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Nippon Connection 2017

The Japanese film festival enters its 17th round

In 2000, Marion Klomfaß, a student at the time, and a fellow student had the idea to show some Japanese films at the university. Surely only something for a small niche audience, as hardly a broad mass will be enthusiastic about watching films in the Japanese original with English subtitles. Far from it, as already the first edition of the Japanese film festival NIPPON CONNECTION attracted 10,000 visitors. What was intended as a one-off experiment then became an annual event from 2002 onwards, which has grown steadily and now attracts film lovers not only from the surrounding area, as well as high-profile guests to Frankfurt.

This year marks the seventeenth year of NIPPON CONNECTION, which will be held from May 23 to 28. Still most of the staff work on a voluntary basis to put the festival on its feet. This is a truly impressive achievement, which is not only acknowledged by the steadily increasing number of visitors. The festival has also long since become an important platform for many filmmakers to present their work to a wider audience outside of Japan. For this purpose, they are happy to bear the costs for flight and accommodation, as this can only be covered by the festival organisation or the supporting partners in a few cases. All of this is a good proof of the passion that everyone involved - be it the organizing team or the filmmakers - invests in this festival. A passion that is also rewarded, because otherwise NIPPON CONNECTION would not have grown steadily over the past years and even moved to the Mousonturm and the Naxoshallen in 2013.

A total of 70 people organise NIPPON CONNECTION, and during the festival days they are joined by another 100 or so helpers. In the 17th year, they have all once again put together a multifaceted, extremely attractive programme. Around 100 short and feature films, including world premieres, international premieres, European premieres and German premieres, some of which had to be subtitled especially for the festival. Whether experimental film, comedy, action, drama or anime, almost every genre is represented.

Nippon Honor Award for Koji YAKUSHO

Once again, over numerous guests will travel to Japan for the film and supporting program, including a very special celebrity guest: Koji YAKUSHO, the "Richard Gere of Japan," is one of Japan's most famous actors. YAKUSHO will receive the Nippon Honor Award at the festival, which will be awarded for the third time, donated by Japan Airlines. Koji YAKUSHO's breakthrough came with his unforgettable portrayal of the "Man in the White Suit" in Juzo ITAMI's cult film Tampopo (1985). He finally achieved superstar status as the lead in the international hit Shall We Dance? (1996) by Masayuki SUO. He worked with influential directors of Japanese cinema such as Shohei IMAMURA and Kiyoshi KUROSAWA. He became known to a wider audience through the Oscar-winning US drama Babel (2006) directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Two films featuring Koji YAKUSHO will be screened at the festival: Tampopo by Juzo ITAMI and the historical drama The Emperor in August by Masato HARADA, preceded by a screening on 28.5 at 7:45 p.m.,

In addition to the Nippon Honor Award, the Nippon Cinema Award, the Nippon Visions Jury Award, and the Nippon Visions Audience Award will also be presented during the festival.

Nippon Cinema

The popular Nippon Cinema section will once again feature many stars of the Japanese film scene, who will personally introduce their films to the festival audience.

This includes renowned director Nobuhiro YAMASHITA, who will present two new films at once. In his comedy My Uncle, he uses a lush dash of dry humor to tell the story of a young boy and his uncle, a good-for-nothing philosophy PhD student whose dawdling life is thrown off course by the beautiful Eri.

YAMASHITA's second film, Over the Fence, is about the connection between two very different people who want to break out of the stagnation in their lives. From cult director SABU, two films will also be screened: Mr. Long, a mix of laconic comedy and hard-hitting gangster film that was already celebrated at the Berlinale, and Happiness, a drama with existentialist power that, after a harmonious beginning, goes like a punch in the gut.

Another director who will be represented twice at the festival is blockbuster specialist Shinsuke SATO. The manga adaptation Death Note - Light up the NEW World is the fourth installment in the "Death Note" series, which features six death-dealing notebooks at once. In SATO's action-packed zombie film I Am a Hero, Japan is infected by a virus that turns all its victims into bloodthirsty undead. A modern disaster scenario without zombies and apocalypse, but with heart and mind is Survival Family by Shinobu YAGUCHI, which shows the struggle for survival of overtaxed city dwellers. A Bride for Rip Van Winkle by Shunji IWAI is a poetic homage to individual freedom in which bourgeois notions of life are subtly challenged.

The best film in the section will receive the Nippon Cinema Award. The Audience Award is endowed with 2,000 euros and donated by Bankhaus Metzler.

Nippon Animation

NIPPON ANIMATION is showing a colorful selection of short films and major anime productions, including the emotional drama In This Corner of the World by Sunao KATABUCHI, drawn with great attention to detail. It centers on the carefree Suzu, who must come of age in the face of the unfathomable catastrophe of World War II.

A Silent Voice by Naoko YAMADA tells the touching story of a deaf schoolgirl in striking images. The film will be shown with special subtitles for the hearing impaired. For children, there are two animated films, Chieri and Cherry by Makoto NAKAMURA and Rudolf the Black Cat by Kunihiko YUYAMA & Motonori SAKAKIBARA, whose dialogues will be spoken live in German.

Nippon Visions

That it doesn't necessarily take a big budget to make good movies is proven by the Nippon Visions section. Yujiro HARUMOTO's drama Going the Distance tells a stirring story about the dreams and hopes of young people with an outstanding ensemble of actors. Special attention is given to documentaries that deal with various current social issues and personal stories.

La Terre abandonnée by Gilles Laurent opens the Nippon Visions series at Naxos Hall on 5/23 at 8:00pm. The stunning documentary shows the unwavering will to survive of people evacuated after the disaster in Fukushima.

In Boys for Sale by young filmmaker ITAKO, the protagonists give an honest and unsparing insight into their daily lives as male prostitutes. ITAKO's film will have its world premiere at the festival. Go SHIBATA, winner of the NIPPON VISIONS AWARD 2011, presents Gui aiueo:S - A Stone from Another Mountain to Polish Your Own Stone, an eccentric performance road movie documentary trip: the members of the band GUI AIUEO:S create an audiovisual work of art with their camera and sound equipment. Steven OKAZAKI dedicates Mifune: The Last Samurai to the life and work of legendary actor Toshiro MIFUNE, who made film history primarily through his collaboration with Akira KUROSAWA.

An international jury awards the best feature-length film in the section with the Nippon Visions Jury Award. The prize is free subtitling, donated by the Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (JVTA) in Tokyo. The Nippon Visions Jury this year consists of Bastian Meiresonne (film curator, Festival International des Cinémas d'Asie de Vesoul), Yuka SAKANO (Kawakita Memorial Film Institute, Tokyo) and Nobuhiro YAMASHITA (director My Uncle and Over the Fence).

The Nippon Visions Audience Award, worth 1,000 euros, will be presented for the fourth time this year. The prize is sponsored by the Japanese Cultural and Language Center in Frankfurt am Main.

Nippon Retro: Ecstasy & Desire - In the Realm of Roman Porn

The NIPPON RETRO series has once again unearthed some treasures that will be screened at the Deutsches Filmmuseum cinema this year. In 2017, the focus is on a very special genre: in November 1971, the Japanese film studio Nikkatsu founded the genre of the novel porno. By 1988, more than 1,000 of these glossy erotic films had been produced, often serving as a field of experimentation for young directors.

These filmmakers included Tatsumi KUMASHIRO and Noboru TANAKA, whose films were critically acclaimed for their visual inventiveness and narrative complexity. As part of Nippon Retro, nine films, eight of them 35mm prints, by the two directors will be screened from May 26-28, 2017 under the title Ecstasy & Desire - In the Realm of Roman Porn. Book author Jasper Sharp will give a lecture on "Nikkatsu Roman Porno and Japanese Erotic Cinema" on 5/26 at 3pm. The retrospective is held in cooperation with the Japanese Cultural Institute (The Japan Foundation).

The Nippon Cinema section will also feature the German premieres of the two new Roman Porno films Dawn of the Felines by Kazuya SHIRAISHI and Wet Woman in the Wind by Akihiko SHIOTA, which were made as part of the "Roman Porno Reboot Project" initiated by Nikkatsu.

Nippon Kids

There's plenty for young Japan fans to discover in the Nippon Kids series. The program includes a taiko drumming workshop, face painting for children, samurai shiatsu, Japanese children's games, a panda dango cooking class, an animated film workshop and two children's films.

Nippon Culture

In addition to the extensive film program, this year's event will once again feature a diverse social program. There will be live music, a tea lounge, cooking classes, workshops or even a Japanese market with stalls and culinary delights. Lectures, discussions, origami, a film breakfast and much more are also on the great program.

Some highlights:

On 26.5. at 22:00 the Frankfurt indietronic band Ozaka Bondage will celebrate the official release of their new album "Forever" at Künstlerhaus Mousonturm. The chiptune band Melted Moon is expected as special guest. On 27.5. at 22:00 the Japanese artist duo Aoi Swimming & Mikio SAITO will present their experimental sounds and visuals. If you want to grab the mic yourself, you'll be in good hands at the karaoke parties on 5/24 from 9:30pm and 5/26 from 10pm.

During the festival, the popular Frankfurt restaurant Ramen Jun will move into the Café of the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm. From 23 to 28.5. you can enjoy delicious Japanese ramen soups there. Those in need of a little relaxation in between should stop by the radio gymnastics (Rajio Taiso) or treat themselves to a shiatsu massage.

The workshop offerings range from Kyusho Jitsu, the knowledge of the body's vital points, sword dancing, Japanese needle felting to the making of traditional Noh masks. Woodcarving artist Hideta KITAZAWA, who is travelling specially from Japan for the festival, will give an insight into the variety of mysterious Noh masks and their significance in traditional Japanese theatre. Renowned Japanese dancer Sachimaine HANAYAGI will present the traditional dance Nihon Buyo in a workshop and performance.

exhibitions

This year, not one but two exhibitions of modern and traditional Japanese art will be on view at the festival. In the exhibition space Eulengasse invites the sculptural work of the young artist Nolico TAKI in the exhibition Happy Reshaping to a spatial-sensory experience journey. And at Atelierfrankfurt, artist Renalisa Bergmann presents Japanese ink painting in her exhibition Reduction - Sumi-e! and shows versatile motifs from nature.


Happy Reshaping

An exhibition by Nolico TAKI
Duration: 24.5 - 4.6.2017
Location: Ausstellungsraum Eulengasse, Seckbacher Landstraße 16, Frankfurt am Main
Vernissage: Wednesday 24.5.2017 20:00 Uhr
Admission free

In her sculptural works, Japanese artist Nolico TAKI explores the question of what psychological effects architecture can exert on people. Her starting thesis here is that architecture controls the way people interact and move in space. Directly and indirectly, architecture thus shapes a person's character and personality.

Opening Hours
Thursday 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Friday 3:00 pm - 6:00
Saturday and Sunday 3:00pm - 7:00pm


Reduction - Sumi-e! - An exhibition by Renalisa Bergmann
Duration: 24 - 30.5.2017
Location: ATELIERFRANKFURT, Schwedlerstr. 1-5, Frankfurt am Main
Vernissage: Wednesday 24.5.2017 18:00 Uhr
Admission free

"If you handle the black ink skilfully, the five colours almost emerge by themselves." This famous master word describes traditional Japanese ink painting - the art of creating evocative images from a few brushstrokes. The artist Renalisa Bergmann has dedicated herself to sumi-e painting for many years and presents motifs from nature in multifaceted shades at ATELIERFRANKFURT.

Opening hours
Thursday 25.5. 17:00 - 21:00 Uhr
Friday 26.5. 15:00 - 18:00 Uhr
Saturday 27.5. and Sunday 5/28 3:00pm - 7:00pm
Monday 5/29 and Tuesday 5/30 3:00pm - 6:00pm

You can also find all the info about the films, tickets, social program and venues on the festival website: www.NipponConnection.com

Festival venues:

Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Waldschmidtstr. 4, Frankfurt am Main (festival center)

Theater Willy Praml in der Naxoshalle, Waldschmidtstr. 19, Frankfurt am Main (festival center)

Theater Die Käs, Waldschmidtstr. 19, Frankfurt am Main

Atelier Naxoshalle, Waldschmidtstr. 19, Frankfurt am Main

Kino im Deutschen Filmmuseum, Schaumainkai 41, Frankfurt am Main

Mal Seh'n Kino, Adlerflychtstr. 6, Frankfurt am Main

Ausstellungsraum Eulengasse, Seckbacher Landstr. 16, Frankfurt am Main

Atelierfrankfurt, Schwedlerstr. 1-5, Frankfurt am Main