Unfortunately, the 20th Nippon Connection Film Festival cannot take place as usual this year. As a result, the Japanese film festival will be taking unusual routes in its anniversary edition: From June 9 to 14, a colorful program will be presented online for six days. Current films and classics from Japan will be brought home to the audience. With over 70 short and feature-length films across all genres, Nippon Connection Online will deliver an exciting panorama of the Japanese film scene. The film programme will be available to festival visitors via the Vimeo platform. Under the title Nippon on Demand, the films can be accessed for 24 hours during the festival period for a rental fee.
Numerous filmmakers from Japan who cannot be present in person this year will engage with the audience via video messages, discussion panels and live broadcasts. In addition to the films, the digital supporting programme Nippon Connected invites visitors to discover the multifaceted culture of Japan with a variety of workshops, lectures, performances and concerts. In addition, a virtual marketplace presents a variety of offers around Japan.
Film Highlights
Nippon Connection Online will feature numerous outstanding productions from Japan, including the docu-drama Family Romance, LLC by Werner Herzog , which premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival last year. Between reality and fiction, Herzog tells of the Japanese phenomenon of kin rental using the example of a real-life agency in Tokyo that lends out supposed family members to its clients*.
The Labyrinth of Cinema presents the last feature film by the recently deceased legendary director Nobuhiko Obayashi. The anti-war film takes three men from a movie theater on a journey back in time to 1945 just before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
In Dancing Mary , the latest film from cult director SABU , J-pop performer NAOTO, in his first major film role, embodies a young official who must organize the demolition of a dance theater and go ghost hunting to do it. The genre-bending work moves skillfully between comedy, ghost story and yakuza action.
Eisuke Naito's rousing drama Forgiven Children tells the story of a child's crime, blurring the lines between perpetrator and victim.
In celebration of the anniversary edition, the Best of Nippon Connection program will also feature highlights from past festival editions.
Female Futures? - New Images of Women in Japan
This year, the festival will focus on the theme "Female Futures? - New Images of Women in Japan" , which is supported by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain. Numerous films in the programme reflect the role of women in the current Japanese film landscape, both in front of and behind the camera. Particularly in the field of documentary films, women are currently strongly represented. But the programme also includes films with strong female characters in front of the camera. Complementing the film programme will be an online lecture on the role of women in Japanese film by Chantal Bertalanffy (University of Edinburgh), as well as a live-streamed panel discussion with Japanese women directors, moderated by journalist Maggie Lee (Variety).
Nippon Connected
In addition to the film variety, the wide-ranging digital supporting programme under the title Nippon Connected invites you to explore. Virtual workshops, lectures, concerts and performances bring a piece of Japan home. The offerings range from a performance by the rakugo storyteller and comedian Katsura Sunshine , who regularly appears in London's West End and Off-Broadway in New York, to a tea workshop with Yumiko Wiesheu Ono. A fantastic atmosphere and good vibes are also guaranteed at the digital anniversary edition. Film expert Jörg Buttgereit will provide live commentary on a surprise Japanese film for the audience at Nippon Heimkino at Home, and of course the popular karaoke may not be missing online.
Nippon Kids
The youngest festival visitors* should also get their money's worth during the online edition of Nippon Connection. In a digital workshop, manga artist Katharina Sato will show children how to draw cute animals in manga style, and storyteller Walburga Kliem will present an exciting fairy tale using the Japanese paper theater Kamishibai. Lina Zivanovic prepares colourful dango dumplings in a virtual cooking class. In addition, Japanese animated films for children can be seen in the German-synchronized version.
The complete program and tickets will be available on the festival homepage from the beginning of June 2020: NipponConnection.com
