Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2021 – This is My Place – Carving out a sense of existence and belonging in Japanese Cinema (Online Special)
The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme goes online for 2021 and film screenings will be free to view for people in the UK. Running from 19 February to 10 March 2021, there are 18 films, of which there is only one anime but there are also a number of live-action adaptations of manga.
The theme for this year is “belonging” and this is examined in a range of films where people from diverse and complicated backgrounds seek out a sense of acceptance and connection with others. These stories cover all genres from a mockumentary set in the Japanese movie world (Extro) to a crime drama unpicking the difficulty of Japanese social conformity (A Girl Missing), films centring on LGBT issues (his) and also the final work of Nobuhiko Obayashi (Labyrinth of Cinema), an anti-war opus that is also about the power of cinema.
So far, only the screening dates and films have been announced. Full details on streaming services and booking information will be announced later so keep checking the Japan Foundation’s site/SNS. Here are trailers for the films with some descriptions from the website:
FILMS
HELLO WORLD (Dir: Tomohiko Ito, 98 mins.)
Saturday, 20 February from 10:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Monday, 1 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Shy high-schooler Naomi (Takumi Kitamura) is visited by a mysterious man who claims to be his future self and has a mission for him – prevent the death of his adored classmate Ruri (Minami Hamabe), the future love of his life. The two team up and, under the visitor’s tutelage, Naomi slowly gains Ruri’s affection. But the adult Naomi hides a secret agenda…
Shape of Red (Dir: Yukiko Mishima, 123 mins.)
Friday, 19 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Saturday, 6 March from 10:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
A comfortably married mother named Toko (Kaho) has everything that society dictates a woman should want but beneath the veneer of her picture-perfect life, Toko harbours a feeling of emptiness. A chance encounter with a former lover, Kurata (Satoshi Tsumabuki), awakens a deep longing which sparks an affair and her first steps in seizing her independence as a woman…
A Girl Missing (Dir: Koji Fukada, 111 mins.)
Wednesday, 24 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Thursday, 4 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
When a dedicated nurse named Ichiko (Mariko Tsutsui) is accused of being involved in the disappearance of her client’s daughters, a mediastorm ensues as she is subject to a criminal case. Her life falls apart as all of the relationships she had built in her life are thrown into question.
Extro (Dir: Naoki Muraha, 89 mins.)
Friday, 26 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 72 hour rental window
In this mockumentary we follow a 63-year-old dental technician Kozo Haginoya (playing himself) as he works as an extra on the set of a jidaigeki. Famous faces from the Japanese film world show up and there is a crime subplot that takes place behind the scenes…
his (Dir: Rikiya Imaizumi, 127 mins.)
Thursday, 25 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Monday, 8 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Shun (Hio Miyazawa) leads a solitary life in the Japanese countryside, living in fear of being outed and shunned for being gay. In the past, he was in a relationship with Nagisa (Kisetsu Fujiwara) who he first met as a high schooler. They stayed together until university when Shun said that he couldn’t see a future together with him and left. Then, one day, Nagisa shows up at Shun’s doorstep with a 6-year-old daughter Sora (Sakura Sotomura) and asks Shun to let them stay with him. Soon, old passions slowly rekindle. However, their new life doesn’t come without a price.
Our 30-Minute Sessions (Dir: Kentaro Hagiwara, 114 mins.)
Thursday, 25 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Wednesday, 3 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
When introverted college student Sota (Takumi Kitamura) discovers a cassette tape of music made by Aki (Mackenyu Arata), a musician who had tragically died the year before, he plays it and finds that his body is magically taken over by Aki’s spirit who is a direct opposite of himself in terms of personality and on a mission to get his old band back together and bring a smile to his former girlfriend Kana’s face. However, there’s a catch – every session of the two sharing the same body can last only 30 minutes.
Farewell: Comedy of Life Begins with A Lie (Dir: Izuru Narushima, 106 mins.)
Tuesday, 23 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Friday, 5 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
In post-war Japan, a literary magazine editor named Shuji (Yo Oizumi) decides to change his life and stop being an indecisive philanderer and so he resolves to break things off with all of his girlfriends… by hiring a coarse and straight-talking woman named Kinuko (Eiko Koike) to masquerade as his false wife and getting rid of the other ladies…
Haruka’s Pottery (Dir: Naruhito Suetsugu, 119 mins.)
Saturday, 20 February from 10:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Monday, 8 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Haruka (Nao) is a a twenty-year Tokyoite in an unfulfilling office job who decides to quit everything and head to Okayama to study the art of making traditional Bizen pottery under the tutelage of a reclusive master artist named Osamu (Hiroyuki Hirayama)…
Little Miss Period (Dir: Shunsuke Shinada, 97 mins.)
Thursday, 4 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 72 hour rental window
Little Miss Period follows several women as they navigate the ups and downs of their daily life while experiencing their period – personified by an obnoxiously large, heart-shaped plush presence which is totally obnoxious. The ladies affected include a high-flying editor of a fashion magazine, a social recluse resigned to singledom, and a young girl frustrated by the trials of puberty,
Miyamoto (Dir: Tetsuya Mariko, 129 mins.)
Friday, 19 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Tuesday, 2 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Tetsuya (Destruction Babies) Mariko’s adaptation of a 90s manga is a handsomely shot and kinetic film that features a cast of great actors but its story has harrowing moments of violence.
A hot-blooded stationary salesman named Miyamoto (Sosuke Ikematsu) tries to prove himself to his girlfriend Yasuko (Yu Aoi) in conflicts that escalate. Their love is put to the ultimate test when he fails to protect her from a violent and vile assault which forces Miyamoto into a dangerous and reckless act fit for the film’s explosive and melodramatic finale.
One Night (Dir: Kazuya Shiraishi, 123 mins.)
Monday, 22 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Friday, 5 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Kazuya Shiraishi often tackles hardboiled stories and this strong drama looks unflinchingly at the affects of abuse.
A battered wife (Yuko Tanaka) takes desperate measures to protect her three children from her abusive husband by murdering him. This act fractures the family and leaves scars on each of the children (Mayu Matsuoka, Takeru Satoh, Ryohei Suzuki). Upon the mother’s release from prison 15 years later, the family reunites but it is a far from happy reunion.
Labyrinth of Cinema (Dir: Nobuhiko Obayashi, 179 mins.)
Saturday, 27 February from 10:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Friday, 5 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
A group of youngsters are at the Setouchi Cinema on its final day of operation. Their planned viewing of a movie marathon goes awry when a lightning strike causes them to be suddenly transported into the worlds beyond the silver screen which takes them on a journey through Japan’s social and cinematic history of war.
Mrs Noisy (Dir: Chihiro Amano, 106 mins.)
Saturday, 20 February from 10:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Monday, 8 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
A struggling novelist named Maki (Yukiko Shinohara) gets into a conflict with a noisy neighbour Miwako (Yoko Ootaka) and their seemingly small argument snowballs into a fight that gets caught on camera. This leads to media infamy and inspiration for a novel…
Soiree (Dir: Bunji Sotoyama, 111 mins.)
Friday, 26 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Thursday, 4 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Aspiring actor and part-time con artist Shota (Nijiro Murakami) heads to a small town with an acting troupe and meets an emotionally destitute girl named Takara (Haruka Imou) who works at a care home. The two are drawn together and forced to go on the run by an accidental crime they commit…
A Beloved Wife (Dir: Shin Adachi, 115 mins.)
Wednesday, 24 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Sunday, 7 March from 10:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
A laugh-out-loud comedy with a lot of cringe, this features tour-de-force performances from Asami Mizukawa and Gaku Hamada who play a couple stuck in the ultimate love-hate relationship.
Gota (Gaku Hamada) is an unsuccessful screenwriter (and a bit of a perv) who is struggling to keep his very put-upon wife (Asami Mizukawa) and daughter happy. A big break seems to come when he gets to go on a research trip for a script and he asks his family to come along but it soon turns into a trip to hell…
Me & My Brother’s Mistress (Dirs: Takashi Haga, Sho Suzuki, 96 mins.)
Friday, 19 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Monday, 1 March from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
High school girl Yoko (Nanami Kasamatsu) lives with her older brother Kenji (Satoshi Iwago) who is soon due to be married but when Yoko discovers that he has a mistress, she begins to meddle in the affair…
Samurai Shifters (Dir: Isshin Inudo, 120 mins)
Tuesday, 23 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Saturday, 6 March from 10:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
When the shogunate orders the Lord of Himeji to relocate his entire domain to another part of Japan, this difficult task is foisted upon a bookish librarian named Katagiri Harunosuke (Gen Hoshino). Feeling overwhelmed, he enlists the help of Oran (Mitsuki Takahata), the daughter of a former magistrate in charge of relocation, and a band of friends but there is a plot to foil them…
Not Quite Dead Yet (Dir: Shinji Hamazaki, 93 mins.)
Friday, 26 February from 18:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Sunday, 7 March from 10:00 (GMT) – 48 hour rental window
Nanase (Suzu Hirose) is a rebellious college student who has a bad relationship with her father Kei (Shinichi Tsutsumi), a hard-working president of a major pharmaceutical company struggling to save his business from a take-over. However, she has to step in and save her old man when he tests out a revolutionary drug which causes temporary death and a tampered batch makes it seem like he has actually died and he is scheduled to be cremated. While he won’t be with her in body, he is by her side in spirit as his ghost comes to her aid…
In previous editions of the touring film programme, guests have been flown from Japan to the UK to attend screenings, so maybe this will be changed to Zoom events. To keep up to date with the Japan Foundation, you can check out their website, Facebook page, and Twitter account.
