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Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival (JAEFF) 2018: More...
After revealing our Sunday line-up in our last newsletter, we’re now happy to share with you the exciting news that tickets are on sale for our Saturday 22 September screenings showing at Close-Up Film...
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Film Review: Kushina, what will you be (2018) by Mayami Moët
“… and there are moments I feel beauty in those around me.” Nature and its preservation have always been one of the most important themes in many parts of Japanese culture. Considering its highly...
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Interview with Thunder Sawada and Yuya Takagawa: Regarding the form and the...
After growing up in Aomori and graduating from college, Thunder Sawada held jobs working for a land shark, customer support, and freelance writing before beginning his career as a contemporary artist....
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Film Review: Radiance (2017) Naomi Kawase
I have to admit, I find a number of Naomi Kawase’s films repeating, too self-conscious and occasionally even pretentious, despite their more than evident visual prowess. “Radiance” however, achieves a...
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Anime Review: Violence Voyager (2018) by Ujicha
Following up the bizarre “The Burning Buddha Man”, director Ujicha again employs a blend of animation and manga called “geki-mation,” a process creating grotesque body horror nightmare imagery from...
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Anime Review: Fireworks (2017) by Akiyuki Shinbo and Nobuyuki Takeuchi...
“There is no world like that.” As we look upon the pictures of our youth, whether they are from past yearbooks or snapshots with or friends, the magic of that moment in our lives stays on. Recounting...
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Interview with Akio Fujimoto and Yuki Kitagawa: When we arrived there, the...
Born in Osaka, Japan, Akio Fujimoto studied psychology before enrolling in the Visual Arts Academy, where he learned filmmaking. His first short, Psychedelic Family (2012), a semi-autobiographical...
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Erik Matti’s action extravaganza “BuyBust” in US cinemas August 10th
Filipino director Erik Matti’s latest high octane action movie “BuyBust” will be released in US cinemas on the 10th of August, courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment. Expect an exhilarating mashup of...
View ArticleTrailer for Upcoming Film “Alita: Battle Angel”
American director Robert Rodriguez (“From Dusk Till Dawn” “Once Apon A Time In Mexico” “Sin City”) next project “Alita: Battle Angel” is a cyberpunk action film inspired by the cult manga series...
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Film Review: Mori, the Artist’s Habitat (2018) by Shûichi Okita
It is always a joyful event whenever a new film by director Shûichi Okita is released; you can count on it, you know you will get a gift of beauty and laugh. His latest work, “Mori, the Artist’s...
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Interview with Moët Hayami: “Human power is helpless to the power of nature”
Moët Hayami was born in Shiga Prefecture. She studied at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto in the visual department and became a freelance video professional. Hayami and cinematographer Ryo Muramatsu...
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Film Review: Yeah (2018) by Yohei Suzuki
Yohei Suzuki’s first feature film, “Ow” was quite weird, through a combination of surrealism, drama, and mystery. However, it seems that Suzuki had a lot more of this weirdness to present, and he does...
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Film Review: Rokuroku: The Promise of the Witch (2018) by Yudai Yamaguchi and...
One of Japan’s most significant cultural phenomenon, the eccentricities of everyday life is explained by the presence of spirits in objects which have become known as Yokai. This concept has been a...
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Film Review: The Fatal Contract (2018) by Tan Bing
“I will use my brush to paint your breath drifting through the air.” During Romanticism, many painters and authors believed in the ability to build a bridge with the afterlife through their sheer will...
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Film Review Thicker Than Water (2018) by Keisuke Yoshida
“I really thought I could change.” In general sibling rivalry is one of the oldest themes of mankind, a foundation for countless tales in art, film and literature. Ever since the story of Cain and Abel...
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Interview with Kazuo Hara: “Hey Japanese people, Get Angry,”
One of Japan’s foremost documentary filmmakers, Hara made a remarkable debut in 1972 with Goodbye CP after dropping out of university to work at a special education school. Focusing on outsiders and...
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Anime Review: Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018) by Mari Okada...
As I have mentioned before, the spirit of Hayao Miyazaki is bound to be carried onwards in the anime industry for many years to come. Mari Okada (whose writing credits include titles like “Basilisk”,...
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Film Review: Abnormal Family (1984) by Masayuki Suo
Can porn be art? This question seems to be contradicting itself. Art calls for our contemplation, while porn requires our bodily involvement. How can a film excite its viewers on these two fronts?...
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Interview with Keisuke Yoshida: “…I feel that the ideas of jealousy, anger...
Japanese director Keisuke Yoshida was born in 1975 in Saitama in the Saitama Prefecture. While he was still studying at Tokyo Visual Arts he started making his own independent films. Ever since his...
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Anime Review: Penguin Highway (2018) by Hiroyasu Ishida Screening at Fantasia...
No matter when Miyazaki decide to step down permanently (never probably), the spirit of Studio Ghibli is bound to live forever, with the impact the company and the Japanese master’s productions had and...
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