix of the jury.
Jury for the awards were represented by its president, Jafar Panahi (Iran), and members Eiji Okuda (Japan), Diane Demers (Canada), David Lahaye (Canada), Fernando Mendez-Leiti Serrano (Spain), Pascal Thomas (France), and Reinhard Wagner (France).
The World Film Festival was held from August 27 to September 7.
Also declared winners are Japan's "Villon's Wife," which won Best Director for Kichitaro Negishi, and China's "Weaving Girl" by Wang Quan'an, which took home the Special Grand Prix of the jury.
Jury for the awards were represented by its president, Jafar Panahi (Iran), and members Eiji Okuda (Japan), Diane Demers (Canada), David Lahaye (Canada), Fernando Mendez-Leiti Serrano (Spain), Pascal Thomas (France), and Reinhard Wagner (France).
The World Film Festival was held from August 27 to September 7.
- 9/9/2009
- icelebz.com
Though Japanese director Sion Sono has built up a cult following with his more extreme fare - Suicide Club, Exte, Love Exposure, etc - the weird stuff is just one side of this very prolific and complex director - a man who is actually at least as well known in his native Japan as a serious poet as he is a film maker. And Sono’s dramatic side is coming out with his newest film, Be Sure To Share, which is about to have its world premiere at the New York Asian Film Festival. Here’s how they describe it:
Featuring pop star Akira from the band Exile in one of his first motion picture performances, Be Sure To Share is a quiet meditation on death and the relationship between fathers and sons. Director and actor Eiji Okuda plays a tough-as-nails father who makes the Great Santini look like a wimp.
Featuring pop star Akira from the band Exile in one of his first motion picture performances, Be Sure To Share is a quiet meditation on death and the relationship between fathers and sons. Director and actor Eiji Okuda plays a tough-as-nails father who makes the Great Santini look like a wimp.
- 6/7/2009
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
MONTREAL -- Japanese director Eiji Okuda's A Long Walk, a drama about an old man on a long walk with a little girl, was the big winner as the Montreal World Film Festival wrapped Monday. Okuda's film shared the Grand Prix of Americas prize as the top film in Montreal with Brazilian director Carlos Diegues' The Greatest Love of All, a drama about a lonely Brazilian living in the U.S. who returns to his native country after being diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. But Long Walk also grabbed the Fipresci Prize from international film critics as well as the Ecumenical Prize. The competitive MWFF also gave the Special Grand Prize of the Jury to Chinese director Yang Yazhou's Snow in the Wind, while Norway's Hans Petter Moland was awarded best director for Comrade Pedersen, a drama about an intellectual who combines Marxist-Leninism and sex.
AFI Fest 2002 -- held Nov. 7-17 in Hollywood -- wrapped up over the weekend with an awards ceremony Friday night and a closing-night screening of Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her on Sunday. Friday's awards ceremony was presented at the Kodak Connect Closing Party on Sunset Boulevard. In the international feature competition, Eiji Okuda's Shoujyo: An Adolescent was lauded with the grand jury prize, while special honors for acting went to Shawn Ku for his performance in Samsara and Paprika Steen for her starring turn in Okay.
- 11/19/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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