Japan Cuts Film Festival 2010

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Chris Nelson

I received the following press release from Japan Society, regarding its upcoming Japan Cuts film festival. Although it’s in New York, there’s a lot of stuff playing that you should either track down, or if you’re on the east coast, go see. For example, Crying Out Love in the Center of the World and Hanging Garden are two absolute must-sees. I know we are lucky enough to have Viz Cinema and the SFIAAFF in San Francisco, but Japan Cuts is making me Jealous.

Press release follows.

It’s that time of year again… JAPAN CUTS Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema (July 1-16) is coming to Japan Society for its fourth consecutive year, with its biggest line-up ever. With 24 titles and 30 screenings, this is the largest showcase of contemporary Japanese film outside Japan, with international and U.S. premieres, special guests (filmmakers Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Tomorowo Taguchi, Toshiaki Toyoda, Hitoshi Yazaki, and Isao Yukisada; and actors Tatsuya Fujiwara and Daichi Watanabe), parties (Festival Launch Party on July 1st, SUSHI TYPHOON! on July 3rd and NIGHT OF THE FILMMAKERS on July 10th) and giveaways. In addition to independent and big budget feature films from the past year and 8 titles co-presented with the New York Asian Film Festival, the 2010 edition caps the decade with the Best of Unreleased Japanese Films of the 00’s (the “Naughties”), a digest of overlooked films from the past ten years which—for whatever reason—have not been treated to U.S. distribution.

Highlights include Confessions (dir. Tetsuya Nakashima), Sawako Decides (dir. Yuya Ishii), About Her Brother (dir. Yoji Yamada), Blood of Rebirth (dir. Toshiaki Toyoda), Bare Essence of Life: Ultra Miracle Love Story (dir. Satoko Yokohama), Dear Doctor (dir. Miwa Nishikawa), Golden Slumber (dir. Yoshihiro Nakamura), Nightmare Detective II (dir. Shinya Tsukamoto), Parade (dir. Isao Yukisada), and Zero Focus (dir. Isshin Inudo). But really, we believe every single title in this year’s line-up is worth a watch.

More information on the festival as well as past series and events is available at:
http://www.japansociety.org/film

You can also check out Japan Society’s tumblr blog, which will be covering the festival throughout its sixteen-day run.