Japanese Film Festival Program Coordinator Margarett Cortez took some time to answer some questions about the upcoming Japanese Film Festival

What can people expect from the Japanese Film Festival?

2016 is a big year for the Japanese film industry with a lot of comeback films by veteran directors like Yoji Yamada, new works by award-winning directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and fresh works from independent directors. We are especially excited with our female director focus, featuring four films ranging from Miwa Nishikawa’s The Long Excuse which debuted at Toronto International Film Festival this month, to Yuko Mishima’s Night’s Tightrope, a dark coming-of-age film.

Where was the first Japanese Film Festival held?
– What is The Japan Foundation?

What was the first movie screened at the first Festival?

How many films where shown during the first Japanese Film Festival?
– How many films are being shown during this year’s Festival?

The first Japanese Film Festival was held at the old The Japan Foundation, Sydney in North Sydney in 1997. There were 3 films – I don’t remember what they were but I’m pretty sure one of them was Ghibli classic! The 10th year anniversary in 2006 was a turning point, because the line-up jumped from something like 8 films to 20 films.

Currently, there are 50 films in the Japanese Film Festival program, comprised of the main program, classics program and the mini (regional) program.

The Japan Foundation, Sydney is the Australian branch of the Japan Foundation: a Japanese government body dedicated to the promotion of cultural, artistic, and intellectual exchange between Japan and other nations. The Japan Foundation, Sydney presents a diverse range of programs and events, including exhibitions, grant programs, and Japanese language courses for all levels from beginner to advanced. The Japan Foundation, Sydney also offers the public free access to the comprehensive library of literature, manga, and film, as well as a gallery space dedicated to Japanese arts and culture.

What year did the Regional (Mini) Japanese Film Festival Program start?

The regional program slowly started. For example, it started off with the mini program in Melbourne, which contains three film titles screened for free. And then it grew to Perth and Brisbane. This year we took the mini program to new regional areas like Broken Hill.

Are there any differences between the Mini and Main Programs?
The mini program contains three film titles, all screening once for free. Normally they’re titles from the previous year or the previous JFF. This year, for our 20th anniversary, we decided to add newer titles such as The Boy and the Beast and The Magnificent Nine (which is also in the main program).

What are the significant films that being screened at the Festival this year?

We are opening the festival with After the Storm (except for Adelaide and Canberra) by Hirokazu-Koreeda (Our Little Sister) and screening The Long Excuse by Miwa Nishikawa who’s one of his apprentices. Solid plot, brilliant cast, and with a quotable script! Director Yoji Yamada, who was a former Yasujiro Ozu protégé, also has two films in the program this year: What a Wonderful Family! and Something Like, Something Like It.

Creepy by Kiyoshi Kurosawa is also screening in all main cities. Kurosawa received the Directing Prize for Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2015 for the drama Journey to the Shore. This year, he’s back in his element with the psychological suspense thriller!

Keishi Otomo, who directed the blockbuster Rurouni Kenshin Trilogy, is back this year as well with The Top Secret: Murder in Mind – it’s an intense, action thriller with a screenplay co-written by Korean scriptwriters Lee Sork Jun and Kim Sun Mee.

And of course, the original 1954 Japanese Godzilla will be screening in a digitally restored version in Sydney and Melbourne. No American voice overs in this one!

What films do you recommend that festival goers see this year?
It depends on which city you are in, and would certainly depend on your taste in film. One film I recommend that’s available to all main cities is the mystery suspense film Erased, where a man goes back in time and has to solve a case of serial murders while in his 10 year old body. The story is great and the film is very well paced—the fantasy element of being able to turn back time might put off some people but it’s far from being a fantasy film.

If you’re in Perth and Brisbane (and Sydney and Melbourne), don’t miss out on The Actor. It’s a slice of life, dead-pan comedy… which is exactly the type that we normally don’t program for Perth and Brisbane. I think it’s a great example of what Japanese films are like outside of the blockbuster comic book-based hits.

And lastly, if you’re in Sydney and Melbourne, you have to see Seto & Utsumi. It’s Japanese comedy unlike those we’re normally exposed to (like slapstick or gag comedies). Seto & Utsumi is just straight up dialogue, witty lines, and brilliant delivery. It’s very reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s earlier films.

20th Japanese Film Festival – Film Stills

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