“Everyone knows anime and samurai,” says Japanese Film Festival director Masafumi Konomi. “They are the mainstream in Japan. I want people to see the rest about the human drama that’s going on in Japan.”
The 16th festival, which opens in Sydney on November 14, certainly has both swordplay and animations, but there’s plenty more besides. “My aim is to make the Australian people fans of Japan by showing the diversity of culture in 40 of the latest films,” Konomi says.
The opening film is Thermae Romae. “The public bath of Rome,” Konomi translates. “It’s a comedy about an ancient Roman who’s transported to Japan, where he gets the idea for the public bath. It’s been the biggest box office film in Japan this year.”
The closing film is The Floating Castle, about a shogun using water to destroy a castle. “It was held back at the time of the tsunami, because it was so topical. The theme of flooding reminded people of the effected area.”
Following the popularity of Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Mr Konomi chose two films related to Japanese food. Bread of Happiness is about a couple who run a B&B, “giving food to the customers who have a healing experience, it’s a heart-touching story.” It’s a Beautiful Life is based on the true story that happened in a tiny village in Japan. “Everywhere in Japan is having a problem with ageing. In this village old people run the agriculture industry, selling a popular garnish in dishes and running a multimillion-dollar business.”
Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer is directed by Yojiro Takita, whose previous film Departures won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Star Watching Dog was selected because of its parallel to Red Dog, telling the story of how a canine can stay by its master even unto death. “It was shot before the disaster last year, so you can see all the beautiful scenery before it was lost.”
Other festival highlights include an satire on the popular obsession with young models,
Helter Skelter; and
A Terminal Trust, a story about euthanasia, directed by festival special guest, Masayuki Suo.
“He’s a leading director in Japan at the moment, so it’s a real privilege for that he can visit with his wife, Tamiyo Kusakari, an actress who stars in the film.” The directors of
Dreams for Sale and
Key of Life will also be in attendance. “They’re all making films with original scripts. Those directors have the essence of Japanese Cinema.”
16th Japanese Film Festival Nov 14-25
-152x110.jpg)
Newsletter |
RSS feed |
iPhone App |
Other Time Out cities |
Magazine subscription
Print
Email
-482x298-152x110.jpg)
