Japanese Film Gala Ends in Success, Chinese Film Gala coming Next March

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 took place during 1-3 December in Shanghai, Kunming and Shenzhen, generating lots of buzz in three cities. On the night of December 3, the closing film LEAR ON THE SHORE was staged at the Broadway Cinematheque, Shenzhen. FU Wenxia, Managing Director of SIFF Center, together with the film director Masahiro KOBAYASHI, producer Tomoyuki MIYAGAWA and director of THE ANTHEM OF THE HEART Naoto KUMAZAWA, attended the closing event.

New movie panorama, filmmaker exchange

20,000 audience’s full engagement

The success of the Japanese Film Gala signifies that the panorama collaboration between Shanghai International Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival, which has been going on for many years, has extended beyond festivals for the first time. For SIFF, the program is its another active trial in promoting the culture Going Global initiative.

The three-day panorama has presented ten Japanese new films to Chinese audience, with 9 of them respectively screened in three cities. These latest movies included RADIANCE, a nominee for Palme d\'Or at the 70th Cannes Film Festival; CLOSE-KNIT, a hit during the SIFF this year; IMPOSSIBILITY DEFENSE, which has given its world premiere to this special event. For its diverse genres and high quality, the Japanese Film Gala has drawn much attention among filmgoers. It is learned that, all the sessions at Grand Theater and UME International Cineplex in Shanghai were sold out; as for Broadway Cinemas of COCOPARK and Broadway Cinematheque in Shenzhen, around 90% of tickets were sold; for three days, about 20,000 audience from Shanghai, Kunming and Shenzhen have been attracted to walk into the cinema.

On the other side, many Japanese filmmakers also travelled to China for the panorama, including A BEAUTIFUL STAR’s director Daihachi YOSHIDA and leading actress Ai HASHIMOTO, director of IMPOSSIBILITY DEFENSE Kōji SHIRAISHI, director of THE ANTHEM OF THE HEART and YURIGOKORO Naoto KUMAZAWA, director of LEAR ON THE SHORE Masahiro KOBAYASHI. They came to the local cinemas to meet with Chinese audience, introduce the recent changes of the Japanese film industry and know about the interests of Chinese film fans.

Upcoming Chinese Film Gala

Support Sino-Japanese cultural exchange

At the closing ceremony in Shenzhen on December 3, the organizer representatives of the panorama –FU Wenxia, Managing Director of SIFF, TSUKA Hiroko,council member of the Japan Foundation and TOSHIMA NOBUSHIGE, Executive Director of UNIJAPAN, as well as directors Masahiro KOBAYASHI and Naoto KUMAZAWA, and producer Tomoyuki MIYAGAWA were present. In their speeches, they all recognized the significance of film in the cultural exchange between China and Japan, and anticipated that it could inject more power to the development of Sino-Japanese relation.

FU Wenxia, Managing Director of SIFF 

TSUKA Hiroko,council member of The Japan Foundation

TOSHIMA NOBUSHIGE,UNIJAPAN/Tokyo International Film Festival  Managing Director

On the same day, the closing film of the panorama LEAR ON THE SHORE, starring the 84-year-old prestigious Japanese actor Tatsuya NAKADAI, was screened at the Broadway Cinematheque in Shenzhen. After that, director Masahiro KOBAYASHI and producer Tomoyuki MIYAGAWA had a face-to-face communication with the viewers in Shenzhen. The director of THE ANTHEM OF THE HEART and YURIGOKORO, Naoto KUMAZAWA was also there to answer the questions from media and audience. Zhang Jun, an audience in Shenzhen told the staff that he had watched four films this time, “Hope there will be more events like this in the future. It is a god chance to enrich our cultural life. I’m also looking forward to the Shanghai International Film Festival next year. I’ll take a leave to come to Shanghai.”

Naoto KUMAZAWA

From left: Naoto KUMAZAWA, Tomoyuki MIYAGAWA, Masahiro KOBAYASHI

As part of the China-Japan Film Showcase, the Japanese Film Gala has come to an end; 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.