Two Top Asian Film Festivals Launch China-Japan Film Showcase in Six Cities

As part of the China-Japan Film Showcase which is to strengthen the film culture exchange between China and Japan, the 2017 Japanese Film Gala is taking place during 1-3 December in Shanghai, Kunming and Shenzhen. On the night of December 1, the opening film of the Film Gala –A BEAUTIFUL STAR was staged at the Grand Theatre of Shanghai. Japanese film directors Daihachi YOSHIDA, Naoto KUMAZAWA and Kōji SHIRAISHI attended the opening ceremony, where Wu Xiaoming, Artistic Director of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and TV, and Kazuyuki KATAYAMA, Consul-General of Japan in Shanghai delivered speeches and wished the Japanese Film Gala a success.

    New productions to bridge two countries

As part of the China-Japan Film Showcase, the Japanese Film Gala was first held in Shanghai, Kunming and Shenzhen; while the Chinese Film Gala is scheduled to take place during 8-14 March, 2018 in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, on which occasion a number of latest Chinese movies will be screened.

Since 2015 when Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) and Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) established the World Express cooperation mechanism, the two sides have built up a bridge for film culture exchange between China and Japan through mutual recommendation for competition, filmmaker participation, film promotion and other approaches. Therefore, the panorama attempted to extend film exchange beyond the two competitive non-specialized international film festivals for the first time; and for SIFF, the program is its another active trial in promoting the culture Going Global initiative.

     Diverse film genres and themes

During the Japanese Film Panorama, ten films: RADIANCE by Naomi KAWASE, LEAR ON THE SHORE by Masahiro KOBAYASHI, A BEAUTIFUL STAR by Daihachi YOSHIDA, MUKOKU by Kazuyoshi KUMAKIRI, PUMPKIN AND MAYONNAISE by Masanori TOMINAGA, IMPOSSIBILITY DEFENSE by Kōji SHIRAISHI, THE ANTHEM OF THE HEART and YURIGOKORO by Naoto KUMAZAWA, ANONYMOUS NOISE by Koichiro MIKI and CLOSE-KNIT by Naoko OGIGAMI were screened respectively in Shanghai, Kunming and Shenzhen. Among them, IMPOSSIBILITY DEFENSE had its world premiere this time; RADIANCE has been nominated for Palme d\'Or at the 70thCannes Film Festival; Haru KUROKI, one of the leading actresses of LEAR ON THE SHORE, was awarded Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 39thJapan Academy Prize; CLOSE-KNIT, which has drawn wide attention at the SIFF this year, was released exclusively in Shenzhen and enjoyed high popularity.

For its diverse film genres and various themes, Japanese Film Gala has attracted much attention. According to the statistics of the ticket platform Tao Ticket (Taopiaopiao), on the first day of ticketing, over 700 tickets were sold out within 1 minute, and nearly 10,000 tickets in half an hour. As of December 1, all the sessions in Shanghai had been almost sold out, so have multiple sessions in Shenzhen.

     Cast makes appearance after screening

On the night of December 1, the film A BEAUTIFUL STAR, based on the science fiction novel of the same name by Yukio MISHIMA, was staged at the Grand Theatre of Shanghai. The director Daihachi YOSHIDA and leading actress Ai HASHIMOTO cordially communicated with the audience in Shanghai at the after-screening meeting event. This was also the first time for the Japanese film star Ai HASHIMOTO to come to China for film promotion.

Daihachi YOSHIDA

Ai HASHIMOTO

The director of IMPOSSIBILITY DEFENSE, Kōji SHIRAISHI, and director of THE ANTHEM OF THE HEART and YURIGOKORO, Naoto KUMAZAWA, among others, also attended the after-screening meetings of their works. When the second session of IMPOSSIBILITY DEFENSE ended, it was late at night, but the audience still had a quite heated discussion and communication with Kōji SHIRAISHI afterwards.

Kōji SHIRAISHI

Naoto KUMAZAWA

After the first day, Kōji SHIRAISHI and Naoto KUMAZAWA will also come to Kunming and Shenzhen to participate in the after-show meetings there. The director of the closing film LEAR ON THE SHORE, Masahiro KOBAYASHI will fly to Shenzhen to attend the closing event of the Japanese Film Gala to be held at the Broadway Cinematheque.