Focus on Asia Fukuoka International Film Festival 2012 Preview

The 22^nd Focus on Asia Film Festival gets underway on the 14^th of September. Once the red carpet has been rolled out, the festival will showcase a veritable smorgasbord of Asian cinema to sink your teeth into. From the Philippines to Turkey, 36 films from 15 countries will be involved in this year’s festivities, with all having been hand-picked by festival director Yasuhiro Hariki [梁木 靖弘]. Of the several features of the festival will be an agricultural theme (アグリ・シネマ) featuring three homegrown films to address the global issue of food. There is set to be a broader selection of works from the western reaches of the continent with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India all being represented. Finally, there will be a complete retrospective of the cinema of the Academy-Award winning director of A Separation, Asghar Farhadi – a first for Japan.

Film In Japan will be in the midst of the action, bringing reports, reviews and interviews. Starting with the opening ceremony and the Korean-made opener Dancing Queen on September 14^th.

Below are some of our choice picks:

Kahaani – 2012 – India  Director: Sujoy Ghosh

A Hitchcockian thriller shot in true Guerilla style in the heart of Kolkata on a shoestring budget and personally recommended by festival director himself Yasuhiro Hariki. Kahaani is somewhat of an original in Bollywoodland. Its divisive depiction of motherhood and feminism notwithstanding, the film was also filmed on the sly in the Guerilla mold of films like Battle of Algiers. The story sees the efforts of a pregnant woman, portrayed by Vidya Balan, on the search for her missing husband during the Durja Puja festival. Already released to wide critical acclaim, and a box-office success in its motherland, we’re excited to catch this one on its Japanese debut.   

The Sound of Light [ひかりのおと]　– 2011 - Japan    Director: Juichiro Yamazaki

Part of the Agriculture and Cinema section, The Sound of Light is one of only a small handful of Japanese films to be shown this year. The picture charts the inner struggle of Yusuke Kariya, who returns to rural life after a hard time as a musician in Tokyo. It looks as if this film might have a touch of Ozu about it in its depiction of ordinary lives and everyday struggles. This film also marks Juichiro Yamazaki’s directorial debut whose experience on a farm as a youngster lends an added authenticity.

September – 2011 – Turkey          Director: Cemil Agacikoglu

Winner of Best Director and Best Actress at the 18^th International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival, September follows a shy couple who come across an ill-treated young woman and their efforts to restore her to health. Working somewhere in the shadow of the aesthetic mastery of Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, the picture makes up one of the two Turkish entries for this year.

You Are the Apple of My Eye – 2011 – Taiwan     Director: Giddens Ko

Another semi-autobiographical directorial debut on our list is this picture from Taiwan. A high school set, quirky coming-of-age romance that follows a rebellious boy and an attractive and popular female honor student.  You Are the Apple of My Eye had its world premiere at the 13^th Taipei Film Festival and has already featured widely on the festival circuit. A storm at its domestic box-office, Giddens Ko has recently revealed plans for a sequel. Where he will take this story next remains to be seen, but there’s no doubting its strong populist appeal.

Asghar Farhadi Retrospective

What a great opportunity to experience this modern master’s work on the big screen. All five of Farhadi’s films will be screened, including last year’s Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film, A Separation. But perhaps the highlight of the director’s oeuvre can be found in the gripping storytelling and tension of 2009’s About Elly, daubed by David Bordwell as a “masterpiece” and another multi-award winner. Cinephile or not there is something for everyone in Farhadi’s honest and unpretentious cinema. A sort of piece de resistance for the festival, this is not to be missed.

The Audience Award ceremony will take place at the JR Kyushu Hall on September 19^th for which advanced admission is required. 

Contributor: Kenjo McCurtain

Hong Kong Asian Film Festival 2011

Festival Homepage

October 18th to November 18th.

The 8^th Hong Kong Asian Film Festival is another superb participant in the city’s vibrant film festival calendar. There are a whopping 65 films in the line-up from all over Asia screened over the course of a month. The schedule is jam-packed with quality featuring some of the most exciting new stuff in Asian cinema. This is all nicely complimented by director’s retrospectives, cult classics, and a very interesting Taiwanese section, amongst others. Screenings will take place in three cinemas, the Broadway Cinematheque in Kowloon, the Palace ICF near Hong Kong Station, and the One in Tim Sha Tsui.

The festival opens with local royalty Johnny To’s latest film, Life Without Principle, that sets a slow-burning heist movie to the backdrop of the global recession. More than just a plot device, his film looks extensively at investment banking in an interesting spin on the genre. The films multi-strand narrative dumps a police inspector (Richie Jen, a To regular), his wife (Myolie Wu), and a banker (pop star Denise Ho) into the mixer. It looks perhaps a little slower than what fans of To have come to expect, but is definitely a film which is seeking to place itself right in the now. For the closing film fellow Hong Konger Wong Ching-Po’s live action adaptation of a Japanese anime series Let’s Go takes centre stage. The film is loosely inspired by the cult Space Emperor God Sigma about enormous robots in 2050, not, confusingly from the Japanese manga Lets and Go, . Nevertheless, it seems to be an entertaining opera of sci-fi violence. If the style and verve of Wong Ching-Po’s most recent film, Revenge: A Love Story, have made their way into this effort, fans of this kind of thing should be very excited. The gala presentation of the escapist Starry Starry Night, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, is another notable landmark on the calendar. It is based on the illustrated book by Jimmy Liao about two teenage outsiders who are immediately drawn to each other.

Making up part of the Cineaste section, Naomi Kawase’s Hanezu is a fantastic little film, which was in competition in Cannes this year. Set in Japan’s Asuka region, close to the city of Nara, it taps into the serenity of the countryside to tell the story of a complicated romance that forces those involved to reassess their lives. Like her previous film, the grand prix winning Mogari no Mori, it looks beautiful. Another intriguing Japanese film being screened is Himizu, an adaptation of a hugely popular teen manga. The intrigue is in the circumstances surrounding it. The film was written and about to go into production in Northern Japan when the earthquake hit. Director Sono Sion decided that he would use these characters to tell the story of the earthquake, re-writing the film around the tragedy. The shoot went ahead in the devastated region and has some incredible scenes of the sheer destruction. It must be said, though, that this is still an adaptation of the manga, violence, absurdity, and all. Nevertheless, the movie’s use of the earthquake is not gratuitous and it actually does have something to say on the crisis.

A retrospective of two Chinese directors whose careers have intertwined also stands out. Wang Xioashuai and Lou Ye marked a movement away from the conservative cinema of the fifth generation to make films that were more in touch with modern China. They have both been heavily censored, and even exiled. Xiaoshuai’s Frozen on the life of a struggling performance artist who undergoes the ultimate sacrifice for his art looks fascinating. His take on the life of migrants in So Close to Paradise illustrates the dark side of Wuhan. His latest film 11 Flowers is the centre-piece. It is the story of an eleven year old boy who by chance finds a murderer on the run in the woods, promising to keep his whereabouts secret. Lou Ye’s break-through 2000 film, Suzhou River, a noirish underworld vision of Shanghai that was banned in China is great to revisit, along with his recent Spring Fever. Despite being himself banned from entering the country, he shot it in Nanking using a cast of five actors and working with hand-held cameras [? Not characters] to avoid detection. As with Wang Xioashui, Ye’s latest work is on as well. It is the adaptation of Jie Liu-Falin’s auto-biography and was shot on location in Paris.

The up and comers of the New Talent Award section of any festival is always worth checking out and HKAFF will not disappoint with a varied collection of great new directors. The stunningly animated King of Pigs from Korea which looks back at the child-hood memories of two angry misfits could be brilliant. Its unique style and adult content mark it out as one to see. Representing Hong Kong, Tsui Shan Jessey Tsang’s Big Blue Lake about an actress returning to her hometown has been impressing audiences. The period piece, The Sword Identity, about a Chinese warrior who is mistrusted due to the foreign style of his sword did well on the festival circuit this year and looks like a solid contender for the award being handed out in the New Talent category.

The special sections are what really mark out HKAFF. The Taiwanese collection represents an industry in the midst of a boom. It consists of 15 films from this year or last with some quality pictures. The main attraction is epic Warriors of the Rainbow, the dramatization of aboriginal Taiwanese standing up to Japanese rule at the 1930 Wushe incident. It was the most expensive film in Taiwanese history at 25 million US dollars. Squished into one film when screened in the Venice film festival, it arrives here in all its two part glory. The Killer Who Never Kills is another one to look out for.. The quirky narrative centres on an assassin who never kills anyone. He befriends his targets and sets them up with alternative identities before claiming the money. However, love gets in the way in this romantic, indie comedy. Two documentaries, Cherish, on a scavenger who creates art from recycled objects, and Children From the Distant Planet, a touching piece on raising autistic children, both look like gems.

The classic Nikkatsu retrospective also looks brilliant. The great Japanese film director Seijun Suzuki worked extensively for the studio between 1956 and 1967, producing a prolific 40 films in eleven years. He became famous for surreal, peculiar yakuza films like Tokyo Drifter. The studio were constantly on his back, demanding he rein in some of his creativity. One of his films being shown, Kanto Wanderer, was a sequel that he had been drafted in to direct. Instead of toeing the line, he went the other way and made it unrecognisable from the original. The other, Branded to Kill, which is being shown at HKAFF, is the film that pushed the studio to the edge and he was swiftly fired after getting it into the can. Regardless of this, it is an absolute peach of a movie that is a must-see in the cinema. Another excellent selection is Lovers are Wet, part of Nikkatsu’s Pinky Violence Series. Pink films in Japan are soft-core pornography and were mainly made [I don’t get this original prose – was this what you meant?]by film school students. Whereas the mainstream studio output had strict limitations on the extent that creativity was accepted, if the titillation quota was met directors could be as inventive as they pleased. It led to a peculiar collection of some the best films to be made in Japan. Lovers Are Wet is a great example of this fascinating episode in Japanese cinema.

Sci-fi fans and geeks of Hong Kong will be satiated by the amusingly titled Asian Superheroes collection. It features a modern masterpiece made on a budget that you could barely buy a small car for. Invasion of the Alien Bikini from Korea has wowed festival audiences all over the world and is as exciting, stylish and quirky as sci-fi gets. For fans of weird Japanese stuff, screwball director Noburo Iguchi, who I last saw wearing nothing but sumo garb in 3 metre deep snow, has brought his Karate-Robo Zaborgar to town. It is one of those camp Japanese oddities that depite going over your head (or under it) still remains an entertaining watch. Thailand’s Red Eagle is going for the full-on Hollywood superhero thing, and from the trailer seems to pull it off a lot better than most of the stuff coming out of America.

The lengthy running time of the event from October 18^th to November 18^th gives festival-goers ample opportunity to take advantage of the great movies being shown. Tickets range from 60-75 dollars and are generally screened twice during the festival. The beauty of this festival is its variety. There’s an awful lot to get interested in this year, so go forth and watch.

Short Shorts Film Festival 2011

June 16th-26th

Short films normally get shunted around festival line-ups. They play against the schedule big hitters in some small inaccessible venue with little publicity or fanfare; not so the Tokyo Short Shorts Film Festival. For over ten years it has worked around the premise that a lot can be done in 25 minutes. Dedicated entirely to shorts it is the largest of its kind in Asia, with a reach that extends far beyond the continent. This year 68 films from 23 countries will be screened from the 16^th to the 26^th of June. The event’s scope, however, can be measured not only in the intake of films, but in it’s annual tours across Japan, and special events that have been held in Myanmar, Mexico, Singapore, and L.A. Its mark on the cinema-going trends of Japan’s capital can be seen in the opening of the Brillia Short Shorts cinema in Minato Mirai. Showing new work along with the 700 strong back catalogue of entries in monthly programs, it is a monument to the festival’s first decade. The festival is held in central Tokyo and Yokohama, with the heart of the event being the Harajuku venues of Omotesando Hills and La Foret museum.

The films are divided into groups and then again into programs. It is a good system that allows to you find what you want, giving you a few surprises at the same time. . The Japan Asia section looks great this year, with films from all over the continent. Park Chan-Wook (Oldboy) and his brother Chan-Kyong's film Night Fishing, which was shot entirely on an iPhone, is one to watch. Of course, being a Chan-Wook film it will be incredibly violent, expect some unorthodox use of fishing rods. Other highlights include Bonz (Program A&J-B) about a mysterious floating iron ball that seeks out a boring old man, Oh, Happy Day! (A&J-C) about a girl that gets muddled up in a violent lovers tiff, Left or Right A&J-D) looking at a typically indecisive Japanese man, and the mysteriousNapolitan, Sea (A&J-F). There is also a chance to see some upcoming talent in the FC Tokyo program, not based on the football team rather the Tokyo Film School of Arts students. The majority of films will have both English and Japanese subtitles.

The international line-up boasts some big names with films featuring Jesse Eisenberg (Social Network), Keira Knightley (Adaptation) and Colin Firth (The King's Speech). Joseph Gordon Levitt's work Spark will be screened, too. It looks like an intriguing piece that blends the past and the present with some nice surreal elements. But, behind the big names there is quality in all of the programs. Oppressed Majority (I-A) a French film about sexism in a parallel universe where women rule the roost, the Brazilian All You Need is Love (Program I-C) that takes us back to the criminal gangs of the favelas, Last Passengers(I-D), a film that seems to be channeling the spirit of Amorres Perros, and Touch (I-F) by Jen McGowan all look great.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of J-League football Short Shorts is screening a special section of football related shorts. Stories look at the heart behind the sport, and with the recent debacle of the FIFA elections who couldn't do with a reminder of that. Three films in particular stand out amongst this group; The fascinating story of Panyee FC about a floating fishing village in Thailand and its unlikely kids football team looks brilliant, Oscar nominee Soccer Story from the spiritual homeland of soccer on the making of a legend, and Offside a fictional account of the football match between German and British soldiers in the first World War. Billy Elliot director Stephen Daldry's film Eight about a young Liverpool supporter is featured here, too.

Keeping with the times there is a special 3D programme being shown exclusively at Cinemart in Shinjuku. 3D is still a massive opinion divider for me, watching the dulled colour of the blockbusters through the murky glasses has left me a little cold in the past. However, it is genuinely exciting to see some offerings from outside of the mainstream, and it'll be exciting to see what they do with the medium. There are several Japanese offerings, Run! which captures rural Japan in stereoscope nicely, Fragrance a story of a girl who is secretly in love with a musician, and the arty 2028 Belief by Chinese director Chen Xi. Some of the films have clearly been constructed with the notion of 3D as the central concept and look fascinating, the visual treats of the kaleidoscopic Uyuyui, Plasticity 3D which looks like an art installation, and the French Shooting all look to be genuinely innovative.Again demonstrating that the festival has its finger on the pulse, CG films have a ten deep program showcasing some of the weird and wonderful. It looks like it will have its fair share of Japanese oddities.

The festival has links to the American Oscars and works as a preliminary stage for Oscar entry making it an even bigger chance for film-makers to get some international recognition. The ties don't end there, as the festival will also be showing all the films selected in the Short Film section from this years Oscars. Luke Matheny's God of Love took that statuette home with his tale of a darts enthusiast who finds some darts that have the power to girls fall in love with him. Unusual love stories feature elsewhere in the programme with The Crush from Ireland, the story of a primary school boy who falls for his teacher. The inventive Madagascar, a Journey Diary which uses the pages of a travel journal to show the customs and lifestyle of Madagascar.

Rounding up the best of the rest the Canon EOS program is a selection of films made using the EOS camera itself. The camera shoots in digital high-definition and allows for films to be shot with much smaller crews. The Lets Travel program is a series of films made to promote tourism in Japan and Korea which has some solid entries. There are also Italian program to commemorate the 150th anniversary of unification, and a French program that offers a selection from this years French Film Festival. The Stop Global Warming! section with the excellent apocalyptic Dream is another to mark out on the schedule.

It should be a good year for Short Shorts, enjoy yourselves.

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2nd IndBear Feature Film Festival 2011

The IndBear Feature Film Festival was a new addition to the IndBlue family last year. Along with IndPanda for short films and IndPolar for animation、 the team have most of the bases covered in what makes up a season of film festivals in Hong Kong. The focus is on independent cinema, so expect to unearth a few gems here that go under the radar of the bigger festivals. IndBlue themselves are a non-funded, non-profit organization working to help independent film-makers. They distribute and produce short films and features, with films being sourced from all over Asia. In addition they organize workshops aiming to set up an infrastructure for talent, and have even begun projects introducing film-making to Hong Kong secondary schools.

In its 2nd year there has been a slight downsizing of IndBear in terms of line-up, but there are some good quality films in its concise schedule. Individual films are generally only shown once or twice over the course of the events seventeen days with screenings from Thursday to Sunday so it’s advisable to book tickets in advance. The festival will be held in two cinemas in Hong Kong’s Kowloon district, the upmarket, luxurious MCL Telford and MCL Kornhill cinemas. The Telford cinema in particular is worth a visit in its own right, the impressive building being the recipient of the 2009 International Architecture Award.

One of the opening films, Invasion of the Alien Bikini took the Grand Prize at the 2011 Yubari Fantastic International Film Festival and is a is a gloriously wild, low-budget blend of comedy, sci-fi, body horror, and martial arts action. Produced on a budget of a mere $4500 by one of the stalwarts of Korean independent cinema Indiestory this kind of film is exactly what IndBear is all about.

Opening boldly with the Beethoven's 9th symphony, with more than a little nod to Kubrick, the film doesn't let up for the rest of its 75 minute running time. Oh Yung Doo's sci-fi extravaganza centres on the nerdy Young-gun, who prefers the moniker City Protector. He wanders the streets searching for damsels in distress. When he saves the sexy Monica, played by the excellent and alluring Eun Jung-Ha, she insists on taking him back to his apartment to express her gratitude. However, Young-gun has taken a vow of celibacy. Monica won't take no for an answer though and our hero must resist her increasingly tempting seductions.

Of course, Monica isn't all she seems and needs Young-gun to impregnate her to give birth to hordes of aliens and take over the earth. Throw in a father-son back story for our protagonist, random groups of high-kicking henchmen, and lots of sexual torture, and really what more do you need from a film? It might not sound like everyone’s cup of tea but it won plaudits galore at Yubari, and was the first time a foreign film-maker has ever received the Grand Prize there. Director Oh Yung-doo is definitely one to look out for in the future. It’s only being show once on June 10th so make sure you get your tickets early.

There are a couple of other interesting Korean films that feature in the schedule. Set in Busan She Came From, by Kim Sung-Ho, is the story of a director In-soo re-writing a film, a man losing his sight who is searching for his daughter, and the daughter Hye-ryun who is escaping everything on the back of a motorbike. Their paths weave together and eventually In-soo’s re- write begins to mirror actual events, exposing the boundaries between fiction and reality. In addition there is the challenging Father is a Dog that continues to explore the themes director Lee Sang-woo developed in his previous works Mother is a Whore and All About Father. The film examines the claustrophobic hell of a dysfunctional family as three brothers suffer under the heavy hand of their abusive father.

Japanese cinema has two representatives at IndBear. The return of the fascinating Imaizumi Koichi, who used to be an actor in Japanese pink movies (a type of romantic, soft-core pornography with high production values), allows festival-goers another chance to catch his film that was screened last year The Family Complete. It’s about a peculiar family living in a traditional Japanese house, suffering from a strange new virus. Featured in the Up in the Air section of the line-up, it looks like it might be an interesting companion piece to Father is a Dog.

Additionally, the international premiere of Tentsuki is one to look out for. About life in the bizarre town of Tenshi Tsukinuke Rokuchoume, it focuses on bankrupt salary-man Noboru escaping his past. As he begins to acclimatize to the weird people he meets in this strange community, he falls in love with the beautiful and free-spirited Miyuki and wonders if perhaps he’s found the right place to settle down. However, a shocking event shakes Noburo’s conceptions of his idyllic new life. With director Masafumi Yamada’s background in J-horror films this looks like an exciting and inventive bit of work.

IndBear also has a varied intake of European films on show. German star Daniel Bruhl’s new movie My Words, My Lies, My Love is about failing writer David Kern who stumbles across a transcript of a masterpiece in a second hand store. In a bid to impress the object of his affection, literati Maria, he decides to present it as his own work. Things begin spiraling out of control, and before he knows it he’s on daytime TV chat shows, and signing copies of his book. Swedish film Sebbe that won best debut in Berlin last year is the story of a bullied teenager, getting grief from kids at school and his over-worked mother. As a way to cope he develops a hobby, spending his time in the local junkyard creating new things from other people’s waste. Also, The Life and Death of a Porno Gang about a struggling film director that teams up with a porn director to start an underground cabaret has been doing really well at festivals all over the world. From Serbian director Mladen Djordjevic it is typical of the exciting stuff coming out of that country at the moment. Be warned though, it is very explicit; lots of sex and lots of violence.

Alongside My Words, My Lies, My Love and She Came From there are another couple of worthy entries in the Lost and Found section of the festival. Obselidia, the first feature from director Diane Bell, tells the story of loner George, a man making an encyclopedia of obsolete things. He interviews subjects for his work using a VHS recorder and a typewriter. While constructing his opus, he meets the silent film projectionist Sophie. The two wind up taking a road trip to the desert to interview an apocalypse prophesizing climate scientist. It might be a bit quirky, but any film that manages to use California and Nevada’s fascinating and alien Death Valley as a setting deserves to be seen. For people looking for something a bit closer to the middle of the road Love in a Cab might just be able to provide it. After New Years celebrations Ke Qing and Zhu Erget find themselves fighting over a cab, they decide to share and realise that they are both going the same way. Over the next decade they gradually begin to fall for each other, but there are a few complications. With director Han Yew Kwang’s background in sitcoms this film offers something a bit lighter for the IndBear festival.

The festival closes with a documentary on the life and death of one of the icons of the Hollywood star system of the ‘50s, Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger. Last year was the 25^th anniversary of his death, a victim of AIDS. It focuses on the double-identity of the super-star Hollywood hero, and his closet homosexuality. The film examines the duality of these two separate parts of the man, his film roles and how Hudson himself claimed that there was little difference from the image projected on the big screen and the reality of his private life. It should be a fascinating character-study and a strong film to close the festival.

There is lots to check out at this years festival, and IndBear is fast establishing itself as a solid fixture on the Hong Kong film calendar.

Ticket prices are $55-$60 for adults and concessions go for $45-$50 and can be purchased at the box-office of either cinema, online at www.mclcinema.com, or over the phone 25-727-202

Okinawa Film Festival 2011

The Okinawa Film Festival is less a film festival, and more a multi-media extravaganza. Run by the Japanese talent agency Yoshimoto, it features films, of course, but also live music, comedy, dance, and basically a little bit of everything. It is held on the main island of Okinawa on the outskirts of Naha city in the convention center. The center-piece is the beach stage, where visitors are entertained by famous comedians, live musicians and local dance troupes on a nearly permanent rotation. This year the weather wasn't perfect, to say the least, and was overcast for the duration. But, it didn't dampen spirits or distract the crowds too much.

In the wake of the recent tragedy in the Tohoku region of Japan it was touch and go as to whether the event would even be held at all. Yoshimoto decided that it would go ahead but turned the festival into a giant fundraiser which drew in a massive 10,949,189 yen in donations for the Japanese Red Cross. All around the event celebrities were shaking donation boxes, and selling charity T-shirts. The incredibly popular girl group AKB48 flew in to perform there latest song and then gave fans the chance to meet them and donate some money. It had queues of desperate fans lining up round the block and was the most attended event of the festival with around 30,000 onlookers. The President of Yoshimoto Mr Osaki, remembering the Kobe earthquake in the '90s explained, "Fifteen years ago in Osaka the Yoshimoto company experienced the earthquake and we struggled to cope. This time I wanted to do everything I could to push forward. I feel every employee, every performer wanted to push forward too."

The festival's original theme, "Laugh and Peace" expanded this year to become, "Yell, Laugh, and Peace". In the hope that the festival can serve as a shout-out of support and sympathy from the Okinawan community, and everyone involved in the film festival. Message boards that allowed people the chance to show their support to the people of Tohoku were a massive success with over 40,000 people putting pen to paper. These, along with personal messages and videos from Japanese entertainers will be sent to the devastated region.

Yoshimoto themselves who will be celebrating their centenary year soon, are the undeniable champion of Japanese comedy. They have a lion's share of around ninety percent of Japanese comics on their roster, and have begun expanding beyond into sports, music, and the arts. They debuted the festival in 2009 and it has really grown in size and scope in a mere three years. Originally just a four day event, it has now been expanded to ten days of films, comedy, and music. In the selected films there is a strong Japanese presence alongside a varied international intake from America, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, India, Sweden, the UK, and Russia. Festival attendance was slightly lower than expected, attributed to the crisis in Tohoku and bad weather, but it was undeniably a successful year.

Awards wise the big winner of the festival was Hankyu Densha, a pleasant if not ground-breaking story of passengers on a train. It took home the peace category prize and the Golden Cesar Award. The Laugh category was won by the Thai film Crazy Little Thing Called Love, that gave an honest shot at emulating the Hollywood teen rom-com. In that category one of the most anticipated films was Omu Raisu, produced by Yoshimito itself, which has a rafter of Japanese comedians in it. Speaking personally, Japanese comedy can be a little hard to get sometimes, but this film with its visual gags is far more accessible to foreign audiences and has a nice sense of surreality to it. The excellent Swedish film Simple Simon about a boy with Aspergers syndrome and his brother struggling to live is a snappy film and reminiscent in spirit to Germany'sGoodbye Lenin in a sort of Euro-blockbuster way. One of the films that was generating the most buzz however, was The Mask of Moonlight a pretty bleak, and pretentious flop, that seemed completely detached from reality.

In the Peace section British writer Tony Hawks brought his amiable film Round Ireland With a Fridge, the slightly fictionalized version of his trip around the country with a small refrigerator. The Taiwanese mega-blockbuster Night Market Hero with Blue Lan and Alice Ko in the lead roles was a light-hearted romp that won over audiences..The festival also ran a series of tributes to the films of Tony Curtis and Leslie Nielsen, the first two Naked Gun's, which have got to be a must-see, and Paris When it Sizzles, and The Bad News Bear Goes to Japan (probably in the for location rather than merit) were screened. In the Naked Gun II and a 1/2 screening I went to though, the celebrity presenters didn't mention the great Nielsen once, and the audience left in droves once they had gone. Not the most fitting tribute.

A new arrival for 2011 was the Local Origination Project, a selection of films made across Japan on a local level, and was one of the most exciting parts of the line-up.The project screened films from all over Japan, Okinawa all the way up to Niigata. The films were selected on the basis that they are made by people from the localities, and offer some display of lifestyles, traditions, and feel of the region. President Osaki's logic behind this is that, " Local films have their own local legends and tales. The locals and our talents can introduce local specialties, local celebrities. Through communication we can make a film. A film that may not be for the big screen, but one to be watched in Japan or Asia, perhaps in a coffee house or a city hall. The goal is to make a network where there wasn’t one before. It won’t fit in with Hollywood releases, but it should show local traditions and feelings."

The finale of the festival was a fantastic event. It featured a barn-stomping performance, among many, from the famous Okinawan group BEGIN. It had the capacity crowd going wild and really captured the good spirited nature of the festival. The festival went out fittingly with a bang as an elaborate firework display sent the audience home with smiles on their faces. As a film festival it could have done with a stronger line-up of movies but as the multi-faceted crowd-pleaser it is, that didn't seem to matter to the people who turned out. It is quite remarkable to think that a talent agency can put on an event of this size on their own. In the words of President Osaki, "There can't be any other company quite like ours."

2011 Yubari Fantastic Film Festival Round Up

There is no place quite like Yubari. Tucked away in the mountains an hour away from Chitose airport the festival has a local charm that is miles away from the more commercial elements of most major festivals. It feels like literally everyone in the town chips in to make the whole thing work, as the sleepy little village is swamped with visitors who would unlikely ever pass through otherwise. It is a place where smaller independent films can come and find an audience, and get a chance to promote their work on a larger scale.

The first night there, having planned to hit a couple of screenings we were whisked away within moments of arrival to a pole-dancing event in a small room on the 3rd floor of the town community center. It was the hot ticket that night and without wanting to tread out that cliche, it really was one of those "only in Japan" moments. Film makers Yoshihiro Nishimura and Noboru Iguchi were presenting for the night, naked apart from a sumo style cloth wrapped round their nether region. It opened with a bizarre short film with a mish-mash of old TV footage and what can only be described as a very horny platypus paper-mache doll that whilst entertaining, I'm sure was flying miles over my head in the upper reaches of the Japanese humour stratosphere. This was followed by two girls bouncing on stage to do some energetic pole-dancing, and teaching the audience how to do a dance, akin to something you might see in a maid-cafe in Akihabara. What was most surprising was the reaction from an audience with some assorted dignitaries, and elderly Japanese women absolutely loving it.

Spread over three main venues with the central hub being the towns Adele Building. There is a remarkably intimate atmosphere as it seems that the percentage of film-makers, film-lovers, and curious locals are in roughly the same proportions. Everything is within walking distance and you soon begin to bump into familiar faces on the main strip. The chilly temperature is combated with staff handing out Yubari brand ear mufflers and gloves. Local eateries have people cooking food outside beckoning you over for a try.

Film-wise there were some gems in the schedule; Pink Subaru by Kazuya Ogawa was a warm, engaging film set on the Israel/Palestine border, Ashamed a Korean film about a failed romance between two girls, Shinda Gaijin (dead foreigner) a cracking short that was perfectly gauged and superbly shot by a very bright young director, Kong Pahurak from Waseda university. Of the bigger films on show there were I Saw The Devil, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Of Gods and Men, and the Japanese premiere of Tangled. Some of the post-screening Q and A sessions were a bit flat. The questions fielded generally weren't coming from the audience, but a presenter on stage and were by and large pretty benign. One in particular with three Korean actresses that should have been a vivid lively discussion descended into tedious flattery without any insight on film. Still, this is a small aside in a largely successful event.



By far one of the best attended screenings was for Nishimura's Hell-Driver who has a sizable cult following both in Yubari, and abroad. It's a zombie film with a Japanese school-girl for a heroine, naturally. Not what I usually go for, but it was hard to not be impressed by the sheer imagination Nishimura presented; zombies with knifes and forks coming out of their face, sawed off hands attacking people, and a zombie car. The zombies have a little melon stalk popping out of their heads as a symbol for Yubari (the town is renown for its melon, probably even more so than for the festival). Nishimura really is the face of Yubari he seemed to be involved in almost everything, popping up everywhere.

The stove parties held every night outside the Adele building as the snow falls typify what Yubari is all about. Six or so furiously burning stoves warm up the revelers as people mix and mingle. Some really top notch Hokkaido food and drink is in ample supply, and free of charge. Flitting between the hubs of the stoves you can find yourself talking to some very interesting people. The openness is really refreshing, the notion of VIP status would seem like an alien concept here.

On the Sunday the closing film A Honeymoon in Hell: Mr and Mrs Oki's Fabulous Trip was unfortunately pretty awful. An interminably long, muddled mess about a trip to hell, where a pair of newly-weds smooth out some of their relationship problems. There were a few nice touches but it was unremarkable, and certainly undeserving of its climactic position on the schedule. The audience on the other hand did not seem to share my opinion on the whole, and the packed Adele auditorium did reverberate with laughter sporadically, usually coinciding with a Japanese TV celebrity cameo. However, the elder members of the screening did doze off and proceed to snore quite loudly. This was made all the more embarrassing by the fact that just a handful of seats away from the director one man's nasal passage was particularly audible.

The awards followed shortly after, and were appropriately distributed. Kazuya Ogawa's Pink Subaru deservedly took home two, the Shinega and Jury prize, both being rewarded with the sponsor Epsom's cinema projector. Violence PM received a cash prize with the Hokkaido governor award. The Gran Prix this year went to Invasion of the Alien Bikini, an inventive ambitious Korean film with a b-movie vibe, it probably won't get the biggest release but is an excellent film and I implore you to search it out. As with any Japanese ceremony it doesn't end without at least a few speeches. Unlike other notable film awards the speakers were safe in the knowledge that their addresses would not be cut short by a time-keeping orchestra, and many took full advantage of this. The festival ends in an absolutely fitting way though, as with tradition all those involved in the festival, film-makers, guests, staff, the jury and so on take to the stage for the curtain call. They are armed with an array of multi-coloured plastic balls, which they have jotted down some messages on, and after a count-down toss them into the eagerly awaiting outstretched arms of the audience.

Yubari is a strikingly unique film festival. It has a genuinely inviting and friendly atmosphere, pushing film-lovers and film-makers together. The small town, with movie posters everywhere, has masses of charm and is well worth the visit. The films are almost secondary to the sense of camaraderie it fosters in the short few days it runs. Make the trip, and bring your ski stuff as the towns Mt Racey resort has a few nice runs, and plenty of the powder that makes Hokkaido such a draw for snow-lovers.

Hong Kong International Film Festival 2011 - March 20th - April 4th

The 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival rolls in to town for over a fortnight jam-packed with top-quality films. With screens all over the city, it’s going to be a good couple of weeks for Hong Kong cinephiles. The line-up is as exciting as it is varied, and really is the definition of international, with entrants from just about everywhere. The pick of the crop from this year’s festival circuit is on display, along with a wealth of local produce. Fittingly, it opens with the world premiere of Jonnie To's rom-com Don't Go Breaking My Heart and the HKIFF funded Quattro Hong Kong 2. In amongst the cutting edge of contemporary cinema there are some enticing retrospectives to indulge with, and a chance to catch up on some of the Asian Film Awards nominations before their announcement on the 21st of March. Whatever interests you, there is plenty to look forward to.

The festival began in 1977 and ran until 2001 as a government operation, until it was passed over to the Hong Kong Arts Development council for a brief stint in the early noughties. Now, in its fourth decade it is run independently by the charitable, non-profit organization the HKIFF Society. The mission is to draw the spotlight onto Hong Kong, and Chinese Film. In a burst of activity in March and April the group holds three major film events; HKIFF, The Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum, a chance for film-makers to drum up the required cash for their next projects, and The Asian Film Awards, the continent’s lavish Oscars-like award show, which is beamed into over three hundred million houses. With attendance fluttering around the 600,000 mark and a record number of films submitted (1248 to be precise), the event is going from strength to strength, and like any good festival HKIFF makes the city a central part of the event. With over 330 films being shown, there are 11 major venues to fit it all in, ranging from City Hall to the Space Museum.

Hong Kong film has a big presence at the festival. The afore-mentioned Quattro Hong Kong 2 is a segmented look at Hong Kong by four great Asian directors: Philippine Brilliante Mendoza, who made the gritty Lola, Malaysia’s Ho Yu-Huang, Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul, last years Cannes Palme D’Or winner, and Hong Kong’s very own Stanley Kwan. As well as his new film, Jonnie To and fellow HK director Wai Ka-fai will have their work shown throughout the festival, Running on Karma, Too Many Ways to Be No. 1, Mad Detective, and Help amongst others. Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together features in a celebration of Dutch Fortissimo Films twentieth anniversary, a classic back on the big screen.

Roger Garcia, the festival executive director, joked that the HKIFF is very good at picking winners, and with a glance at the line-up it’s hard to deny. The 2011 Berlin Golden Bear winner Nader and Simin, A Separation looks fantastic. It tells the story of a couple who plane to leave Iran, until the husband has a change of mind. The latest film from Bela Tarr, The Turin Horse, took home the Silver Bear, and focuses on a rural horse-owner and his daughter. It is the story behind the story of when Nietzsche fatefully intervened, he would descend into mental illness directly after, in the whipping of a horse in the streets of Turin. Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, of Darat fame, arrives with A Screaming Man, about an ex-swimmer about to lose his job, set to the background of a civil war and intense military recruitment. It won the jury prize at Cannes last year. The Sundance winner, Australian film, Animal Kingdom, which features a terrifying performance from Jacki Weaver and Guy Pearce at his best, is a taut gripping thriller about a family of criminals and the youngest member being dragged down with them.

There are some great documentaries, too. Inside Job that rips into those that brought the world to the brink of financial meltdown. Its clinical approach is more Enron: Smartest People in the Room than Michael Moore’s populism. It took home the Oscar this year, and who wouldn’t want to see some bankers getting their comeuppance right now? Sundance documentary award winner, Wasteland, is a moving piece about the people that work and forage in the world’s biggest landfill site in Rio Di Janeiro. Lucy Walker’s camera follows photographer Vik Muniz as he dives right into to this sub-culture of people subsisting of the waste of others. He uses garbage to create art, which will eventually be sold in auctions around the world, promising to return any profits to his subjects. The Two Escobars, examining the unrelated, but not unlinked, drug-lord Pablo, and Columbian national soccer-player Andres, also looks very interesting.

The breaking of boundaries between audience and film-maker is one of the best things about film festivals and there are plenty of opportunities to do so at HKIFF events this year. A sizable portion of the films will be conducting question and answer sessions after the screenings, an invaluable to chance to pick the creators' brains. There are many free events, available on a first come first serve basis, throughout the festival: Wai Ka-fai will be having a Face to Face discussion on film, art, and creativity, Jia Zhangke is holding a Master Class on film-making, and there will be a series of small group discussions of films shown with leading film critics; to register for any of these have a look at the festival homepage. There are a handful of awards to be handed out as well, of which the centerpiece is the Signis award that looks at films with social and humanitarian themes. Twelve films are in contention for it, Winter’s Bone, Bleak Night, A Screaming Man, and Majority to name a few.

Award-winners aside there are intriguing films all over the schedule hitting Hong Kong screens. Submarine, is the directorial debut of Richard Ayoade, known for his role in Brit-comedy the IT Crowd. It is about a fifteen year-old boy who is struggling to lose his virginity by sixteen, and keep his parents together. Winning plaudits all over, it is definitely worth making time for. Kaboom is the slickly directed new comedy from Mysterious Skin director Gregg Araki on a gay man and his seemingly straight room-mate. Tom Tykwer, who has calmed down a lot since he caught the world's attention with Run Lola Run, has Three, a smooth romantic comedy about a straight couple who, separately, become involved with the same man. Also Carlos, a TV movie in classification only, is the nearly six hour long mini-series about Venezuelan terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez. It is a big commitment, but Edgar Ramirez in the lead role makes it a valid one. Kim Jee-Woon’s I Saw the Devil is everything we have come to expect from modern Korean cinema. Blisteringly violent and brilliantly directed, it unites the two powerhouses of Lee Byung-Hun and Choi Min-Sik, who give unbelievably physical performances, in this gripping revenge film.

The alluring retrospectives are one of this year’s big draws. Iranian director Abbas Kirostami's new film Certified Copy that garnered Juliette Binoche a best actress award at Cannes last year, will be the centre-point of a collection of his works, spanning over forty years that look at the boundaries of fiction, reality, and cinema itself. One of the highlights of the program is the experimental work Ten. It focuses on the ten journeys of a group of women in Tehran. Largely improvised and filmed entirely within the confines of a car the results are profoundly powerful. If this sounds right up your street, then Ten On Ten is a series of lectures on his ideas on film, given by the man himself, in the same style and taking in the scenery of another of his movies, A Taste of Cherry. Close Up, perhaps his masterpiece, with some semi-auto biographical elements, is another, though, everything in the selection is fantastic.

Elsewhere there is the recently restored collection of the late, great post-war Japanese director Shibuya Minoru that has done the rounds at Berlin and Cannes. A stalwart of the Shochiku studio, where he worked in the illustrious company of Yasujiro Ozu, he may not be a household name like other Japanese directors from the era are, but his impressive output with the studio (over 40 films in under 30 years) is well represented here. Among them are: Modern People, the story of a civil servant is a critical look at the judicial system, The Days of Evil Women, the wife and daughter of a successful businessman plot his murder in a bid to steal his wealth, and Drunkard’s Paradise the story of heavy drinking father who, after his son’s death, is left with his fiancée.

Animation makes up a big part of the roster and there is chance to see the brilliant The Illusionist, from the makers of Belle-Ville Rendezvous. Additionally, Kooky, by Czech Jan Sverak, Little Ghostly Adventures of the Tofu Boy, which looks thrillingly bizarre, A Cat in Paris, getting its Asian premiere, and Piercing I, from Chinese film-maker Liu Jian, a cutting look at China circa the 2008 economic crisis, all stand out. Stop-motion puppeteer Kawamoto Kichachiro, who died last year, has a selection of films showcasing his unique ability that took influences from Japanese Bunraku, Noh and Kabuki theatre. Additionally, there are the World Animation series I and II which offer a mish-mash from all over the globe. Not an animation, admittedly, but if you are looking for something to take the kids to then the French, Oceans, in the vein of BBC’s Earth might be a good option.

There is so much going on and, recommendations aside, uncovering hidden gems is the highlight of any festival experience. Get yourself a copy of the schedule and start finding time, because there is a lot to cram in.

Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival 2011

2011.2.24 (Thursday) - 2011.2.27 (Sunday)

The Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival (YIFF) celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and rather than resting on its laurels has decided to make its third decade count. It aims to broaden its appeal without losing what has made it such a distinct festival. The line-up this year has something for all tastes, ranging from the mainstream to film geek fodder. A wide selection of Japanese films, some of the festival big-hitters from around the world, a handful of intriguing Korean films, and some short films in the mix, too, have this looking like a vintage year. Film in Japan will be there every step of the way, with tweets, photos, reviews, and interviews.

The films break down into four sections -

• Invited films: featuring the pick of the crop from this years international festival circuit.

• The Off Theatre Competition: 9 films whittled down from over 347 entrants, personally selected by Yubari, will vie for the 2 million yen prize (about 24,000$).

• The Forecast: A selection of 18 exciting and innovative films from film-makers to look out for in the future.

• Yubari Choice: An array of Japanese and international films that offer locals a chance to catch films that would never be screened outside of Tokyo otherwise.

There are also events and discussions with film-makers throughout the festival.

Yubari has adopted a new philosophy to take it forwards, Yubarism. YIFF has always had a certain uniqueness being situated in a snowy, isolated mountain town on a ski resort in Japan's northern-most island, Hokkaido. The town is all about film, movie posters of yesteryear adorn the streets of the city and the festival is a massive part of the communities' identity. The central idea is to have a festival with fewer barriers between film-makers and film lovers, working at its own pace. Unlike the VIP treatment of most film events Yubari aims to make everything accessible, even the opening and closing parties are open to the public. Throughout the festival social events are held, like outdoor stone oven parties, fostering a far more intimate festival experience.Hence the term Yubarism, a mixture of the towns name, Yubari and rhythm.

However, it has not been plain sailing for the festival in recent years. In 2007 the event was cancelled for the first time since it began. The financial woes of the town brought proceedings to a halt. The festival, along with all other local government projects, was cut. Thankfully, the citizens of the town rescued it from the brink and now, it is run as a private enterprise with the help of commercial sponsorship. YIFF has had to adapt to circumstance and there has been a noticeable scaling down.The international prize, which saw film-makers of the caliber of the Coen brothers and Tarantino in Yubari, has had to make way. Tarantino, out here for Reservoir Dogs, managed to get Pulp Fiction written while locked away in his room at the events HQ, Hotel Shuparo. In 2004 he even gave the town its own trivia point, naming Kill Bill's psycho school-girl Gogo Yubari after the town.

The result is that Yubari works presently, as an opportunity for homegrown talent to get some much deserved recognition and credit.Yubari more than ever has found its place as a vantage point for new talent to make their mark on the Japanese industry. Among recent winners was Tsuki Inoue, who Film in Japan interviewed in Fukuoka last year, using the prize money to make her most recent work, Autumn Adagio.

Here are Film in Japan's picks of this years offerings:

I Saw The Devil

Korean revenge thriller from Ji-Woon Kim, of Bittersweet Life and The Good, The Bad, and The Weird fame. Tautly paced, shockingly violent, and terrifically acted by two powerhouses of Korean cinema, Min-Sik Choi, and Byung-Hun Lee.

Ashamed

What with all the revenge films and extreme violence in contemporary Korean cinema, you would be excused for thinking there was anything else. Three women dissect the relationship of Youn, a life model, and her ex-lover Kang, a pick- pocket.

Pink Subaru

To buy a car is the ultimate goal of sushi chef Elzobar, who works in Tel Aviv. Having realized his dream, in the form of a black Subaru, it is promptly stolen. His friends, family, and community begin the hunt for the stolen car.

Hell Driver

A splatter zombie film, with Romero-esque social commentary from Japanese gore maestro Nishimura, best known for Tokyo Gore Police. Filmed in Hokkaido, this is Yubari's local produce.

Polar Circle Presents: Unknown Creatures

An omnibus of Japanese short films that attempts to explore the boundaries of cinema, looking at humanity through unknown creatures. It could be very interesting.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Post-modernism is ramped up to the max in this adaptation of an indie graphic novel with a video-game structure. Michael Cera stars as Scott Pilgrim, 21st century super-hero.

Of Gods and Men

Winner of the Palme D'Or at last years Cannes festival, the story of the kidnapping of monks in Algeria in 1996 has attracted plaudits all over the world.