A hyperactive man-child with an
obsession for the Dogeza, the
traditional Japanese form for apologizing.
A proud and self-conscious businessman, forced to reevaluate his
deep-seated beliefs on what it means to be a father. Horses used for important cultural events,
forcibly abandoned after the disaster at Fukushima. An ex-samurai, seeking redemption by renouncing
his violent past. A smart but indecisive
college graduate, unwilling to think about life beyond the next meal. A girl who passes through a mysterious portal,
and finds herself in a world where everything is, quite literally, upside down.
These were the cinematic experiences
I had the privilege of enjoying at Nippon Connection this year, the annual
Japanese film festival held in Frankfurt am Main. From May 27th through June 1st,
dozens upon of dozens of film premiers, retrospectives, specials, and cultural
events took place at the three primary hubs of the festival- the Mousonturm,
the Naxoshalle, and, for the second showings of certain films, the Mal Seh’n
Kino.
When at Nippon, the word of the week
is always pink. All various shades of pink,
mixed with the occasional white, or brown.
Shining through paper-covered lights or globes hanging from the ceiling,
set upon the origami table in the middle of the front hall,
plastered on the sides of the food and merchandise stands, or striking the eye
from the banners and posters on the walls.
Pink on the bags and t-shirts that I absurdly love walking away
with. Follow the pink, and you can’t
possibly get lost.
Given that the festival coincided with another
one of Frankfurt’s innumerable street festivals, I was rather glad to see so
many people present, and a great many of the viewings I attended were shown to
full houses. If I were to use one word
to describe the scene at the Mousonturm hub, it would be heartening. Heartening to see so many different people
from countless walks of life coming together to enjoy good food, good music,
good conversation (hopefully), and, when there’s time left over, good film.
An undertaking like Nippon is a
trying task, but as always, the volunteer crews that make the festival function
were up to the task. A special shout-out
to everyone who gave of their time, energy, and, inevitably, their mental
well-being to make Nippon a great experience for all the guests, including my
freeloading self.
Yesterday, the website for the
festival officially posted the winners of the four award categories up for
grabs this time around. They are as
follows:
Nippon
Cinema Award: Pecoross’ Mother And Her
Days (Azuma Morisaki)
Nippon
Visions Award: Antonym (Natsuka
Kusano)
Nippon
Visions Audience Award: Tale of a Butcher
Shop (Aya Hanabusa)
VGF
Nippon In Motion Award: Onigiri No
Origami (Christine Mai & David Clausmeier)
As for me, over the next few weeks,
I will be posting my reviews of the 6 movies that I had the time to see at the
festival, none of which I would call a disappointment, and a few of which that,
like last year, could very well end up on my Top 10 list for the year come next
January. All are movies I fully
recommend to anyone open to sampling something new in their cinematic
palate. Stay tuned.
-Noah
Franc
No comments:
Post a Comment