Berlin market lineup

[Fujioka Asako]

This seems to always be my once-a-year contribution to Kinejapan... the
Berlin market lineup from New Cinema from Japan! TOKYO FILMeX, the new film
festival in Ginza (Asia Shin-sakkashugi-eigasai!) has kept me away from
preparing for our annual market booth in the European Film Market...
Belatedly, here it is.

Fujioka Asako
soon to leave for Berlin

At the 51st Berlin International Film Festival / European Film Market
NEW CINEMA FROM JAPAN 2001 presents
22 new titles, including 7 in official selection!

In Panorama
Darkness in the Light (Nippon no kuroi natsu - Enzai, By KUMAI Kei)
Berlinale award-winner Kumai returns with a dynamic critique on media
reportage. Based on the true story of the scapegoating of an innocent man
after a terrorist poison gas attack.

hotoke (By TSUJI Jinsei)
Takeda Shinji (GOHATTO) plays a simpleminded man who knows no anger or
sorrow. He sows flower seeds among the bitter feuds of local dead-end
hoodlums and destitute families.

In Kinderfilmfest
NAGISA (By KONUMA Masaru)
A 12-year-old girl's summer at the beach is full of new experiences, some
warm, some bitter-sweet. Set in the 1960s, Japanese pop songs and rock 'n
roll fashion strike the tone.

In Forum
Departure (By NAKAGAWA Yosuke)
Second film by Blue Fish director Nakagawa. Again set in Okinawa, high
school buddies face the day of departure from their homes and each others.

kaza-hana (By SOMAI Shinji)
An elite bureaucrat fallen from grace and a sex parlor gal with a secret
take the road to north Japan, where late winter snowflakes whirl like cherry
blossoms and heaven lies a step away.

LOVE / JUICE (By SHINDO Kaze)
Two girls live together, one straight, the other lesbian. Clubbing, dope,
bunny girl waitressing. They are inseparable chums, until love and sex come
into the picture.

RENDAN - Quartet for Two (By TAKENAKA Naoto)
An intimate comedy about a disjunctive family-a flamboyant woman with a
career and a lover, a house-husband with inferiority complex, and 2
matter-of-fact kids. A piano duet highlights their travails.


Market Screenings
BATTLE ROYALE (By FUKASAKU Kinji)
A 9th grade class is cast off on a remote island and ordered to kill each
other until the last survivor. Beat Takeshi plays the brutal teacher who
enforces the government run high-tech operation.

ritual (Shiki-jitsu, By ANNO Hideaki)
By Evangelion director ANNO and starring filmmaker IWAI Shunji, a
live-action story of a burned out "Director" and a mysterious young woman
who lives in a deserted office building.

SAKUYA (Sakuya yokaiden, By HARAGUCHI Tomoo)
Action and special-effects-packed adventure fantasy about a beautiful
samurai-girl's mission to destroy the evil goblins with her magic sword.

On video at the booth
BLISTER (By SUGA Taikan)
Box office hit. An ardent collector of action figures finds himself caught
in a timeless doll's world!

BLUE REMAINS (By TAKABAYASHI Hisaya)
3D CG animation by GAGA. In the aftermath of nuclear war, cyborgs are taking
over the planet.

CHINPIRA (By MOCHIZUKI Rokuro)
Stunning stud falls for the don's drugged mistress while gang war looms, sex
and politics rule.

The Fuccon Family (By ISHIBASHI Yoshimasa)
TV program spin-off comedy series starring an American family living in
Japan. 12 episodes.

INFINITY (Infinity Nami no ueno kochu, By TAKAHASHI Iwao)
A writer visiting a tropical island finds himself interchanging with the
hero of his novel.

The Last Sunset (By NISHI Shusei)
Shot in Russia with local crew, a philosophical love story of a man longing
for his lost wife.

Maybe Again Tomorrow (Ashita wa kitto, By MIHARA Mitsuhiro)
A teenage girl explores new territory through a summer of love and
mysterious encounters.

ROJI-E To the Alley (Roji-e / Nakagami Kenji ga nokoshita film, By AOYAMA
Shinji)
Poetic documentary by EUREKA director Aoyama on the world of a famous
writer.

Rush! (By ZEZE Takahisa)
Petty crook plans the kidnapping of a Korean restaurateur's daughter, but
nothing goes right.

Scout Man (By ISHIOKA Masato)
Recruiter of women into the sex industry, a scout man discovers the highs
and lows of the trade.

Swing Man (By MAEDA Tetsu)
An actor is attacked by an unknown assailant's baseball bat. A wired
darkness in him is lit.

zawazawa shimokitazawa (By ICHIKAWA Jun)
Everyday happenings in the Tokyo "village". Regulars at a local cafe
rediscover their community.