Tag: Japan Foundation

February 12, 2017 · 0 comments

By Jasper Sharp. It was only last year that the Japan Foundation UK began including documentaries in its annual touring film season, with Aya Hanabusa’s intimate depiction of a family of butchers descended from the stigmatised buraku class, Tale of a Butcher Shop (2013), the first to be included in the line-up. This year, we […]

February 9, 2017 · 0 comments

By Andrew Osmond. Pieta in the Toilet is the oddest-titled film in the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme, now running in selected cinemas through February and March. No, it’s not a gross-out comedy; instead, it’s a very human drama about an extremely sombre topic, but shot through with humour and low-key spirituality. While Pieta’s not […]

February 6, 2017 · 0 comments

By Roxy Simons. Nobuhiro Doi’s new film argues that no student is a lost cause and that no child should be left behind. Adapted from the best-selling book —and true story— How a Teen Girl Went from Academic Absurdity to an Elite University in One Amazing Year, the film focuses on Sayaka Kudou, a girl […]

January 31, 2017 · 0 comments

By Andrew Osmond. At last year’s Scotland Loves Anime event, the festival judges had to decide which of the films was the best (you can listen to their comments here).The prize went to Your Name, but only by a narrow margin – the votes split almost equally between Shinkai’s blockbuster and a very different film […]

January 19, 2017 · 0 comments

By Jasper Sharp. The Japan Foundation’s annual touring film programme rolls out in venues across the country from 3rd February to 29th March 2017, presenting a glimmer of sunshine at the end of another gloomy British winter for film fans. This year’s season is even more welcome than most, given the distribution prospects for Asian […]