jffsf2018 | Japan Film Festival of San Francisco

★ Masato Harada
Director

Sekigahara Screening + Q&A
Sept.29 Sat @ 12:00 PM 【San Francisco Premiere】
2017 | 149 min | with English Subtitles | Directed by Masato Harada
Supported by Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco

Japanese director Masato Harada studied filmmaking in London and worked as a film critic in Los Angeles before he made his 1979 directorial debut Goodbye Flickmania, a Howard Hawks homage. After making films in the U.S.—including sci-fi cult hit Gunhed (1989) and Painted Desert (1993) — he returned to Japan to make the modern classic Kamikaze Taxi (1994), his first collaboration with Koji Yakusho. Having lived, studied and worked in Europe and the US for many years, he has established unique position in the Japanese film industry. A master storyteller in the tradition of Akira Kurosawa, he has been chosen to receive the New York Asian Film Festival’s Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. He is also known as an actor and appeared in Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai in 2003 and Ronny Yu’s Fearless in 2006.

Flavors of Youth

★ Oct.7 Sun @ 2:45PM

2018 | 74 min | with English Subtitles | Directors: Xiaoxing Yi, Yoshitaka Takeuchi, Haoling Li

From CoMix Wave Films, the creative visionaries behind the international phenomenon Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name, comes Netflix’s new anime feature film Flavors of Youth, in association with Chinese studio Haoliners. Memories in a bowl of steaming noodles, a fading beauty finding her way and a bittersweet first love — all in these stories of city life in China. This triptych anthology film explores the simple joys of life through sensual memories and how the beating heart of love cannot be defeated by the flow of time.

Kurara: The Dazzling life of Hokusai’s Daughter

★ Oct.6 Sat @ 12:00 PM 【North American Premiere】

2017| 73 min | with English Subtitles
Presented by NHK WORLD-Japan

Free Admission!!!* LIFE Magazine calls Japan’s Edo era master painter Katsushika Hokusai one of 100 people who left the most important achievements of the past millennium. Assisting him behind the scenes however was a woman: his daughter, O-Ei. Since her childhood, O-Ei was captivated by painting. When she returns to the family home after her divorce, she began assisting her father. O-Ei was by his side as he completed his iconic “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” series. When Hokusai grew too old to wield his brush freely, O-Ei became his “brush” and painted on his behalf. It was during this time that she began to cultivate a strong fascination with colors as she finally developed her own painting style.
* First come first served. Please make sure to arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the screening to secure your seat.

Yui Kiyohara

★ Yui Kiyohara
Director

★ Our House Screening + Q&A
Oct.6 Sat @ 1:45 PM 【San Francisco Premiere】
2017 | 80 min | English Subtitles | Directed by Yui Kiyohara

Born in Tokyo in 1992.
She completed a master’s program in Directing at the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts, where Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa was her mentor. Our House is her graduation project and her first feature film. Winning the Grand Prix at the 2017 PFF Award helped the piece find a distributor and win a release in Shibuya early this year. From there it was on to successes at the Berlin and Hong Kong International Film Festivals as well as at MoMA and Lincoln Center’s New Directors/New Films, followed by an invitation to the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival as well as many others. She is considered as one of the freshest and most talented young directors of today’s Japan.

Tokyo Short Shorts 2018

★ Oct.7 Sun @ 12:00PM 【San Francisco Premiere】

2017 | 70 min | with English Subtitles | Featured directors: Genevieve Clay-Smith, Akira Boch, Tsugihisa Tanaka, Hiroki Horanai
Co-preseted by Short Shorts Film Festival & ASIA

Our popular collaboration with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia is back to exclusively premiere a collection of award-winning short films directed by a new generation of filmmakers! >>BUY TICKETS
★ SHAKESPEARE IN TOKYO (Directed by Genevieve Clay-Smith)
★ Our Man in Tokyo (Directed by Akira Boch)
★ Michi’s Suburban Commute (Directed by Tsugihisa Tanaka)
★ TOKYO COMET (Directed by Hiroki Horanai)

▼SHAKESPEARE IN TOKYO (Directed by Genevieve Clay-Smith)

▼ Our Man in Tokyo (Directed by Akira Boch)

▼ Michi’s Suburban Commute
(Directed by Tsugihisa Tanaka)

▼ TOKYO COMET
(Directed by Hiroki Horanai)

One Cut of the Dead

★ Oct.6 Sat @ 5:45PM 【San Francisco Premiere】

2017 | 96 min | with English Subtitles | Directed by Shinichiro Ueda

Director Shinichiro Ueda’s marvelously inventive indie flick has been lighting the box office on fire in Japan.

The film opens in a run-down, abandoned warehouse where a film crew is making a zombie film… Yet, this is no ordinary warehouse. It’s been said that it’s the site of military experiments… Out of nowhere, real zombies arrive and terrorize the crew! This may sound like a plot of a clichéd zombie film, but One Cut of the Dead is something completely different! Starting off with a non-stop one-take 37-minute shot, the film then completely switches direction and turns the zombie genre completely upside down into a charming, audience-friendly comedy!

Our House

★ Oct.6 Sat @ 1:45 PM 【San Francisco Premiere】
★ Special Appearance by Director Yui Kiyohara

2017| 80 min | with English Subtitles | Directed by Yui Kiyohara

Director Yui Kiyohara makes a memorable debut with this poetic, slow-moving chiller about an otherworldly collision of parallel lives — a girl who has lost her father and a woman who loses her memory intersect in the same house. Seri (Nodoka Kawanishi) has been living together with her mother Kiriko (Yuriko Yasuno) ever since her father vanished and has conflicting feelings about Toko’s new boyfriend. Meanwhile, Toko (Mei Fujiwara) meets amnesiac Sana (Mariwo Osawa) and allows her to stay in her house. Official Selection at NY MOMA’s New Directors New Films 2018 & Berlin International Film Festival 2018. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see director Yui Kiyohara!
>> About Director Yui Kiyohara

DigiCon6 ASIA Awards: The Wonders of Animation Shorts

★ Oct.5 Fri @ 7:15 PM 【North American Premiere】

83 min | with English Subtitles
Featured directors: Kaori Iwase, Shinya Hashizume, Takahiro Miyauchi, Takuya Okada, Tomoki Misato, Honami Yano, Woohyun Kim, Sayaka Kihata, Yantong Zhu, Yoko Yuki, Q-rais, Manabu Himeda

DigiCon6 ASIA Awards is an annual competition held each fall, which seeks and recognizes talented creators throughout Asia (ex : Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka) for their outstanding works. JFFSF and DigiCon6 collaborate to showcase 11 award-winning animation shorts to share the wonders of imagination colorfully expressed in a variety of forms and styles of animation. DigiCon6 also provides creators with opportunities to expand their creative ground by supporting their innovative minds and activities year-round internationally.

Way back to the Sea
Directed by Kaori IWASE

KAIJU BATH
Directed by Shinya HASHIZUME

TOKYO COSMO
Directed by Takahiro MIYAUCHI, Takuya OKADA

Look at Me Only
Directed by Tomoki MISATO

CHROMOSOME SWEETHEART
Directed by Honami YANO

S -The Birth of Psycho-
Directed by Woohyun KIM

I Can’t Breathe
Directed by Sayaka KIHATA

My Milk Cup Cow
Directed by Yantong ZHU

Zdravstvuite!
Directed by Yoko YUKI

I like ducks
Directed by Q-rais

Youkosobokudesu4 ~ What is “Youkosobokudesu”?
Directed by Manabu HIMEDA

Ramen Heads

★ Oct.2 Tue @ 7:15PM

2017 | 93min | with English Subtitles | Directed by Koki Shigeno

This documentary gives an intimate look at enthusiastic fans of ramen and the chefs who make it. Over a 15-month-long shoot, Chukasoba Tomita proprietor Tomita Osamu and his customers are interviewed revealing the history of ramen’s evolution while also painting a portrait of Japan’s distinct ramen culture. The camera captures Tomita’s virtually apprentice monk-like daily life: the obsessive caution exercised toward his soup and noodles; the care and precision practiced toward the ingredients; the severe scolding toward his pupils; the extraordinary care toward his customers; and his exploration of ramen shops on his days off.

The Night is Short, Walk On Girl

★ Oct.1 Mon @ 7:15PM

2017 | 93 min | with English Subtitles | Directed by Masaaki Yuasa

Award-winning anime director Masaaki Yuasa paints the most mesmerizing romantic comedy adapting Morimi Tomihiko’s novel of the same name.

Set in the enchanting city of Kyoto, Senpai (senior), a male university student is secretly in love with Otome (girl) with the black hair. He searches for her everywhere he goes: into the night alley of Pontocho, at the used book market at Shimogamo Shrine, and at the annual university fair… But she never realizes how he feels, and each time he “happens” to run into her, she simply says “What a coincidence!” Will Senpai ever get her to realize his love?