Japanese Gems at BFI Southbank

The West's discovery of Japanese cinema is usually dated from 1951, the year when Kurosawa's Rashomon won its Golden Lion in Venice. Actually, the story began much earlier: in 1928, a young man named Nagamasa Kawakita brought a fine selection of Japanese movies to Europe, and his wife Kashiko Kawakita is renowned for her work to make Japanese films available to audiences in the West. To commemorate the centenary of her birth, the BFI will be showcasing the work of 8 prominent Japanese filmmakers: Akira Kurosawa, Nagisa Oshima, Kaneto Shindo, Shohei Imamura, Kon Ichikawa, Sumiko Haneda, Yoji Yamada and Seijun Suzuki.

The eight directors represented in this treasure-chest of a programme lived through Japan's post-war economic and social upheavals and played a big part in transforming its culture. Often they responded directly to what they saw in the streets or read in their newspapers: all eight of them made brilliant social commentaries which will be screened throughout July.