My Dear Enemy

Korean Film Nights

Single, jobless and broke, 30-something Hee-soo is miserable. To get back on her feet she comes up with a plan to track down her ex, Byoung-woon, and re-claim the 3 ½ million won he owes her.
Byoung-woon is also penniless but surprisingly happy for he knows the girls who are willing to give him money. Afraid Byoung-woon may run off before clearing his debt, Hee-soo follows him as he visits many girls to borrow money, so the two ex-love birds set out on a one day journey to collect money, and memory.

KCC Multi-purpose Hall

 

United Red Army and the Legacy of Koji Wakamatsu Talk by Jasper Sharp

23 January 2013 from 6.30pm, at the Japan Foundation, London

Koji Wakamatsu, a controversial and iconoclastic filmmaker tragically passed away in October 2012 aged 76. A self-taught director and producer, Wakamatsu produced over 100 films in his career, gaining notoriety for his soft-core ‘pink’ and exploitation films before delving into a more politically-charged cinema. Wakamatsu’s most ambitious and celebrated film is United Red Army, a docu-drama depicting the rise and fall of 1960s left-wing radicalism, will be screened as part of this year’s Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme.

Complementing this screening, Jasper Sharp, writer and film curator, will briefly go through Wakamatsu’s prolific career and contribution to the nation’s cinema. Focusing particularly onUnited Red Army, this talk will look into how Wakamatsu came to make the film about a brutal and bloody history that had almost been forgotten, and how it stands out as the best among the films depicting Japan’s epic historical radicalism activities in the 1960s.

Sunny

7PM, June 21, 2012

Multi-Purpose Hall, KCCUK

Soo-ni is a young woman stuck in an arranged marriage to a man who still loves his college girlfriend. Her husband, Sang-gil, is a soldier in the Republic of Korea Army, and though she visits him regularly, he doesn’t return her affections. After Sang-gil is sent to fight in the Vietnam War, Soo-ni resolves to follow him. She joins a band which is heading there, where she sings for the soldiers as “Sunny”, with the hope of being reunited with her husband.

Japanese Cinema for Busy People – Part 3

 

13 June 2012 – 11 July 2012

The Japan Foundation, London

Looking to expand your knowledge on Japanese cinema? The Japan Foundation is inviting those fascinated by all things cinema, or all things Japanese, to join the third series of Japanese Cinema for Busy People.

Whether you are a dedicated cineaste or a casual moviegoer, all are welcome to join and enjoy! Experts in the field will hold lectures assessing significant topics in Japanese cinema, past and present. As a complement to the BFI and Japan Foundation season Two Masters of Japanese Cinema: Kaneto Shindo & Kozaburo Yoshimura, fill your Wednesday evening with a cinema lecture – without having to do any of the homework!

Dates: 13th, 20th, 27th June, 4th, 11th July – Every Wednesday

 

Week 1 – Wednesday 13 June 2012 – 6.30pm

Beyond Rashomon: A Golden Age of Japanese Cinema, but for Whom?
by Jasper Sharp (Writer and Film Curator)

Jasper Sharp will look beyond the Japanese filmmakers of the 1950s championed in the West to focus on the technological and industrial developments of the era considered the ‘Golden Age’ of Japanese cinema.

 

Week 2 – Wednesday 20 June 2012 – 6.30pm

Fidelity, High and Low: Japanese Cinema and Literary Adaptation
by Lauri Kitsnik (University of Cambridge) 

Lauri Kitsnik will consider how the relationship between literature and film has developed through various periods of Japanese cinema and the way literary classics have been reinterpreted for the screen.

 

Week 3 – Wednesday 27 June 2012 – 6.30pm

The Meaning of Independence in Japanese Cinema: Production, Distribution and Exhibition
by Julian Ross (University of Leeds)

Julian Ross will discuss the meaning of independence in the context of Japan’s film history, and examine the alternatives in distribution, production and exhibition whilst investigating what exactly is gained and lost with the decision to turn independent.

 

Week 4 – Wednesday 4 July 2012 – 6.30pm

Collaboration or Exploitation? The Relationship Between Japanese Directors and their Stars
by Tony Rayns (Writer, Film Critic and Programmer)

Tony Rayns will explore the creative relationships between Japanese directors and their stars, many of which instigated by contractual bounds under the Studio system, and how recurring actors can be both fruitful and restraining in film production.

 

Week 5 – Wednesday 11 July 2012 – 6.30pm

What’s Happening Now in Japanese Cinema?
by Dr Rayna Denison (University of East Anglia)

Dr Rayna Denison will investigate the history behind the rise of thenew “big hit” cycle of Japanese filmmaking and ask why these films are so successful and why, despite their domestic success, they often remain hidden from (English) view.

To register, please e-mail event@jpf.org.uk with your name and the session you would like to attend.

Nippon Connection 2012

12TH JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL NIPPON CONNECTION

From May 2nd to 6th, 2012, you are invited to experience the various facets of Japanese culture in a program that tries to reject ordinary standards. Many of the 142 films are presented as international premieres in Frankfurt am Main and can be watched outside of Japan only at these screenings. In addition, the event offers workshops, parties, exhibitions, lectures, performances, and much more that attracts our visitors besides cinema. Nippon Connection doesn’t seek to guide your view but wants to diffuse it and avoid fixed stereotypes in order to foster openness, interest and tolerance. You are invited to join and watch beyond the screen, to explore and to celebrate a vivid exchange of cultures both with the organisers and with many guests from Japan.

PROGRAM

TICKETS

BLOG

Actresses

6:30pm, February 23, 2012

Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus

Director E J-yong mixes reality and fiction by bringing together top actresses to play themselves on screen. On Christmas Eve, in order to shoot Vogue’s special edition, six actresses ranging from their twenties to their sixties come together at a studio. This should be the first attempt in Korea to break the rules of the fashion world.

New Japanese Cinema at the Barbican

Premiere Japan 2011 

This year, Premiere Japan comes to the Barbican for the first time, for its seventh London edition, screening the best and most recent films to come out of Japan. Choose from a diverse programme of contemporary Japanese cinema. No need to travel to Tokyo; Tokyo is coming to you! Premiere Japan 2011 is presented by the Embassy of Japan, with kind support from the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation.

For more information click here

68th Venice Film Festival

31st August to 10th September 2011

The 68th Venice International Film Festival, organized by La Biennale di Venezia, will run at Venice Lido August 31st through September 10th, 2011.

The aim of the Festival is to raise awareness and promote all the various aspects of international cinema in all its forms: as art, entertainment and as an industry, in a spirit of freedom and tolerance. The Festival includes retrospectives and homages to major figures as a contribution towards raising awareness of the history of cinema.

Marco Müller is the Director the 68th edition. He has been heading the Venice Biennale’s Cinema section since 2004.

For further information see here.

Korean Film Night

Sakwa (2008)

Kang Yi-kwan

7:00pm, April 28 2011
Genre: Drama

Cast: Moon So-ri, Kim Tae-woo, Lee Sun-kyun
*Sakwa is homonym of apple and apology in Korean.

Hyun-jung’s first love of seven years, Min-suk, has coldly left her. A man named Sang-hoon appears with a business card and a bouquet of flowers. Hyun-jung breaks down into tears and decides to marry Sang-hoon with the belief that no one in this world con love her as much. After their marriage, two conflicting views of love collide. During this division, Min-suk reappears unable to erase her memories and confesses his love for her. Hyun-jung is left a state of confusion. (KOFIC)

Multi Purpose Hall, KCCUK

BOOKING

Terracotta: Far East Film Festival

Film at the Embassy

Films at the Embassy

Wednesday, 20 April – Haru

The Embassy of Japan 101-104 Piccadilly, London W1J 7JT

Admission is free, but prior registration is essential.

Wednesday, 20 April, 18:30

Doors open at 17:45. No admittance after 19:00

Haru

Yoshimitsu Morita/1996/118 mins
This film contains references of a sexual nature and may be unsuitable for children.

Considered experimental when it was first released in 1996, this sentimental drama is composed mostly of email messages. Hayami Noboru is a budding movie fan who decides to join a film forum on the internet using the name Haru. He finds an email friend online called Star. Though at first they are merely strangers finding anonymous solace in each other’s virtual company, they soon begin to realise the depths to which their feelings for each other have grown.

Winner of Best Screenplay and also Best Actress (Eri Fukatsu) at the 18th Yokohama Film Festival in 1997, Director Morita Yoshimitsu skilfully shows us that a computerised society has not destroyed human love…

Click here for booking details. Please be advised that we now have a new booking system in place:

Due to the popularity of the Embassy screenings, films in 2011 will be advertised two at a time and bookings will be limited to ONE film per person, or per group of people.

Japanese Films in London

Another interesting event organised by the Japanese Foundation, ‘Back to the Future: Japanese Cinema since the Mid-90s’

We are delighted to announce details of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2011:

Back to the Future: Japanese Film Since the Mid-90s which serves up a feast of films from directors who can be credited with playing a major part in creating the current popularity of Japanese cinema around the world.

Full details of the film line-up and the hosting venues can be found on the Japan Foundation website here.

Booking:

This event is free to attend but booking is essential. To reserve a place, please email your name and those of any guests, as well as the title of the event you would like to attend to event@jpf.org.uk.

 

Japan Foundation, London

www.jpf.org.uk

Image: Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (Dir: Isshin Inudo, 2003)