Tag - tiff2015

 
 

TIFF2015

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 28, 2015
Killing time at the Tokyo International Film Festival
Covering a film festival can turn anyone into a stickler for scheduling. Key screenings and Q&A sessions always seem to overlap and priorities collide. Do you stick with the stodgy Japanese biopic that you're supposed to be writing about, or sneak out halfway through to go watch something more entertaining? Is it wrong to skip that new Frederick Wiseman documentary simply because it's three hours long?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2015
Tokyo film festival ups its domestic fare
The 28th edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival, which began yesterday, is the biggest event on the Japanese film calendar. And like any such event, TIFF has had its share of critics over the years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2015
Spotlight on Harada films is well-deserved
Following last year's embrace of anime and "content," 2015 sees the Tokyo International Film Festival reassert its credentials as an event, first and foremost, for cineastes. One particularly welcome addition is the new Japan Now section, a roundup of recent and upcoming movies from the likes of Hirokazu Koreeda, Shinya Tsukamoto and Yoji Yamada.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2015
Female fears at the dead center of J-horror
Japan is a scary place. It has inspired masters of horror over three centuries, from Akinari Ueda in the 1700s ("Ugetsu Monogatari") to Lafcadio Hearn ("Kwaidan") in the late 1800s, all the way to the 1990s, when Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Cure" and Hideo Nakata's "Ringu" were released, spawning a new homgreown genre that came to be known as "J-horror."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2015
Androids and the avant-garde: The best Japanese films screening at TIFF
The Tokyo International Film Festival offers a once-a-year chance to see Japanese movies, both new and classic, with English subtitles. Getting tickets, however, especially for the films in the Competition and Special Screenings sections, may not be easy. With that caveat, here are my personal picks among the Japanese films this year:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2015
Women are in trouble at the Tokyo International Film Festival
Bad things can happen to good women, especially in the movies. For me, the most intriguing films at TIFF this year feature women in trouble. Yes, men may be a lot harder to take down on-screen than women — requiring explosives, monsters and extremely fit assassins — but, in reality, girls are more resilient than guys. They often have more ideas and gumption, and can make do with less. Here are four films showing at TIFF that demonstrate how women reveal their powers when pushed into a corner.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2015
Rare orchids and misfit sex workers at the Tokyo International Film Festival
Some of the hottest tickets at TIFF each year are for films that have already secured a commercial release date in Japan. For all the high-minded talk about artistry and creativity, most viewers just want to see the big movies before everyone else. But spare a thought for the less commercial offerings on the lineup. These rare orchids and oddities are unlikely ever to see the inside of a multiplex and are worth catching on what might be their only cinematic outing in Japan.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on