‘The 12 Day Tale of the Monster that Died in 8’: Little beasts battle COVID-19 online
Film production in Japan shut down in early April as part of the response to the outbreak of COVID-19, and as weeks passed with no signs of an immediate revival, filmmakers began to adapt to the situation by making “isolation” films. Among them is the ...
'Last Letter': Love letter delivers sweetness and slush
Takako Matsu reunites with director Shunji Iwai to play a middle-aged woman who exchanges letters with her late sister's high school flame.
High infidelity: Ayumi Ito reprises her role in 'Hirugao'
A Japanese drama that instigated a nationwide debate about female infidelity and societal values, "Hirugao: Love Affairs in the Afternoon" has been made into a heart-wrenching movie that aims to have audiences reaching for the tissues. Set three years after the television series ended, the ...
A new wave of Japanese filmmakers matches the old
Nearly two decades after the Japanese New Wave of the 1990s, the directors who led it, including Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Hirokazu Koreeda and Naomi Kawase, are still the local industry's most prominent faces abroad. But this year a new generation of filmmakers has finally started ...
The digital age of relationships and filmmaking
Shunji Iwai has long stood on ambivalent terrain. To Western audiences he's known as a prolific and brilliant auteur, but without the overseas cachet of others such as Takeshi Kitano. To his fans in Japan, he's viewed as the spokesman for the socially conscious ...
Stars come out for Tokyo film festival opening
The 29th Tokyo International Film Festival marked its opening Tuesday afternoon with a traditional red carpet ceremony that was heavy on Asian stars and filmmakers. With the festival abandoning its modern, eco-friendly "green carpet" this year, domestic stars dominated the promenade at the Roppongi Hills ...
Japan's eclectic collection of choice
The Tokyo International Film Festival offers a great once-in-a-year opportunity to see new and classic Japanese films with English subtitles. The sheer quantity on offer — more than 50 titles in the main sections alone — can be overwhelming, though. Here are samples from ...
Money, censorship and the future of Asian cinema
Flitting around Roppongi Hills during the week of the Tokyo International Film Festival, you get to meet and chat with any number of interesting people, but one of the better conversations I had was sitting down for coffee with Jacob Wong, curator of the ...
