Toronto Japanese Film Festival (TJFF)
THE TORONTO JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS FOR ITS 12TH YEAR
The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre’s 12th annual Toronto Japanese Film Festival will be presented in person from June 8 to 22 at the JCCC’s Kobayashi Hall. The festival has now grown into one of the largest film events of its kind in the world and is recognized by the Japanese film industry as a vital conduit for bringing Japanese film to the world.
TJFF is programmed to reflect the rich diversity of the world’s 4th largest film industry. The festival opens with the International Premiere of Izuri Narushima’s FATHER OF THE MILKY WAY RAILROAD, a star-studded historical biopic of the beloved children’s author Kenji Miyazawa. The festival closes with the North American premiere of Tetsu Maeda’s screwball samurai comedy WE’RE BROKE, MY LORD!
North American and Canadian premieres include Kei Ishikawa’s A MAN, winner of the Japanese Academy Award for Best Film, Lee Sung-Il’s controversial love story WANDERING, Yuji Nakae’s foodie drama THE ZEN DIARY, Ryohei Kitamura’s fantasy THE THREE SISTERS OF TENMASOU INN, Norihiro Koizumi’s Sumi-e brush-painting drama THE LINES THAT DEFINE ME, Masayuki Suzuki’s hilarious love letter to the rituals of the Japanese bath, YUDO. In Takahisa Zeze’s FRAGMENT OF THE LAST WILL, a Japanese POW tries to escape across Siberia to fulfill a sacred promise to his family; Ayuko Tsukahara’s AS LONG AS WE BOTH SHALL LIVE combines fantasy, action and romance in a highly stylized 19th Century Tokyo; Sho Miyake’s award-winning SMALL, SLOW BUT STEADY follows a young female boxer as she trains and fights her way through the pandemic era. In Shunsukle Kariyama’s charming BL METAMORPHOSIS, two women, one 17 years old, the other 78, bond over their love of ”boy’s love” manga.
Anime fans will find much to enjoy in the live action drama about the anime industry ANIME SUPREMACY; the Canadian premiere of the newest by master Keiichi Hara: LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR and a 4K rerelease of the classic 1993 Japan-India coproduction RAMAYANA: THE LEGEND OF PRINCE RAMA.
Other screenings include Kazuya Shiraishi’s shocking portrait of a mass murderer LESSON IN MURDER; Shuichi Okita’s quirky comedy THE FISH TALE, Hiroshi Nishitani’s hit crime thriller SILENT PARADE; Eiji Uchida’s comic caper flick OFFBEAT COPS. Japan’s favourite fine-arts conmen are back in WE MAKE ANTIQUES! OSAKA DREAMS and actor Teruyuki Kagawa gives a bravura central performance as a man with no memories in the artful mystery ROLELESS. TIFF favourite, Chie Hayakawa’s tender and devastating inquiry into how we value our seniors, PLAN 75 returns for an encore screening.
As always, the festival includes visiting filmmakers, musical performances, art exhibitions and lots of great Japanese food.
Tickets go on sale on May 10 at 10:00am. Five- and ten-film pass buyers receive a special gift from the festival’s founding sponsor, SHISEIDO CANADA. Go to Torontojff.com, call 416-441-2345 or simply come over to the JCCC for tickets and more information.
