Girls on Film : Women in Contemporary Japanese Culture

A season of Japanese Films made for, about and by women
Returning for another year to the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and following last year’s successful ‘Reality Fiction’ this years Japan Foundation touring film programme looks at contemporary Japanese cinema made for, about, and by women.

Women have continuously been at the centre of Japanese cinema, with notable examples being films by Kenji Mizoguchi and Mikio Naruse, and even the animation works of Hayao Miyazaki.

This year’s Japanese season reflects the marked increase in the number of women working in the Japanese film industry. The mix of films included may also allow audiences to compare and contrast the views of female directors to their male counterparts.

This film season is produced and organised by the Japan Foundation with advice from Jasper Sharp.

Films:
How to Become Myself
9, 14 February 2010
Two schoolfriends struggle with notions of identity and selfhood in this drama from the late Jun Icikawa (director of Tony Takitani).
Dir Jun Ichikawa, Japan 2007, 114 mins, 35mm, subtitles

German Plus Rain
11 February 2010
Yokohama Satoko’s exuberant movie centres on a young misfit living in a small town - 16-year-old Yoshiko, nicknamed Gorilla Man. She works as a gardener’s assistant alongside a young German man, and is determined to make it as a singer-songwriter. There are not many options around for Yoshiko, but still her life develops in a series of unexpected ways.
Dir Satoko Yokohama, Japan 2007, 71 mins, DVCAM, subtitles

Non-Ko16
February 2010
After her acting career in Tokyo flounders, a young woman returns to her small hometown where she passes the time helping her family and drinking in her friend’s bar. Maki Sakai is excellent as the thirtysomething woman struggling with life’s failures and disappointments in this distinctive, stylish film.
Dir Kazuyoshi Kumakiri, Japan 2008, 105 mins, 35mm, subtitles

Kamome Diner
10, 13 February 2010
A heart-warming human drama, adapted from the novel of the same name, that portrays the interaction between a restaurant owner and the eccentric people who gather there day after day.
Dir Naoko Ogigami, Japan 2006, 102 mins, 35mm, subtitles

Fourteen
13 February 2010
Ryo is a young teacher who, unlike her colleagues, does not adopt an authoritarian attitude to the adolescents she has in her care. She does not realise at first that, by doing this, she is putting herself at risk. An atmospheric and subtle drama in which two different generations mirror each other in the most vulnerable period of their lives.
Dir Hiromasa Hirosue, Japan 2007, 114 mins, 35mm, subtitles

Asyle
17 February 2010
Tsuyako runs a dilapidated ‘love hotel’, renting rooms to couples for short stays. On the roof there is a small park where children and old people gather. Various women come to visit this curious hotel, including a girl with a Polaroid camera, a woman looking for her notebook in which she has recorded the number of steps she makes during her morning walks, and a female graduate who always carries a briefcase. Tsuyako sees through the loneliness of each woman and provides them with unassuming support.
Dir Izuru Kumasaka, Japan 2007, 111 mins, 35mm, subtitles

Times and dates are subject to change, please check the website for updates
www.ica.org.uk
Prices:
£9 / £8 Concessions / £7 ICA Members. (£5.00 Mondays)