Japanese film fans all over the world will be able to enjoy the annual Japanese Film Festival (JFF), organized by The Japan Foundation as part of the festival’s Asia-Pacific Gateway Initiative this February.
This project started in 2016 with the goal to share Japanese movies across the Southeast Asia region as well as Australia. Its first JFF Online from 2020-2021 logged a total of 220,000 views from 20 countries.
As always, the festival will include some anime titles. This year’s event features 20 movies that will be accessible to 25 countries through the JFF website from February 14 to 17, 2022. These include the works of director Yasuhiro Yoshiura – Time of Eve the Movie (2010) and Patema Inverted (2013).
Time of EVE first appeared as a six-episode web anime streamed from 2008 to 2009. The award-winning theatrical version premiered in March 2010. The story is set in a world where androids are common. Rikuo Sakisaka notices that his home android has been acting on her own. One entry in her activity log makes him wonder about her intentions. He and his friend trace the android’s steps and find an unusual cafe called “The Time of Eve,” which has one main rule: Do not discriminate between humans and androids. Here they find stories about a different side of androids and a world in which they are able to live while expressing their emotions.
Among the movie’s awards and honors are the Jury Recommended Work (Animation Division) from the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival 2010, Official Selection from Pusan International Film Festival 2010, and Official Selection (New Features in Competition) from New York International Children’s Film Festival 2011.
Princess Patema loves to explore the mysterious places near her home. One day she finds herself at her favorite spot, which just so happens to be designated by her village as dangerous. She accidentally falls down and finds herself in another world, one which doesn’t have the traditional laws of gravity. Unable to stand up straight or even walk without falling into the sky, Patema meets a boy named Age, who keeps her from “falling”. The two uncover the mysterious truth of two worlds together…
This unique movie was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film award at the 7th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, and it won the Audience Award and Judges Award at the 2013 Scotland Loves Animation Festival.
Also included in the list of theatrical films for screening is the live-action adaptation of Yayoiso’s ReLIFE (2017) directed by Takeshi Furusawa and starring Taishi Nakagawa and Yuna Taira.
ReLIFE tells the story of 27-year-old Arata Kaizaki who takes part in a research program where he has to take a pill to look younger and attend high school for a year.
Here is the full list of featured films slated for the Japanese Film Festival Online 2021, ranging from historical dramas to documentaries.
| Movie (Date Released) | Director | Genre |
|---|---|---|
| Rashomon (1950) | Akira Kurosawa | Classic |
| Happy Flight (2008) | Shinobu Yaguchi | Comedy |
| The Chef of South Polar (2009) | Shuichi Okata | Comedy / Drama |
| Time of Eve the Movie (2010) | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | Animation |
| Bread of Happiness (2012) | Yukiko Mishima | Drama |
| The Floating Castle (2012) | Isshin Inudo, Shinji Higuchi | Action, History, Period Drama |
| Until the Break of Dawn (2012) | Yuichiro Hirakawa | Drama |
| The God of Ramen (2013) | Takashi Innami | Documentary |
| Patema Inverted (2013) | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | Animation |
| Her Love Boils Bathwater (2016) | Ryota Nakano | Drama |
| ReLIFE (2017) | Takeshi Furusawa | Drama |
| OZLAND (2018) | Takafumi Hatano | Drama |
| SUMODO～The Successors of Samurai～ (2020) | Eiji Sakata | Documentary |
| Mio’s Cookbook (2020) | Haruki Kadokawa | History |
| Masked Ward (2020) | Hisashi Kimura | Thriller |
| AWAKE (2020) | Atsuhiro Yamada | Drama |
| Ito (2021) | Satoko Yokohama | Drama |
| It’s a Summer Film! (2021) | Soushi Matsumoto | Drama |
| Under the Open Sky (2021) | Miwa Nishikawa | Drama |
| Aristocrats (2021) | Yukiko Sode | Drama |
See if the film listed here in your area at the Japanese Film Festival Online 2022 website.
Source: Japanese Film Festival Website
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