Japan Season 2021 Programme - Cromarty Cinema

INTRO This winter we are hosting a series of special Japanese film screenings and events as part of Japan 2021: 100 Years of Japanese Cinema, a UK-wide season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.

Our unique programme features 5 weeks of films and related activities including workshops, talks and Q+As with directors and artist/ film-makers. For info about activities, contact admin@cromartycinema.com.

Susan Christie

Info on Japan 2021 bfijapan.co.uk.

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LISTINGS & TICKETS

*

Thursday -

11/11 -

DRIVE MY CAR

Thursday -

18/11 -

21st CENTURY GIRL

Thursday -

25/11 -

L I K E F AT H E R , L I K E S O N

Thursday -

02/12 -

B AT T L E R O YA L E

Thursday -

09/12 -

A ROWAN WARDS OFF WITCHES TEIKŌ//RESIST

ALL SCREENINGS START AT 7PM

* Courtesy of Inverness Film Festival Special ticket prices except for DRIVE MY CAR which should be purchased via Eden Court’s website: £3.00 for Under 26s £5.00 Standard Ticket sales at Box Office and please watch the website for online sales. www.cromartycinema.com

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D R I V E M Y CA R Ryusuke Hamaguchi Courtesy of Inverness Film Festival

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Thurs 11/11

2020

2 hrs 59 mins

DRIVE MY CAR (2021) is a Japanese drama film directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, adapted from the short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami. The film premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where it won three awards, including best screenplay. The story follows Yusuke, an actor and stage director whose wife suddenly passes away. After accepting a

job offer in Hiroshima, Yusuke meets his exclusive driver Misaki, a taciturn young woman.

While spending time with one another, secrets and confessions are divulged.

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2 1S T C E N T U R Y G I R L

Thurs 18/11 Yûka Eda - Momoko Fukada - Kanae Higashi Aya Igashi - Yurina Kaneko - Ayako Katô Hana Matsumoto - Aimi Natsuto - Yukari Sakamoto - Rin Shutô - Lisa Takeuchi Sakura Tamagawa - Yoko Yamanaka - Yûki Yamato - Yuka Yasukawa

2018

1 hr 57 mins

21ST CENTURY GIRL (2018) produced by Yuki Yamato is a collection of fourteen 8-minute films and an animated sequence by women directors under the age of 30. The anthology captures what it means to be a young woman in the modern world. Themes include first love, unrequited love, the female body, loneliness, same-sex marriage and Japanese society’s ideas of beauty.

‘All the protagonists in the films are female, in their teens or 20s,’ Yamato explained. 'It was intentionally skewed to women in their 20s because what we’re all making is a kind of self- portrait.’

PG

Short intro by Tokyobased curator, Naoko Horiuchi.

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L I K E FAT H E R , L I K E S O N Hirokazu Kore-eda

2013

2 hrs 1 min

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON (2013) is a Japanese drama film written and directed by the Oscarnominated Hirokazu Kore-eda. It premiered at 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or and won the Jury Prize.

successful architect who learns that his biological son was swapped at birth with the boy he has been raising. Ryota and his wife face a difficult dilemma - they can either continue to raise the child they have taken care of for 5 years or exchange the boy with their biological son.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON questions what ‘family’ really means. The story follows Ryota, a

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Thurs 25/11

PG

B AT T L E R O YA L E

Thurs 02/12

Kinji Fukasaku

2000

1 hr 54 mins

BATTLE ROYALE (2000) is an influential Japanese cult thriller film based on the 1999 dystopian novel by Koushen Takami.

Written by Kenta Fukasaku and directed by Kinji Fukasaku, this was the final film Fukasaku directed before his death in 2003. BATTLE ROYALE follows a class of teenagers sent to a deserted island. There they are forced by the Japanese government to

kill each other until one survivor remains, or they all die. The last one standing will be the only student allowed to leave the island and return home.

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The screening will feature a newly restored version of the film.

Short in-person intros

by Zakary Ropars and Susan Christie.

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A R O WA N WA R D S O F F W I TC H E S

Thurs 09/12

Natsumi Sakamoto

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2019

22 mins

A ROWAN WARDS OFF WITCHES (2019) directed

by Natsumi Sakamoto is a short artist’s film which focuses on investigating traditional beliefs and connections between Scotland and Japan.

The rowan tree, native to Scotland and Japan, features in both countries’ folklore.

Travelling across Scotland to sites of witch trials, Natsumi Sakamoto interviewed

women to reflect on their beliefs. This is the first time that the film, which features several women local to Cromarty, has been screened in the Highlands.

There will be a Q+A by the film-maker post screening.

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T E I KŌ/ / R E S I S T

Thurs 09/12

Emma Dove & Susan Christie

2019-ongoing

10 mins

TEIKŌ//RESIST are two short films directed

by Emma Dove and Susan Christie, featuring paired conversations in Japanese and English.

One of the conversations takes place between acclaimed traditional Japanese painter Fuyuko Matsui and one of Japan’s most prominent feminist thinkers, Chizuko Ueno.

These films form part of a larger body of work ITTARIKITARI in which

Dove + Christie explore nuanced differences and similarities in women’s lived experiences across 6 generations.

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There will be a Q+A by the film-makers post screening.

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EVENTS WORKSHOP Award-winning artist and animation filmmaker, Eleanor Stewart will run workshops during the programme.

She makes set designs, paper hand-crafted animations and runs workshops in origami.

Her animations have been screened in the UK and internationally.

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Drop-in workshop School workshop Artist’s talk Origami installation

During week beginning 22nd November.

FINALE Finale will include screenings and Q+A sessions with Natsumi Sakamoto, Emma Dove and Susan Christie with a short performative talk by writer Maria Howard.

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AC K N OW L E D G E M E N T S Special thanks to the following contributors: Ellie Bainbridge Emma Dove Film Hub Scotland Maria Howard Paul MacDonald-Taylor Tigue Mackenzie Miki Nakamura Naomi Ojima Natsumi Sakamoto Gražina Ščučkaitė Eleanor Stewart PHOTOS All uncredited images are film stills Cover/back image courtesy of Naomi Ojima Page 1 image courtesy of Ruth Clark We would like to express our warm thanks to all the film-makers, artists, writers, speakers and funders for their generosity which has enabled this special season to take place.

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