broad request for suggestions: recent Japanese films

[Steve Cavrak]

On Sep 22, 2006, at 11:11 PM, Lewis Cook wrote:

> Some of my students are asking why I'm not screening any films made 
> after around 1970. What am I missing and what should I be seeing?

and

> I wasn't asking for the names of directors (or for decades) but the 
> titles of recent films that can stand (or have stood) the test of 
> time, context (historical, sociological, filmographical, 
> ethno-political, etc.) deleted or attenuated. Most of my students 
> (undergraduates) don't have a grasp of the context, despite my efforts 
> to supply it. What they learn from film depends on what they can see. 

As folks have suggested, there are lots of new films to choose from, 
maybe even too many :)

But your second statement sound like a good starting point for an 
assignment that at least some of the more serious students in your 
class will be up to - identifying and nominating a film they would like 
to see based on reviews, recommendations, etc. The Japan Foundation has 
offered contemporary film series, and if there is no series coming up, 
a bit of research can find the recent ones.

And for your students, the Japan Society and the Asia Society in New 
York have Film series which could be the basis of an assignment; often 
the films have discussions and the students could be required to report 
on and react to the audiences responses.

Could be fun, and it would still support your curriculum.

I'll also add two local favorites - Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro and 
Mononoke-hime.

Steve