SCHEDULE 21ST WELCOME TO THE 21st JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF BROOKLYN NOUVEAU PRETORIA JAPANESEJAPANESE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE RAINBOW DATE 12:00 14:30 17:00 NATION - OCTOBER 2014 - 3 Oct Tokyo Oasis* 19:00 FILM FESTIVAL (Fri) 4 Oct Akko Chan: The Fly, Dakota, Fly! Tug Of War! Movie (Sat) 5 Oct Leaving On The 15th Rent-a-cat (Sun) Spring

The 21st Japanese Film Festival aims to celebrate the journey Japan has V&A NOUVEAU CAPE TOWN taken alongside the Republic of South Africa up to the year 2014, which DATE 12:00 14:30 17:00 is significant as it marks the 20 year anniversary of South Africa’s 10 Oct Tokyo Oasis* 19:00 ©2012 “AKKO-CHAN: The Movie” Film Democracy. Partners ©Fujio Akatsuka (Fri) Japan has always endeavoured to maintain a close association with 11 Oct Akko Chan: The Fly, Dakota, Fly! Tug Of War! Movie FREE ENTRANCE the people of South Africa. As you may well know, Japan has worked (Sat) hard to contribute to the reconstruction and development of this 12 Oct Leaving On The 15th Rent-a-cat Movie tickets will be available at the country in a wide range of areas Including the exchange of people box office one hour before the start (Sun) Spring skills. of each show

To date, about 600 South Africans have worked or studied in Japan ROSEBANK NOUVEAU JOHANNESBURG Co-organised by the Embassy of through the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) Programme or The MEXT DATE 12:00 14:30 17:00 Japan in South Africa and the Scholarship. Japan Foundation 17 Oct Tokyo Oasis* 19:00 We sincerely hope that the 21st Japanese Film Festival will broaden (Fri) your understanding of Japan and the Japanese people as we look 18 Oct Akko Chan: The Fly, Dakota, Fly! Tug Of War! Movie forward to further strengthening the relations between our two (Sat) countries in the years to come. 19 Oct Leaving On The 15th Rent-a-cat (Sun) Spring VENUES

3 ,4 & 5 October BROOKLYN NOUVEAU (PTA)

CONTACT INFO 10 ,11 & 12 Embassy of Japan 012 452 1500 October Consular Office V&A NOUVEAU (CT) 021 425 1695 www.sterkinekor.com 17 ,18 & 19 October ROSEBANK NOUVEAU (JHB) South African JET Programme Participants teaching in Japanese Schools RENT-A-CAT Title Rent-a-Cat Title Tug of War! Title Tokyo Oasis Cast Mikako Ichikawa, TUG OF WAR! Cast Mao Inoue, TOKYO OASIS Cast Satomi Kobayashi, Reiko Kusamura, Keiko Matsuzaka, Ryo Kase, Haru Kuroki, Ken Mitsuishi, Tetsuji Tamayama, Tomoyo Harada Maho Yamada, Yoko Asaji Director Kana Matsumoto, Kei Tanaka, Director Nobuo Mizuta Nakamura Kayo Katsuya Kobayashi Running time 111min Running time 83 min Director Naoko Ogigami Release date 2012 Release date 2011 Running time 110 min Genre Human Drama / Genre Human Drama Release date 2011 Comedy PG: PG Genre Comedy PG: PG PG: All Ages SYNOPSIS SYNOPSIS SYNOPSIS Inspired by a true story, Tug of War! is the Touko seems to have lost her grip on reality. Sayoko rents out cats to help lonely people “heart-warming tale” of how eight ordinary Along her journey soul searching, she fill the emptiness in their hearts. She walks women band together to try and revitalise becomes acquainted with people who carry along the banks of the river with a their local community. Chiaki Nishikawa (Mao similar issues as she does. A midnight truck megaphone promoting her service and her Inoue) works at the public relations driver, NAGANO, who happens to give Touko animals in a handcart. It turns out that Sayoko department for the city of Oita. In the past, a ride, is grappling with the discovery of his © 2012 Rent-A-Cat F.P is lonely too, ever since the death of her the city had won the tug-of-war world soul and is unable to move forward. His

©2012 “Tug of War!” Film Partners championship three times and Chiaki is also ©2011 Oasis Project escape from reality is to continually move grandmother. All she has left is her cats. However, one day a young man shows an enthusiast for the tug-of-war game. To from place to place.A movie theater manager up from Sayoko's past. He follows her home and suddenly Sayoko's life seems promote the city of Oita, the mayor instructs KIKUCHI is uncertain of her life. to completely fall apart. Chiaki to form a female tug-of-war team. She has moved to new surroundings but feels more lost than ever. A young Full of laughter and tears, this heart warming human drama depicts the job seeker at the zoo YASUKO has no faith in her future. She thinks that her luck everyday challenges of women, as they face the world head-on as daughters, is slipping away from her. During the extraordinary time they spend together wives and mothers and how just tugging on a rope brings them together! Touko and the 3 characters start to feel a new awareness growing and discover AKKO CHAN: Title Akko Chan: The Movie a new found sense of freedom, an oasis within. Together they feel change taking THE MOVIE Cast Haruka Ayase, place. Finally, Touko begins to walk again with lightened steps toward a new Masaki Okada, FLY, DAKOTA, Title Fly, Dakota, Fly! beginning of everyday life in Tokyo. Shosuke Tanihara Cast Manami Higa, Director Yasuhiro Kawamura FLY! Masataka Kubota, Running time 120 min Akira Emoto LEAVING ON Title Leaving On The 15th Release date 2011 Director Seiji Aburatani Spring Genre Comedy / Romance Running time 109 min THE 15TH Cast Ayaka Miyoshi, PG: PG Release date 2013 Kaoru Kobayashi, Genre Historical Drama SPRING Shinobu Otake, SYNOPSIS PG: PG Saori Koide Director Yasuhiro Yoshida Atsuko Kagami - known as “Akko Chan”- is a SYNOPSIS Running time 114 min 10 year old girl in elementary school . One Release date 2012 day, a magical spirit appears to her and gives January 1946 - a British military transport Genre Human Drama her a magical compact. Akko uses it to plane departs from Shanghai on its way to PG: PG 13 become a 22 years old, and has a blast Tokyo, Japan. During the flight the airplane wearing makeup that she adores and many makes an emergency landing on Sado Island SYNOPSIS ©2012 “AKKO-CHAN: The Movie” Film fashionable outfits. And if that wasn’t enough, (located in the Chubu region of Niigata Partners ©Fujio Akatsuka she even meets the man of her dreams! Her Prefecture, Japan). The residents on the island On Minamidaito Island there isn't a high crush is Naoto Hayase, an elite manager at a have heard about stereotypes of the British school, consequently teenagers who turn famous cosmetics company. But his t ©FLY, DAKOTA FLY Partners soldiers and have mixed feelings about their 15-years-old leave the island to attend high schools. Yuna Nakazato (Ayaka Miyoshi) lives company faces a corporate buyout and is about to be taken over. As he strives new "guests." Nevertheless, for the next 40 on Minamidaito Island with her father. She is to turn his company around by developing an innovative new product , Akko days the islanders take care of the crew members until the plane can take off the youngest child and has two older siblings. comes up with totally unexpected ideas to take on the crisis . Will she be able once again. This includes Chiyoko Morimoto (Manami Higa) who is the daughter ©2012”Leaving on the 15th Spring” Yuna has one year left before she must leave to save the man she loves? And what will happen to their relationship? of the inn owner where some of the British crew members stay. Based on a Film Partners true story and filmed on location on Sado Island with support from the local the island to attend high school. Her father community, including some who witnessed the event back in 1946. grows sugar cane on the island. Yuna's mother lives in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa, originally to watch over her older sister Mina while she attended high school there. Yuna’s older brother also works in Naha.

Every family on Minamidaito Island has a similar situation where the family lives separately. Yuna misses her mom, but she worries about her father, who will be JET Programme MEXT Scholarship left alone next year. Yuna is curious about the world and also feels unease over her future. A program for graduates to teach English in Japan A scholarship program to study in Japan Application forms now available: Application forms available in April 2015: http://www.za.emb-japan.go.jp/en/culture/programme_JET.html http://www.za.emb-japan.go.jp/en/Japan_SA/MEXT_application2016.html