Japan Society is excited to present a new online film series streaming December 3-23. Highlighting the early efforts of now-established contemporary filmmakers, the second ACA Cinema Project series Flash Forward: Debut Works and Recent Films by Notable Japanese Directors takes an intimate look at six of Japan’s most well-known directors: Naomi Kawase, Miwa Nishikawa, Shuichi Okita, Junji Sakamoto, Akihiko Shiota and Masayuki Suo. Pairing each debut with a recent work, the series presents two distinct facets of each filmmaker’s career—encouraging dialogue and interplay as well as tracking the development of their signature voice. By drawing parallels and contrasts between past and present, Flash Forward illuminates the importance of these pivotal early works within each artist’s career.
Streaming passes are available for $10.00 for 3 days starting Dec. 3 or $55.00 for an All Access Pass through Dec 2.
A 10% discount for JASH members available. Contact JASH Administrative Assistant Lauren Hurley at lhurley@jas-hou.org for details.
Films Available for Rental:
The Chef of South Polar
2009. 125 min. Directed by Shuichi Okita.
A passionate cook joins a crew of scientists for a year and a half in a frigid Antarctic base. In this quirky and humorous tale of camaraderie, the crew must endure a series of major and minor setbacks as they make a home themselves in some of the most extreme and inhospitable regions of the polar south.
COMEDY, BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Fancy Dance
1989. 101 min. Directed by Masayuki Suo.
A punk rocker’s life turns upside down when, as per family tradition, he must join a monastic order for one year—leaving his city life and girlfriend behind for a remote, mountain temple in this farcical and humorous approach to the monastic lifestyle.
COMEDY
Farewell Song
2019. 116 min. Directed by Akihiko Shiota.
A popular folk duo, barely on speaking terms, embarks on one last turbulent tour with their roadie before calling it quits for good.
DRAMA
Knockout
1989. 110 min. Directed by Junji Sakamoto.
A macho pro boxer puts his life on the line for another chance at boxing glory following a shattering setback from a traumatic brain injury.
DRAMA, COMEDY, BASED ON A TRUE STORY
The Long Excuse
2016. 124 min. Directed by Miwa Nishikawa.
Popular novelist Sachio loses his wife in an accident but feels a resounding apathy. After Sachio connects with the family of his wife’s best friend (another victim of the tragedy), he begins to absorb the intangible emotional turbulence that remains in the void of loss.
DRAMA
Moonlight Whispers
1999. 97 min. Directed by Akihiko Shiota.
A warped vision of first love, as awakening desires, thoughts and feelings begin to take hold, Akihiko Shiota’s shocking debut focuses on a high school romance that turns into a startling take on unconditional love.
DRAMA, COMING OF AGE
Ora, Ora Be Goin’ Alone
2020. 137 min. Directed by Shuichi Okita.
A whimsical and gentle meditation on a long-lived life, Ora Ora follows elderly Momoko as she deals with loneliness in the aftermath of her husband’s death—playfully dipping between past and present in director Shuichi Okita’s typical offbeat style.
COMEDY-DRAMA
The Projects
2016. 103 min. Directed by Junji Sakamoto.
An elderly couple move into a suburban housing project six months after closing their herbal medicine shop, but when one of them goes missing, fantastical rumors start to spread in this absurdist, multi-genre comedy.
COMEDY
Suzaku
1997. 95 min. Directed by Naomi Kawase.
In Naomi Kawase’s stunning Camera d’or-winning debut, a teenage girl and her family struggle to overcome tragedy in a depressed mountainside town.
DRAMA
Talking the Pictures
2019. 126 min. Directed by Masayuki Suo.
A charming and comedic love letter to Japan’s silent movie era that follows an aspiring benshi (silent film narrator) as he tries to save a movie house while also running from the law.
COMEDY
Wild Berries
2003. 108 min. Directed by Miwa Nishikawa.
The debut feature of Miwa Nishikawa, Wild Berries delivers a comically cynical portrait of a dysfunctional family at the precipice of disintegration.
DRAMA, COMEDY
Vision
2018. 110 min. Directed by Naomi Kawase.
A fabled herb powerful enough to cure all sufferings of the human spirit draws a French journalist to the fog-enshrouded forests of Nara Prefecture.
DRAMA
Film Talks Available:
Flash Forward: Conversations with the Filmmakers
Directors Naomi Kawase, Miwa Nishikawa, Shuichi Okita, Junji Sakamoto, Akihiko Shiota and Masayuki Suo reflect on their filmmaking debuts and the changes in the filmmaking process and industry since their early careers.
Panel Discussion: Debut Works and Beyond
In this unique conversation moderated by Aaron Gerow (Yale University), panelists Takuya Tsunoda (Columbia University), Junko Yamazaki (UCLA) and Jasper Sharp (Arrow Films) discuss the six Flash Forward directors and their films while also delving into the cultural background and film industry at the time of each director's debut.
Free Films Available:
The Albino’s Trees
2016. 86 min. Directed by Masakazu Kaneko.
An animal control hunter takes on a lucrative opportunity to kill a rare white deer, considered to be a god by the neighboring village. Free.
DRAMA
Blue Hour
2019. 92 min. Directed by Yuko Hakota.
In this impressive debut from writer/director Yuko Hakota, a personally and professionally frustrated Tokyo dweller travels to her rural hometown of Ibaraki with her best friend and unlocks repressed memories. Free.
DRAMA
A Boy Sato
2017. 15 min. Directed by Omoi Sasaki.
Sato returns one day to the home he once knew and meets up with an old friend in this sci-fi inflected short. Free.
DRAMA, SCI-FI, SHORT
Forgiven Children
2020. 131 min. Directed by Eisuke Naito.
A raw and unsettling account of teen bullying and delinquency, Forgiven Children takes inspiration from real-life juvenile cases in Japan, presenting an unfiltered view on a bullying incident gone awry. Free.
DRAMA
Jesus
2019. 76 min. Directed by Hiroshi Okuyama.
A highly original, oddball debut that focuses on a quiet boy who attends a Christian elementary school and begins to see a six-inch Jesus. Free.
DRAMA
My Atomic Aunt
2013. 73 min. Directed by Kyoko Miyake.
Director Kyoko Miyake returns home to Japan to visit Namie, the sleepy coastal town of her youth, in the wake of 3/11, documenting her Aunt Kyoko and her struggle to move on from the loss of her home, now in a forbidden zone. Free.
DOCUMENTARY
Flash Forward: Debut Works and Recent Films by Notable Japanese Directors is co-presented by the Agency for Cultural Affairs in collaboration with Visual Industry Promotion Organization.
Japan Society Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family, Masako H. Shinn, David Toberisky, Akiko Koide and Shohei Koide, Geoff and Fumi Matters, Laurel Gonsalves, David S. Howe, and Masu Hiroshi Masuyama. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the exclusive Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film.
All images and descriptions are courtesy of Japan Society