Press Release, April 5, 2012 1

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Nippon Connection 12th Japanese Film Festival May 2–6, 2012 Frankfurt am Main www.nipponconnection.com

Press Release, April 5, 2012

Nippon Connection 2012 – Festival Program complete 12th Japanese Film Festival in Frankfurt am Main, May 2–6, 2012 142 Films / 34 Cultural Events / Focus: Japan after the Disaster of 3/11

The program of the twelfth edition of Japanese film festival Nippon Connection is complete! 142 short and feature films invite you to get to know various aspects of Japan from May 2 to 6, 2012. At the biggest festival for Japanese cinema worldwide, numerous films will be shown in Frankfurt for the first time outside of Japan, with many international premieres screened in the attendance of the film-makers. The audience can also go on a discovery tour through the diversified cultural program, experiencing samples of Japanese everyday life as well as the extraordinary in 34 events.

One focus of the festival program is directed at different artistic approaches to the disaster that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. Films, lectures, and exhibits are dedicated to the trauma and the transformations brought about by the triple disaster. Documentary films report the extent of destruction (THE SKETCH OF MUJO by Koichi OMIYA), direct the camera toward the lives of the survivors (FUKUSHIMA: MEMORIES OF A LOST LANDSCAPE by Yojyu MATSUBAYASHI), or sensitively accompany the rebuilding of a devastated holiday resort only 30 miles away from the damaged nuclear plant (FUKUSHIMA HULA GIRLS by Masaki KOBAYASHI). For the production of 3.11 TOMORROW, many renowned Japanese directors followed the call of Sendai Short Film Festival to reflect the disaster and shot a total of 42 personal short films, all 3 minutes, 11 seconds long. A panel discussion with Japanese film-makers will direct the attention to the influences the disaster had on their work. In addition, a series of lectures organized by the Department of Japanese Studies at Goethe- University, Frankfurt, will also deal with Japanese perspectives on the events of March 11 and their consequences. German director and author Jörg Buttgereit will present his radio play THE BEAST OF FUKUSHIMA in a live show with nine actors. This work combines fantasy elements from the tradition of monster stories with the live media coverage of the very real disaster. In the exhibit JAPAN : SHIFTED, curated by Frankfurt-based artist Jiré E. Gözen, German and Japanese artists tell very personal stories of last year’s events, going beyond the media images.

This year’s NIPPON RETRO will shed a light on the growing protest movement in Japan after the triple disaster, drawing comparisons with historical events under the title of “Visual Resistance: Protest Culture in Japanese Documentary Film”. Important documentary film- makers like Shinsuke OGAWA and Noriaki TSUCHIMOTO accompanied the protest 1 Pressekontakt : [email protected] • www.nipponconnection.com Phone: +49 (0)69 798 22 986 • Fax: +49 (0)69 798 22 987 • Mobil: +49 (0)176 234 984 48 Nippon Connection e.V. • c/o AStA, Mertonstr. 26-28, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main

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movements of the 1960s and 70s. Some of these films are shown for the first time with subtitles at Nippon Connection Film Festival.

Despite the difficult circumstances of last year, which have also affected Japanese film production, Nippon Connection once more presents a varied program of exciting new films. Established film-makers are represented in this year’s NIPPON CINEMA section with impressing works. The festival will be opened by Academy Award nominee POSTCARD, a touching anti-war drama. 99-year-old directing veteran takes a glance at the era of World War II in what he affirms will be his last film. Thus, he opens the round of films competing for our NIPPON CINEMA AWARD , donated by Bankhaus Metzler and endowed with 2,000 EUR. In the competition, he will face a number of well-established colleagues. Cult director sends his terrific history drama HARA-KIRI: DEATH OF A SAMURAI, which also competed at Cannes in 2011. Star comedian Hitoshi MATSUMOTO (DAINIPPONJIN, SYMBOL) seeks for the roots of humor in his absurd comedy SAYA ZAMURAI. As a star guest, we expect internationally renowned director and actor (TETSUO) to personally present his drama KOTOKO, which has been awarded in Venice. Yusuke ISEYA, one of the most popular young actors in Japan, convinces with his opulent and brilliantly cast directing debut FISH ON LAND.

Besides showcasing established directors, our festival is also dedicated to new talents and trends in Japanese cinema in the NIPPON VISIONS section. Many up-coming talents will travel all the way to Frankfurt to introduce their works personally. Ryusuke HAMAGUCHI will present his theater adaptation INTIMACY as an international premiere, showing the emotional entanglements of young couples in moments between intimacy, loneliness, and yearning. Kohei SANADA brings with him SHING SHING SHING, his graduation film from Tokyo University of Arts, while Kei UMEZAWA presents his audacious documentary film COMING OUT STORY about a transgender person in Japan. These and nine more films compete for the NIPPON VISIONS AWARD , awarded for the third time in cooperation with JVTA (Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy) and bringing about a free subtitling for the laureate’s next film. The winner is chosen by an international expert jury: festival director and journalist Chris MaGee from Toronto, director Yonghi YANG () from Tokyo, and journalist Andreas Platthaus from Frankfurt (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

Of course, nobody would want to miss Japanese animation films in the Nippon Connection program. As a German premiere we will show CHILDREN WHO CHASE LOST VOICES FROM DEEP BELOW by Makoto SHINKAI, creating a breath-taking universe by highly complex animation. SPACES IN BETWEEN – INDIE ANIMATED SHORTS FROM JAPAN is a program dedicated to artistic animation, presenting a selection of extraordinary animation short films, among which you will find MUYBRIDGE’S STRINGS, the new film by multiple award winner Koji YAMAMURA, as well as Berlinale award winning THE GREAT RABBIT by Atsushi WADA, who will comment extensively on his work in a film-maker talk session. The program J-STAR 11 by the London-based onedotzero festival comprises many exciting new music videos and animated short films.

The youngest Nippon fans can find out how an animation film is actually made in a workshop organized in cooperation with the German Film Museum. After the great success in 2011, we will again feature a special program for children between 6 and 12 years. This NIPPON KIDS

2 Pressekontakt : [email protected] • www.nipponconnection.com Phone: +49 (0)69 798 22 986 • Fax: +49 (0)69 798 22 987 • Mobil: +49 (0)176 234 984 48 Nippon Connection e.V. • c/o AStA, Mertonstr. 26-28, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main

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section not only offers a film program with popular animation series but also incites interactive participation – children can try out the elaborate preparation of bento lunch boxes or origami paper folding as well as Japanese games and toys while their parents explore the festival.

With 34 events, the NIPPON CULTURE section features traditional culture as well as innovative and experimental trends from the Japanese art scene. An exhibit at Kunstraum Westend is dedicated to calligraphy representing both an artistic expression and a Zen practice to become one with the brush. In various workshops you can learn about the tea ceremony, the history of the kimono, the playing of taiko drums, the secrets of Japanese sword fighting or the preparation of delicious wagashi sweets.

An almost forgotten art will be brought back to life by benshi (traditional film narrator) Ichiro KATAOKA. Being a part of the Nippon Connection line-up for the second time, this year he brings with him to Frankfurt traditional music group OTOWAZA. The musicians will not only accompany the silent film JIROKICHI THE RAT together with benshi KATAOKA, they will also present their interpretations of modern pop tunes by Kraftwerk and other bands played on traditional Japanese instruments in a special concert. Till Weingärtner, lauded in Japan, will present a Japanese version of ambitious “sit-down-comedy” known as rakugo, in which he impersonates different roles and enacts humorous stories in dialogues.

The festival guests and patrons can also enjoy a shiatsu massage or a variety of delicacies of Japanese cuisine. Festival classics like the karaoke-ramen bar and our video games arcade are sure to get you in the right mood for wild and long festival nights. On Friday, an excessive live show by the band Gothika will get people moving, and hot underground DJ SiSeN will turn the festival center into a Tokyo-decadance-event!

The Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection is organized in voluntary work by a team of 50 members of the non-profit Nippon Connection association. Once more, we expect around 16,000 visitors this year.

Locations: Students’ House, Goethe-University/Bockenheim Campus, Jügelstrasse 1, Frankfurt am Main Cinema Orfeo’s Erben, Hamburger Allee 45, Frankfurt am Main Cinema at German Film Museum, Schaumainkai 41, Frankfurt am Main AusstellungsHalle 1A, Schulstrasse 1a, Frankfurt am Main Kunstraum Westend, Beethovenstrasse 35, Frankfurt am Main

Advance booking Tickets are available at all AD-Ticket offices in Germany. Online: www.nipponconnection.com, www.adticket.de Ticket Hotline: +49 (0)69 407 6222 580 (Mon to Fri, 8:30-19:30 and Sat, 10:00-14:00)

3 Pressekontakt : [email protected] • www.nipponconnection.com Phone: +49 (0)69 798 22 986 • Fax: +49 (0)69 798 22 987 • Mobil: +49 (0)176 234 984 48 Nippon Connection e.V. • c/o AStA, Mertonstr. 26-28, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main

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Press contact: Anna Mayr, mobile: +49 (0)176 234 984 48 [email protected] www.nipponconnection.com

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The Films:

NIPPON CINEMA A Honeymoon in Hell: Mr. and Mrs. Oki’s Fabulous Trip (Okike no tanoshii ryoko) by Ryuichi HONDA, J 2011 Casting Blossoms to the Sky (Kono sora no hana: Nagaoka hanabi monogatari) by Nobuhiko OBAYASHI, J 2011 Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below (Hoshi wo ou kodomo) by Makoto SHINKAI, J 2011 Deadball by Yudai YAMAGUCHI, J 2011 The Egoists (Keibetsu) by Ryuichi HIROKI, J 2011 Fish on Land (Seiji: Riku no uo) by Yusuke ISEYA, J 2011 Fukushima Hula Girls (Ganbappe fura garu! Fukushima ni . Kanojotachi no ima) by Masaki KOBAYASHI, J 2011 Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (Ichimei) by Takashi MIIKE, J/UK 2011 Kotoko by Shinya TSUKAMOTO, J 2011 Love Strikes! (Moteki) by Hitoshi ONE, J 2011 Monsters Club by Toshiaki TOYODA, J 2011 My Back Page by , J 2011 No Man’s Zone (Mujinchitai) by Toshi FUJIWARA, J/F 2012 Our Homeland (Kazoku no kuni) by Yonghi YANG, J 2012 Postcard (Ichimai no hagaki) by Kaneto SHINDO, J 2010 Ringing in Their Ears (Gekijoban Shinsei Kamattechan rokkun roru wa nariyamanai) by Yu IRIE, J 2011 Saya Zamurai by Hitoshi MATSUMOTO, J 2011 Sukiyaki (Gokudo meshi) by Tetsu MAEDA, J 2011 Tada’s Do-It-All House (Mahoro ekimae Tada benriken) by Tatsushi OMORI, J 2011 The Woodsman and the Rain (Kitsutsuki to ame) by Shuichi OKITA, J 2011

NIPPON VISIONS 3.11 TOMORROW (short films) About the Pink Sky (Momoiro sora o) by Keiichi KOBAYASHI, J 2011 Come As You Are (Soro nante kudaranai) by Kouta YOSHIDA, J 2011 Coming Out Story by Kei UMEZAWA, J 2011 Die! Directors, Die! (Shine! Shine! Shinema) by Makoto SHINOZAKI, J 2011 Encounters by Takashi IITSUKA, J 2011 Dressing Up by Yuka YASUKAWA, J 2012 Fukushima: Memories of a Lost Landscape (Souma kanka : Dai ichi bu - Ubawareta tochi no kioku) 4 Pressekontakt : [email protected] • www.nipponconnection.com Phone: +49 (0)69 798 22 986 • Fax: +49 (0)69 798 22 987 • Mobil: +49 (0)176 234 984 48 Nippon Connection e.V. • c/o AStA, Mertonstr. 26-28, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main

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by Yojyu MATSUBAYASHI, J 2011 Goodbye (or Not!) (Moshikashitara Bye, Bye!) by Quanah TAKAHATA & Hirohito TAKINO, J 2011 Half Virgin and Zero Man (Hanbun shojyo to zero otoko) by Sakichi SATO, J 2011 Intimacy (Shinmitsusa) by Ryusuke HAMAGUCHI, J 2011 It May Be that Beauty Has Strengthened Our Resolve – Masao Adachi by Philippe Grandreux, F 2011 KanZeOn by Neill Cantwell and Tim Grabham, J 2011 onedotzero: J-Star 11 (short films) Project Dengeki: My Baby by Nagisa ISOGAI, J 2010 / Thunderbolt by Ai WATANABE, J 2012 / My Sis Violates an Insect Taboo by Masaki DAIKUHARA, J 2010 River by Ryuichi HIROKI, J 2011 Shing Shing Shing by Kohei SANADA, J 2011 The Sketch of Mujo (Mujo sobyo) by Koichi OMIYA, J 2011 The Sound of Light (Hikari no oto) by Jyuichiro YAMASAKI, J 2011 Friends of Jack (Jack no yujin) by Shintaro NAKASHIMA, J 2012 Indie Animated Shorts From Japan: Spaces in Between (short films) Sugar Baby by Hiroki KUMAMOTO, J 2011 Ranshin by Keisuke TOMINAGA, J 2011

NIPPON RETRO Gewaltopia: Motoharu JONOUCHI’s Images of Protest by Motoharu JONOUCHI, J 1961-1968 The Oppressed Students (Assatsu no mori; Takasaki Keizai Daigaku toso no kiroku) by Shinsuke OGAWA, J 1967 Summer in Narita (Nihon kaiho sensen: Sanrizuka no natsu) by Shinsuke OGAWA, J 1967 Prehistory of the Partisans (Paruchizan zenshi) by Noriaki TSUCHIMOTO, J 1969 Underground Square (Chika hiroba) by Keiya OUCHIDA, J 1969 Minamata: The Victims and Their World (Minamata: Kanja-san to sono sekai) by Noriaki TSUCHIMOTO, J 1971 Amateur Riot (Shiroto no ran) by Yuki NAKAMURA, J 2007 Yasukuni by Ying LI, J 2007

NIPPON KIDS Chibi Maruko Chan by Tsutomu SHIBAYAMA, J 1990 Rita & Whatsit (Rita to nantoka) by Jun TAKAGI, J 2010

5 Pressekontakt : [email protected] • www.nipponconnection.com Phone: +49 (0)69 798 22 986 • Fax: +49 (0)69 798 22 987 • Mobil: +49 (0)176 234 984 48 Nippon Connection e.V. • c/o AStA, Mertonstr. 26-28, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main