<html>
<head>
<style><!--
.hmmessage P
{
margin:0px;
padding:0px
}
body.hmmessage
{
font-size: 10pt;
font-family:Tahoma
}
--></style>
</head>
<body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'>
Dear Kinejapanners, <div>I hope you'll forgive the self-promotion, but the lineup for this year's Zipangu Fest, to be held in London from 18-24 November, has just been announced. </div><div>I look forward to seeing some of you there, if you can make it!</div><div><br></div><div>best</div><div><br></div><div>Jasper Sharp<br><div><br></div><div><br><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; "><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div><div class="gmail_quote"><div><div><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_quote"><div marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 582px; "><center><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="100%" width="100%" st!
yle="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-height: 100%; width: 602px; "><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="top" style="font: normal normal normal small/normal arial; border-collapse: collapse; "><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-right-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><tbody><tr><td align="center" valign="top" style="font: normal normal normal small/normal arial; border-collapse: collapse; "><br></td></tr><tr><td align="center"!
valign="top" style="font: normal normal normal small/normal arial; bo
rder-collapse: collapse; "><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" style="font: normal normal normal small/normal arial; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><table border="0" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" style="font: normal normal normal small/normal arial; border-collapse: collapse; "><div style="color: rgb(80, 80, 80); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; "><div><br><span style="font-size: 18px; "><b>ZIPANGU FEST REVEALS FULL PROGRAMME: NUCLEAR <br>REACTIONS, RETRO, ANIMATION AND HORROR</b></span><br><br><span style="font-size: 14px; "><b>Japanese film festival to screen timely environmental films and a rarely seen 1930s ghost story</b></span><br> <br><b>Zipangu Fest</b> is pleased to announce the full line up of its 2011 programme. <br><br>In the aftermath of this year's tragedy in north-east!
ern Japan, the issues surrounding nuclear energy have resurfaced and <b>Zipangu Fest</b> will show two documentaries on the subject. <b>Hitomi Kamanaka</b>'s <a href="http://zipangufest.com/films/2011/ashes-to-honey" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>Ashes to Honey</b></a> and <a href="http://zipangufest.com/films/2011/rokkasho-rhapsody" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>Rokkasho Rhapsody</b></a> will be screened as part of the festival's <b>Nuclear Reactions</b> programme, along with <a href="http://zipangufest.com/events/2011/hiroshima-nagasaki-download-the-student-wrestler" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>Hiroshima Nagasaki Download</b></a> - a documentary road trip in which two college friends interview atomic !
bomb survivors living in North America.<br><br>On the same theme, 
;<b>Zipangu Fest</b> is proud to present a rare screening of the 1959 docudrama <a href="http://zipangufest.com/films/2011/lucky-dragon-no5" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>Lucky Dragon No. 5</b></a>. Directed by one of post-war Japan's most important independent film makers, <b>Kaneto Shind?</b>, the film tells the story of the Bikini Atoll hydrogen bomb catastrophe that exposed a Japanese fishing boat crew to radioactive fallout. While this incident gave rise to Japan's famous movie monster Godzilla, fewer people know about Shind?'s treatment of it.<br><br>Another rare screening in the form of a 1930s ghost story, <a href="http://zipangufest.com/films/2011/the-ghost-cat-and-the-mysterious-shamisen" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>The Ghost Cat and the Mysterious Shamisen</b></a>, will form part of the <b>Zipa!
ngu Retro</b> section. Subtitled especially for <b>Zipangu Fest </b>and never seen before in the UK, this 1938 gem is one of Japan's few surviving pre-war horror films.<br><br>J-Horror meets J-pop in <a href="http://zipangufest.com/films/2011/shirome" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>Shirome</b></a>, a mockumentary that involves director <b>Koji Shiraishi</b> luring pre-pubescent idol band Momoiro Clover into a supposedly haunted abandoned school - the result lies somewhere between the Blair Witch Project and the X-Factor. <b>Shirome</b> is part of the previously announced <b>Sounds of Zipangu</b> section, which will open the festival with the stunning new film <a href="http://zipangufest.com/films/2011/kanzeon" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>KanZeOn</b></a>. A fictional companion!
piece to <b>KanZeOn</b>, <a href="http://zipangufest.com/fi
lms/2011/abraxas" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>Abraxas</b></a><b>, </b>tells the story of a punk musician turned Buddhist monk and it was a surprise hit at the 2011 Sundance Festival.<br><br><b>Zipangu Fest's </b><a href="http://zipangufest.com/films/2011/beyond-anime-the-outer-limits" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>Beyond Anime: The Outer Limits</b></a> programme will present some of the most interesting Japanese indie animations from recent years, and in case you missed our previous announcement - experimental films by <a href="http://zipangufest.com/films/2011/enter-the-cosmos-takashi-makino-special" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; "><b>Takashi Makino</b></a> and others will be showcased at the ICA and at a <a href="http://zipangufest!
.com/events/2011/nippon-re-read-radical-fragments-and-abstractions-from-japan-i-ii-cat-soup-feat-bo-ningen" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; ">benefit night</a> at Dalston's Caf? Oto.<br><br>Festival director and head programmer, Jasper Sharp, comments: "This year's festival presents a really interesting mix of old and new. I think it is a far more robust line-up than anything I've been involved in before, with all of the films linked by a tone or a theme that I think will really have audiences coming away thinking about Japanese cinema in a different way."<br><br>The second <b>Zipangu Fest</b> - celebrating the best of cutting edge and avant garde Japanese cinema - will be held at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts and Caf? Oto from November 18th to 24th, before moving to venues around the UK. The festival will showcase a selection of Japan's finest features, documentaries, shorts, a!
nimation and experimental films.<br><br>For full details and descripti
ons go to: <a href="http://zipangufest.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; ">http://zipangufest.com</a>.<br><br>For further press information please contact:<br>Sarah Macdonald: <a href="mailto:sarah@zipangufest.com" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; ">sarah@zipangufest.com</a><br>(0208 689 3824)<br><br></div><font face="Arial"><font color="#505050"><font size="2"><span><b>To receive timely Zipangu</b></span></font><b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; "><font size="2"> Fest news, please subscribe to our press list: </font> </span></b><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; "><a href="http://zipangufest.com/press/2011" target="_blank">http://zipangufest.com/press/<wbr>2011</a> </span></font></font><br><div><br><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(80, 80, 80); font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; ">-End!
s-</div> <br><br><b>Notes to Editors</b><br><br><b>About Zipangu Fest</b><br>The first UK-wide festival devoted to Japanese film, Zipangu Fest aims to demonstrate the many identities of Japan by introducing works new and old by some of the country's most exciting and revered talents. Last year's inaugural festival took place at various venues around London's East End before travelling to regional events in Bristol, Leeds, Coventry,Nottingham and Newcastle in the UK, and further afield to Tallinn in Estonia<b>.</b><br><br><b>About Jasper Sharp</b><br>Jasper Sharp is a writer and curator based in the UK. He co-edits the web site Midnight Eye, the premier English language resource on Japanese cinema, which he founded with Tom Mes in 2001. He is a regular visitor to Japan, having lived in Tokyo between 2001 and 2005, where he co-authored the <i>Midnight Eye Guide to Japanese Film</i> (Stonebridge Press, 2004). His critically acclaimed study of the Japanese pink f!
ilm industry <i>Behind the Pink Curtain</i>, was published by FAB
Press in 2008, while his latest work, <i>The Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema</i> will be published by Scarecrow Press later in 2011. His writing has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines across the world. He has curated a number of high-profile seasons and retrospectives at the British Film Institute, the Deutsches Filmmuseum in Frankfurt, as well as Austin Fantastic Fest, Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival, Wroclaw's New Horizons Festival, and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. He is the co-founder, with Chris MaGee, of the Shinsedai New Generation Japanese Cinema Festival in Toronto.<br> <br><b>Links</b><br>Institute of Contemporary Arts: <a href="http://www.ica.org.uk/30695/Seasons/Zipangu-Fest-2011.html" target="_blank">http://www.ica.org.uk/30695/<wbr>Seasons/Zipangu-Fest-2011.html</a><br>Zipangu Fest <a href="http://zipangufest.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 153); font-weight: normal; text-decorati!
on: underline; ">http://zipangufest.com/</a><br>Caf? Oto: <a href="http://cafeoto.co.uk/nippon-reread.shtm" target="_blank">http://cafeoto.co.uk/nippon-<wbr>reread.shtm</a><br><br><br><b>Friend on Facebook:</b> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/zipangufest" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/<wbr>zipangufest</a><br><b>Follow on Twitter:</b> <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/zipangufest/" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/#!/<wbr>zipangufest/</a><br><br><br></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td align="center" valign="top" style="font: normal normal normal small/normal arial; border-collapse: collapse; "><table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" width="600" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-width: 0px; border-top-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; "><tbody><tr><td valign="top" style="font: normal normal normal small/normal arial; border-collapse: collapse; "><br></td></tr></t!
body></table></td></tr></tbody></table><br></td></tr></tbody></table><
/center><center><br>-- <img><br></center></div></div><font color="#888888"><br></font></div><br><br clear="all"><br></div></div></div><br><br></div></div></div><br><br><br></div></div></div><br><br clear="all"><br></div></div><font color="#888888">-- <br><br></font></div><br></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; "><a href="http://www.zipangufest.com" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 204); "><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zsfpSX9omWk/TfjEaTiR5fI/AAAAAAAAB8A/Ck_dycre4Ek/zipangu-fest-banner2011.png"></a></span><br><br>Zipangu Fest: Japanarchy in the UK<br><a href="http://zipangufest.com/" target="_blank">http://zipangufest.com/</a><br><br></span></font><div><span>Jasper Sharp, </span><span>writer & film curator</span></div><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><a href="h!
ttp://jaspersharp.com/" target="_blank">http://jaspersharp.com/</a><br><br>Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema<br><a href="http://www.midnighteye.com" target="_blank">http://www.midnighteye.com</a><br><br><br></span></font></span><br>Jasper Sharp: Writer & Film Curator Homepage<br>http://jaspersharp.com/<br><br>Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinem