Through their Facebook account, The Japan Foundation Jakarta has revealed that they will hold the Japanese Film Festival 2016 event. The film festival will be held on November 24-27, 2016, at Cinemaxx Theater of fX Sudirman in Jakarta. The Japan Foundation also announced that the film festival is planned to be held annually starting from this year.
The Japanese Film Festival 2016 will be held following a good public interest for the Japanese Film Festival event held in November 2015 by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Japanese Embassy for Indonesia, Japan Foundation, and Japan Image Council. In the previous Japanese Film Festival, a number of Japanese live action and animated films were presented, among them are Isao Takahata’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Hideaki Anno’s Evangelion: 3.0 You can (not) redo, Naoko Yamada’s Tamako -Love Story-, and Mizuho Nishikubo’s Giovanni’s Island. Two collections of short animations from talented Japanese animators were also presented; along with Q&A and discussion sessions with the shorts creators.
For the 2016 film festival, there are five titles that has been confirmed to be included for screening. They are:
- Chihayafuru part 1 and 2 – A live action adaptation of the popular shoujo manga by Yuki Suetsugu about competitive Hyakunin Isshu karuta game. The film is written and directed by Norihiro Koizumi and starring Suzu Hirose and Shuhei Nomura.
- What a Wonderful Family (Kazoku wa Tsurai yo) – A family comedy directed by Yoji Yamada and starring Yu Aoi and Tsumabuki Satoshi.
- Creepy – A thriller film adapted from a mystery novel by Yutaka Maekawa. The film is directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and starring Hidetoshi Nakajima and Yuko Takeuchi.
- Tsukiji Wonderland – A documentary about the famous Tsukiji Fish Market directed by Naotaro Endo.
- The Boy and the Beast (Bakemono no Ko) – An animated fantasy film from acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda. You can read our staff review of the film here.
Aside from film screenings, the Japanese Film Festival 2016 will also host other activities related to Japanese films and Japanese culture. Details about schedule and ticketing price for each screening has yet to be released. Further information will be released through the Japanese Film Festival Indonesia Facebook page.
The Indonesian Anime Times
