Recently audiences in the UK enjoy more chances to watch Japanese films, and thanks to the sophisticated and rapidly spreading streaming systems as well as the availability of conventional discs such as DVD and Blu-ray, the access to Japanese cinema may appear to be even easier; ultimately you can watch it without leaving your house. The sense of “accessibility” and “easiness” of cinema, however, does not mean it is easy to organise film festivals, and certainly, unlike a home movie system, it is not just simply a matter of pressing the play button.

As The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2022, which scheduled 178 screenings, comes to end, for this roundtable discussion, the Japan Foundation have invited film festival directors from the UK whose festivals have a Japan-focus to varying degrees. All of the festivals were founded without solid institutional backup but developed faster to join in an established film festival circle. Reflecting the current ever-changing circumstances in film industries, together they discuss the reasons for their founding, their operation, as well as issues remaining in organising Japanese film festivals in the UK.

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Moderator

Junko Takekawa — Senior Arts Programme Officer, The Japan Foundation (also Programmer and Producer for The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme)

Panellists

Sonali Joshi — Curator & Founder of Day for Night

Day for Night exists as a space to champion diversity and underrepresented areas of cinema, with a particular focus on Asia, and to enable greater access to moving image culture through curatorial projects, specialist distribution and screen translation.

Eiko Meredith — Director of Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival

The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival was created by organizer Ms Eiko Meredith. Launched in November 2010 at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, UK, the festival screens the best in Japanese animation and culture to a wide audience.

Joshua Smith — Director of Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival

JAEFF is both a celebration of, and contextual engagement with, Japanese avant-garde and experimental cinema.

Yi Wang — Director of Queer East Film Festival

Queer East is an LGBTQ+ festival that showcases queer cinema from East and Southeast Asia and seeks to amplify the voices of Asian communities in the UK.

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This online event is free to attend but places are limited and registration is essential. To reserve your space, please book your ticket here.