Tokyo: FCCJ Screening- BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS 29 June 2010

[Jonathan M. Hall]

Dear KineJapanners,

As already announced, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan will be screening ONE SHOT ONE KILL, next Monday 7 June 2010.  A second screening in June, this time of Kana Tomoko's BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS has been announced for Tuesday 29 June 2010.  A description below follows.
The FCCJ screenings are always with English subtitles and the following press conferences with English interpreting.  They're private events, but Karen Severns of the FCCJ Film Committee usually can make some seats available for KineJapanners who contact her in advance:   kjs30 at gol.com

In recent months, there's been a really convivial salon tradition emerging after the FCCJ screenings.  KineJapanners have been gathering in the Press Club's Bar.  Although it's a private club, we've been fortunate enough to have enough Club members  present to give us welcome.  Please consider joining next time for coffee, beer, and J-film conversation.

See you there, I hope ...
Jonathan



SNEAK PREVIEW SCREENING: "BEAUTIFUL ISLANDS"
followed by a Q&A session with the director, Tomoko Kana
in recognition of Environment Month in Japan

Tuesday, June 29, 2010. 7:00 p.m. 20th floor

Japan, 2009. 106 minutes
In English with Japanese subtitles
Directed and produced by Tomoko Kana
Executive Producer Hirokazu Kore-eda
Cinematography by Yukio Minami
Film courtesy of Horizon Features

Join the Movie Committee as we take a voyage around the world, listening
to the sounds of water, wind and children's laughter, treating our eyes
to a stunning visual portrait of three beautiful islands: Tuvalu,
Venice and Shishmaref, Alaska. Although their climates and lifestyles
differ, each island has a rich cultural heritage that is under assault
from catastrophic climate change.

Filmmaker Tomoko Kana spent three years traveling with renowned
cinematographer Yukio Minami, capturing indelible images of the lives of
these islanders, from daily rituals to elaborate festivals and customs
that have been passed down through generations, as the threat to their
beloved homelands accelerates. At the current rate the world’s oceans
will rise a foot in this century, overcoming coastal defenses and
creating "climate refugees" who must abandon their communities and move
inland, away from the path of destruction.

In Tuvalu, where the tiny population lives atop nine coral atolls, the
highest elevation is just 4.6 meters (15 feet) but most of it is no more
than a meter above the sea. Several times a year the regular lunar cycle
of tides, coupled with the increasing sea level of the Pacific Ocean,
inundates roads and sloshes into neighborhoods. In Venice, the European
symbol of rising seas and the difficulty of preventing damage to
irreplaceable coastal cities, recent flooding in St. Mark's Square
demonstrated the challenge. Italian officials made the decision to
construct elaborate tide dams at Lagoon entrances, but environmental
groups and some scientists warn that higher tide and storm levels will
soon overcome these defenses. Flooding and erosion in Shishmaref has
necessitated urgent talk about the relocation of entire villages, as
thinning sea ice and disappearing permafrost enable storms of
ever-increasing intensity and devastation on Alaska's coasts.

Please join the Movie Committee for this special opportunity to view and
discuss "Beautiful Islands" ahead of its opening in Tokyo on July 10.

"Beautiful Islands" won the Asian Cinema Fund Award at the 2009 Pusan
International Film Festival, and the Earth Vision Award at the 2010
Earth Vision festival, as well as appearing at festivals in Tokyo,
Honolulu and Taipei.

Director Tomoko Kana worked at NHK as a news producer, and began
directing award-winning independent documentaries with difficult themes,
giving voice to the victims of Japan's wartime aggression. Her 2001
documentary, "Mardiyem," focused on Indonesian sex slaves of the
Japanese Army during WWII. Her 2004 documentary "From the Land of Bitter
Tears," is a portrayal of Chinese who suffer from the chemical weapons
disposed of by the Japanese military. Kana won the 2007 Sundance / NHK
International Filmmakers Award for her first narrative screenplay, "Two
By the River," which she is working on now.

All movie screenings are private, noncommercial events restricted to
FCCJ members and their guests.

Karen Severns, Edwin Karmiol, Movie Committee

-------------------------------------------------------------
This message has been scanned by Postini anti-virus software.