Following on from last year��s success, Premiere Japan 08 will, for the fourth consecutive year, screen the best and most recent films to come out of Japan selected by the world-renowned East Asian film critic, Tony Rayns, and film scholar and critic, Alexander Jacoby. Premiere Japan is organised by the Embassy of Japan and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and is supported by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and Japan Airlines. It will be held at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LN from 26th-28th September.

Premiere Japan 08 is part of the official JAPAN-UK 150 celebrations, a series of events in the UK organised to commemorate 150 years of friendship between the two countries.

PROGRAMME

Friday, 26 September

1930    AFTER SCHOOL

Saturday, 27 September

1430    SISTERHOOD

1700    DAI NIPPON-JIN (BIG MAN JAPAN)

1930    AFTER SCHOOL

             POST-SCREENING Q&A WITH DIRECTOR UCHIDA KENJI

Sunday, 28 September

1430    DOG IN A SIDECAR

1700    FINE, TOTALLY FINE

1930    TOKYO SONATA

How to book your free seat

To book a pair of free tickets to one of the films above, please apply by e-mail or telephone to the Embassy of Japan:

E-mail                                  films@jpembassy.org.uk
Telephone                          020-7465-6589

When booking we need:

• Your name
• Your e-mail address
• A daytime telephone number
• To know whether you want one seat or two
• Your guest��s full name
• The film you wish to see

Deadline for applications is 24th September. Tickets are subject to availability so please book early. Only successful applicants will be contacted with a booking number by e-mail. In order not to deprive others of a place, successful applicants should notify the Embassy if they cannot attend a screening.

Throughout the film festival, cinema-goers can try their hand at origami (paper folding), calligraphy, and dressing up in yukata (cotton kimono) and experience much more through various demonstrations and workshops. Everyone is welcome to join in!

All films are in Japanese with English subtitles.

Tickets also available from BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London W1J 9LN
website: www.bafta.org                  e-mail: info@bafta.org

Sisterhood

1430    Saturday, 27 September

Director Uchida Eiji    2008    118 MINS

Teenage stepsisters Yui and Ai form a close bond as a result of the neglect and abuse from their respective parents. Fearing separation from each other when their parents plan to divorce, they run away together to Tokyo and, in order to survive steal a briefcase which they later discover belongs to the yakuza. This puts them in great danger. Tanida, a kind-hearted yakuza member, comes to their rescue and becomes the protective and loving parent figure they never had. But for how long will he be able to save them from harm?

Dai Nippon-jin (Big Man Japan)

1700 Saturday, 27 September

Director Matsumoto Hitoshi    2007    114 MINS

Japan��s principal superhero, Dai Nippon-jin, is going through a tough time. Estranged from his wife and weighed down by money troubles, our hero lives alone in a rundown house in Tokyo. Now his biggest problem is how to restore his image following a backlash from the public. This is a surreal mockumentary which features astounding special effects combined with ��real life�� action sequences in a directorial debut from veteran comedian Matsumoto Hitoshi.

After School

1930    Saturday, 27 September

Director Uchida Kenji     2007    102 MINS

Kitazawa, a shifty detective, is employed by a complete stranger to investigate the relationship between an office employee called Kimura and a mysterious woman. A suspicious Kitazawa thinks he is offered too much money for what seems like a straight-forward case and so tricks Kimura��s friend and former classmate, Jinno, into tracking down the pair together. Following up his successful film debut A Stranger of Mine in 2005, Uchida Kenji directs his own screenplay in this polished caper which shows the unforeseen events that can happen ��after school��.

INCLUDING A SPECIAL POST-SCREENING Q&A WITH DIRECTOR UCHIDA KENJI

Following the screening of his latest film, After School, Director Uchida Kenji will take part in a special Q&A session with Dr Rayna Denison, PhD, Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at University of East Anglia.

Dog in a Sidecar

1430    Sunday, 28 September
Director Negishi Kichitaro     2007     94 MINS

Kaoru, a 30-year old estate agent, reminisces about one remarkable summer of her childhood in the 1980��s. After her mother leaves home, young Kaoru��s world is turned upside down and she is puzzled even more with the arrival of her father��s new girlfriend, the free-spirited and independent Yoko. Though the complete opposite of her mother, Kaoru grows to like Yoko and Yoko reciprocates by inviting Kaoru to share their summer holidays together: a heart-warming and moving drama.

Fine, Totally Fine

1700    Sunday, 28 September
Director Fujita Yohsuke    2008    110 MINS

��Life is more fun when you��re an idiot��. Teruo and Hisanobu are old childhood friends who share a love of frightening people with gruesome pranks. They start spending less time together, however, when, nearing thirty, Hisanobu decides he should be doing something more with his life and Teruo tries to focus on his dreams of building the world��s scariest haunted house. Their friendship is tested even further when the clumsy but captivating Akari enters their lives unexpectedly: a quirky and well-crafted comedy.

Tokyo Sonata

1930    Sunday, 28 September
Director Kurosawa Kiyoshi     2008    119 MINS