Tokyo tends to suck up all the media oxygen when it comes to film festivals and events in this country, but there's plenty going on beyond the capital's borders, as evidenced by the Osaka Asian Film Festival. The 11th edition of the festival, unspooling March 4-13 at venues in Osaka, will present a wide-ranging program of new and classic Asian films and new Japanese titles with a populist slant.
This year OAFF will open with "Wansei Back Home," Huang Ming-cheng's hit 2015 documentary about Japanese born in Taiwan during the 1895-1945 colonial period, who were nearly all forced to leave following Japan's defeat. The closing film will be Shuichi Okita's family comedy "Mohican Comes Home" ("Mohican Kokyo ni Kaeru"), starring Ryuhei Matsuda as a death metal band vocalist who returns to his home on a remote island with his pregnant girlfriend (Atsuko Maeda) to a less-than-warm welcome from his prickly dad (Akira Emoto).
The festival will also present 13 films in its competition, nine in its Special Screenings section and 25 in sections devoted primarily to recent films from Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Another highlight is the Indie Forum section showing 14 films by up-and-coming Asian directors.
For more information on festival screenings and events, visit www.oaff.jp/2016/en.