Somai Shinji

[tanaka taro]

Hello everyone,

I am writing a piece on Somai Shinji for the catalogue of the upcoming 
Jeonju International Film Festival (April 28-May 6), which will show 8 
Somai films in a retrospective.
One of the things I'm looking into is Somai's reception (or rather lack 
thereof) outside of Japan, which already came up on this list a few days 
ago.
Video and dvd-releases are one thing, but I was wondering if any of you 
know of other festivals (or events) which have paid attention (gave prizes) 
to Somai's work in the past, or places where his films got a theatrical 
release. I've only heard of one retrospective organised by the Japan 
Foundation in Germany a few years ago.

I wonder how much the reason why so little has been written about him in 
the West has to do with the age to which the main part of his work belongs, 
as the eighties in general are largely overlooked (or dismissed as the 
decade when Japanese cinema was as good as dead).

Many thanks for any suggestions you may have,
Luk Van Haute

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