[KineJapan] Kinema Junpo Best Ten 2013

[Dolores Martinez]

 Having taught mature students who were actually independent film
distributors, I can say that they struggle if they specialise in 'foreign'
films but haven't the cash to go right to the source (Japan) and thus
they rely on getting to film festivals to see what's available. Some
obvious filtering has already taken place: what will do well on the
festival circuit being question number one. AND what will foreigners
'understand' being the second. I remember Donald Richie telling me how this
second question made it hard for him to organise foreign Ozu screenings
and, in the late 80s when I briefly worked for television, it was a battle
to get Japanese broadcasters to send us the programmes we wanted for a
Japan Season, again because they were selecting programmes they thought
were of an international calibre AND they were 'censoring' stuff they
thought inappropriate by saying British audiences wouldn't understand it.
More stuff gets out now, with the Internet, YouTube, etc. but fan subbing
can be awful, painful for those of us who understand Japanese, and/or the
picture quality can be poor. You can buy the DVDs, of course, but as a
colleague recently complained, they can be difficult to use for teaching
since they often do not have English or other European language subtitles.
 But I too have managed to enjoy the odd title or two whilst flying. I
always assume its because of Japanese businessmen that the films are
included on flights!
Lola

On Thursday, 9 January 2014, Jonathan M. Hall wrote:

>  Some festivals are important for distributors, but the vast majority are
> not.  I think we need to distinguish here.   Is there a festival in Japan
> that regularly draws representatives of major distributors of
> Japanese/Asian film?  Or do those distributors look to other festivals
> overseas?  Of course, festival-to-festival distribution is itself a vital
> link, and serves as another channel to audiences and distributors overseas.
>  My comments are speculative as I am not in the festival industry.
>
>  jmh
>
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* kinejapan-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu <javascript:_e({},
> 'cvml', 'kinejapan-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu');> [
> kinejapan-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
> 'kinejapan-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu');>] on behalf of Mark
> Roberts [mroberts37 at mail-central.com <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
> 'mroberts37 at mail-central.com');>]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 08, 2014 10:28 PM
> *To:* Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum
> *Subject:* Re: [KineJapan] Kinema Junpo Best Ten 2013
>
>  I second Quentin's observation about the split between the values of
> festival programmers and more "mainstream" critics.
>
>  After looking at the festival numbers more closely, what really jumped
> out at me was how much they reflect an almost separate ecosystem. Festivals
> are markets for distributors, but a surprising number of films don't get
> sold. Many titles circulate through festivals but never make it to DVD.
>
>  VOD is of course the big hope, but I predict that Japan is going to lag
> here because the money and power are very centralized. My suspicion is that
> the same inward-facing business practices will likely replicate themselves
> under new market conditions. Hope I'm wrong.
>
>  M.
>
>  On Jan 9, 2014, at 3:09 PM, Quentin Turnour wrote:
>
> Apart from the animes and the Kore-ada, THE GREAT PASSAGE, THE DEVIL'S
> PATH, BACKWATER and TAMAKO IN MORATORIUM are all titles that have been
> getting some touring festival life and have been seen in both English
> subbed theatrical copies and screeners. (BACKWATER is on the Festivalscope
> site for example, for those who can access it)
>
> The frustration often seems to be the odd film that Japanese critics
> really go for in the poll, but which don't seem to make it even out in
> international film festival circulation - perhaps because of the split
> between titles that get championed by festival programmers and those that
> have mainstream Japanese studio release.
>
> This is re Arron's comments; I suspect the one film I won't get to see on
> this year's list is PEKOROSU NO HAHA NI AI NI IKU, - whilst an indie film
> such as ANATOMY OF A PAPERCLIP will probably make it to many a film
> festival near you, because a number of influential western programmers have
> got behind it (Just as last year the hard to see film was the #2 THE
> DRUDGERY TRAIN and the #1 - Yang Yong-hi's brilliant OUR HOMELAND - was
> only finally seen on the back of a JAL airline seat).
>
> Best wishes
>
> Quentin Turnour, Manager, Arc Canberra Cinema Programs,
> National Film and Sound Archive of Australia,
> quentin.turnour at nfsa.gov.au
> Fax: +61 2 6249 8159
> Ph +61 2 6248 2054
> Mob: + 61 4 428 368908
> [Please note that I am often absent Mondays]
>
> All mail and freight shipments to:
> att: Cinema Programming (Quentin Turnour),
> Loading Dock, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia,
> McCoy Cct, Acton, Canberra,
> ACT 2601, AUSTRALIA.
> Freight shipment inquiries to Cynthia Piromalli:
> cynthia.piromalli at nfsa.gov.au
> ph +61 2 628 2289
>
>
>
>
>
> From:        Mark Roberts <mroberts37 at mail-central.com>
> To:        Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <
> kinejapan at lists.service.ohio-state.edu>,
> Date:        09/01/2014 04:50 PM
> Subject:        Re: [KineJapan] Kinema Junpo Best Ten 2013
> Sent by:        kinejapan-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
> ------------------------------
>
>
>
> Hi Jonathan,
>
> The 5% number is based upon me having checked the 90 new Japanese films
> screened at TIFF from 2007 to 2012
>
>
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