Japan Foundation 16mm prints

[Mark Nornes]

Aaron's comments are spot on. Michigan does fall and summer series,  
along with  special events all year. Except in exceptional  
circumstances, we always show 35mm or 16mm. Thanks to home video, the  
floor has fallen out from the non-theatrical distribution market.  The  
usual American distributors do have films, most of them canonical. But  
without the Japan Foundation, there is no way anyone could stage new  
and interesting retrospectives and programs with subtitled prints  
outside of Japan.

You can tell from the festivals and retrospectives out there that  
they're collection is eclectic and deep.   They won't show you a list— 
neither will any archive out there—but they're happy to tell you know  
if they've got prints of the films you are interested in. As Aaron  
notes, the Japan Foundation is great to work with; it's the rights  
holders that too often stand in your way.

Markus