Zushi Beach — a popular getaway for people seeking to escape Tokyo's stifling summer heat — may have banned "loud" music, tattoos and barbecues, but hey, at least it still has a film festival.
The Zushi Beach Film Festival offers a huge screen literally on the beach and daily screenings from April 25 to May 6 (admission tickets required) during the Golden Week holiday period.
The selection of films is eclectic, ranging from Hollywood family fare such as "Back to the Future Part II" (April 27) and "Ghostbusters" (April 28), the 1967 Jacques Tati comedy, "Playtime" (May 2) and "Amalia" (April 25), a biopic about legendary Portuguese fado singer Amalia Rodrigues. Most of the screenings have accompanying live events: the April 26 screening of "Barfee" (a Bollywood musical, not a documentary about punters at Zushi Beach's local bars) will be followed by some live Indian music on sarod and tabla accompanied by the blindingly fast rhythms of tap dancer Saro.
Ironically, the film festival seems to be celebrating everything that is banned on the beach, especially loud music. A screening of the documentary "Soul Power" will be blasting the sounds of James Brown, B.B. King and Manu Dibango. Meanwhile, Ice-T-directed hip-hop documentary "The Art of Rap" (April 29) and a collection of short films about skateboarding (May 5) will surely display more tattoos than the butt of a biker's girlfriend. For more information, visit zushifilm.com.