<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; ">Contemporary Japanese Cinema: Outside, Elsewhere, In the World... <br>Athree-day Visions & Voices event in Norris Cinema Theatre this <br>Friday,February 19th - Sunday, February 21st, 2010<br>Please use the links below to make reservations for the Contemporary <br>Japanese Cinema: Outside, Elsewhere, In the World film event taking <br>place February 19, 2010 - February, 21, 2010 at the Norris Cinema <br>Theatre/Frank Sinatra Hall, USC.<br><br>*************************************************************************<br><br><br>SCA Events<br>Feb 19, 2010 - Feb 21, 2010<br>Contemporary Japanese Cinema: Outside, Elsewhere, In the World...<br>Time: Varied<br>Location: Norris Cinema Theatre/Frank Sinatra Hall<br>» make reservations for Baton<br>» make reservations for Hana and Alice<br>» make reservations for Air Doll<br>» make reservations for Azumi<br>» make reservations for Eureka<br>» make reservations for Sad Vacation<br><br>The School of Cinematic Arts and<br>Visions and Voices: The USC Arts & Humanities Initiative<br>Invite you and a guest to a special film celebration<br><br><br><br>Contemporary Japanese Cinema: Outside, Elsewhere, In the World...<br>A three-day Visions & Voices film symposium hosted by Akira Mizuta Lippit<br><br>Friday, Feb. 19th - Sunday, Feb. 21st, 2010<br><br>Norris Cinema Theatre/Frank Sinatra Hall<br><br>FREE ADMISSION. OPEN TO ALL.<br><br>ELECTRONIC RSVPS ARE REQUIRED FOR ALL SCREENINGS.<br><br><br><br>ABOUT THE FESTIVAL<br>The resurgence of Japanese cinema in the 1990s dramatically <br>reconfigured the aspirations, practices and reception of one of the <br>largest and most continuous film cultures outside of the United <br>States. This three-day event features films by three contemporary <br>Japanese filmmakers whose work has crossed national borders and been <br>viewed outside of Japan, elsewhere, in the world: Shinji Aoyama, <br>Shunji Iwai and Ryuhei Kitamura.<br>Aoyama, also an acclaimed novelist, is the internationally renowned <br>director of Eureka (2000) and Sad Vacation (2007). Iwai, who began his <br>career as a visual artist and a maker of music videos, has enjoyed <br>tremendous popularity throughout Asia, most notably in South Korea, <br>China and Taiwan. Among Iwai's remarkable films are Love Letter (1995) <br>and his dark reflection on adolescence, All About Lily Chou-Chou <br>(2001). Kitamura, who also began his career as a visual artist, <br>studied in Australia before becoming a prominent member of the film <br>industries of both Japan and Hollywood with films such as Godzilla: <br>Final Wars (2004) and an adaptation of Clive Barker's Midnight Meat <br>Train (2008).<br><br>Keisuke Kitano, one of Japan's most energetic new film critics and <br>scholars, will offer illuminating commentary throughout the festival. <br>All films will be screened in Japanese with English subtitles.<br>SCHEDULE OF SCREENINGS<br><br><br>FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19:<br><br><br>6:00 P.M. -- Reception in front of Norris Cinema Theatre, sponsored by <br>the East Asian Studies Center.<br><br>7:00 P.M. -- Baton (2009), 50 minutes<br>Written by Shunji Iwai, Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura<br>Set in three 20 minute parts, the animated sci-fi film Baton is a <br>miraculous collaboration between Shunji Iwai of Swallowtail Butterfly <br>and Ryuhei Kitamura of Versus & Azumi. Produced for the 150th <br>Anniversary of the opening of Yokohama port, this futuristic film <br>follows two main characters, Apollo and Michal, who will live side by <br>side on a future earth with intelligent robots.<br>MAKE A RESERVATION<br><br>8:00 P.M. -- Hana and Alice (2004), 135 minutes<br>Written and Directed by Shunji Iwai<br>Director Shunji Iwai captures the coming-of-age experience of Japanese <br>youth though his vivid portrayal of Hana (Anne Suzuki) and Alice (Yu <br>Aoi), two childhood friends who find themselves caught between love <br>and friendship. Lucid in its observations yet tinged with the hue of <br>nostalgia, Hana and Alice offers an enchanting poem on youth in Iwai's <br>latest ode to adolescence.<br>MAKE A RESERVATION<br><br>10:00 P.M. -- Panel Discussion featuring Shunji Iwai, Ryuhei Kitamura, <br>Keisuke Kitano and Akira Mizuta Lippit.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20:<br><br>3:00 P.M. -- Air Doll (2009), 125 minutes<br>Written and Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda<br>Director Hirokazu Kore-Eda offers food for thought and a poetical <br>imagination when Hideo's life-size "air doll" grows a heart in this <br>uncommon love story. A touching performance by Korean actress Bae <br>Doo-na as the "air doll" accompanies beautiful images by Taiwanese <br>cinematographer, Mark Lee Ping-bin.<br>MAKE A RESERVATION<br><br>6:00 P.M. -- Panel Discussion featuring Youngmin Choe, Keisuke Kitano <br>and Akira Mizuta Lippit.<br><br>7:00 P.M. -- Azumi (2003), 128 minutes<br>Written by Rikiya Mizushima and Isao Kiriyama, Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura<br>Young assassins trained in seclusion emerge with a mission to thwart <br>another civil war in 19th century war-torn feudal Japan. When one of <br>their targets turns the tables on them, it comes down to the strongest <br>assassin, Azumi, to face an entire army. Director Ryuhei Kitamura <br>shows off his ability for extensive storylines, sword fights, martial <br>arts and action sequences.<br>MAKE A RESERVATION<br><br>9:00 P.M. -- Panel Discussion featuring Ryuhei Kitamura, Keisuke <br>Kitano and Akira Kizuta Lippit.<br><br>10:30 P.M. -- Party at the School of Cinematic Arts Complex, Steven <br>Spielberg Building lobby. Food and beverages will be provided.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21:<br><br>12:00 P.M. -- Eureka (2000), 217 minutes<br>Written and Directed by Shinji Aoyama<br>Shinji Aoyama's Eureka is a serene and resonant meditation on the <br>psychological scars wrought upon the victims of terror and violence <br>and of the courage and inner strength they must find to survive.<br>MAKE A RESERVATION<br><br>4:00 P.M. -- Sad Vacation (2007), 136 minutes<br>Written and Directed by Shinji Aoyama<br>A damaged man experiences a series of odd coincidences that send his <br>life careening down a path he never anticipated in <br>director/screenwriter Shinji Aoyama's semi-sequel to his critically <br>acclaimed 2000 drama Eureka. Aoyama forces even the uncertain drifter <br>to try and make sense of his own fractured existence when the past and <br>the future come crashing together.<br>MAKE A RESERVATION<br><br>6:30 P.M. -- Panel Discussion featuring Shinji Aoyama, Keisuke Kitano <br>and Akira Mizuta Lippit.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>ABOUT THE MODERATOR<br>Akira Mizuta Lippit's teaching and research focus on four primary <br>areas: the history and theory of cinema; world literature and critical <br>theory; Japanese film and culture; and visual cultural studies. His <br>published work reflects these areas and includes two books, Atomic <br>Light (Shadow Optics) and Electric Animal: Toward a Rhetoric of <br>Wildlife.<br>He has published widely in international venues, and his work has been <br>translated in French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Korean and his <br>articles have appeared in scholarly journals of film, literature, and <br>culture, as well as in national and international exhibition and <br>museum catalogues and scholarly anthologies.<br>Lippit serves regularly on juries at film festivals and for media <br>organizations, and has been active in the film community as an <br>interviewer of independent filmmakers and video artists. He remains <br>deeply involved in the intellectual community of Japan, where he <br>regularly teaches, lectures, and publishes.<br>ABOUT CHECK-IN & RESERVATIONS<br>All screenings are free of charge and open to all USC students, <br>faculty, staff and alumni. The theater will be OVERBOOKED to ensure <br>capacity and the RSVP list will be honored on a first-come, <br>first-serve basis, with no reserved seating. Please bring a photo ID <br>or print out of your reservation confirmation, which will <br>automatically be sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making <br>an RSVP through this website. Doors will open at 30 minutes prior to <br>showtime.<br><br>ABOUT PARKING<br>The USC School of Cinematic Arts is located at 900 W. 34th St., Los <br>Angeles, CA 90007. Parking passes may be purchased for $8.00 at USC <br>Entrance Gate #5, located at the intersection of W. Jefferson Blvd. & <br>McClintock Avenue. We recommend parking in outdoor Lot M or V, or <br>Parking Structure D, at the far end of 34th Street. Please note that <br>Parking Structure D cannot accommodate tall vehicles such as SUVs. <br>Metered street parking is also available along Jefferson Blvd.<br>ABOUT THE EAST ASIAN STUDIES CENTER (EASC)<br>In 1975, the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences established the <br>East Asian Studies Center (EASC) in order to provide dedicated <br>leadership, coordination and support for the growing interdisciplinary <br>education, research activity, and community outreach concerning East <br>Asia. EASC has been recognized as one of the nation's leading centers <br>for the development of East Asian area studies and is among a small <br>group of elite colleges and universities to be designated a National <br>Resource Center for East Asian studies by the U.S. Department of <br>Education.<br><br>To learn more about the EASC, visit: <br><a href="http://college.usc.edu/east_asian_studies/">http://college.usc.edu/east_asian_studies/</a><br><br>This program is generously sponsored by<br><br><br><br><br><br>For more information about upcoming programming and events offered by <br>Visions and Voices: The USC Arts & Humanities Initiative, please visit <br>their website.<br><br><br>Contact: Alessandro Ago<br>Email Address:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:aago@cinema.usc.edu">aago@cinema.usc.edu</a></span></blockquote></div><br></body></html>