[KineJapan] Japanese films are We Are One

[Markus Nornes]

You probably heard that Tribeca organized major festivals around the world
for a week of streaming films, panels and interviews. Here are the ones
related to Japanese film.

There was also a Fukada Koji short that played yesterday, but it was taken
offline. So far, other films seem to be kept online so you can watch when
your schedule permits. But who knows how long they'll stay up.

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*June 1*

*The Yalta Conference Online*
39 min. TIFF—FUKADA KOJI
Just before the end of World War II, the Yalta Conference was held by the
“Big Three” Allied leaders: Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United States,
Winston Churchill of Britain, and Joseph Stalin of the USSR. Japanese
theater company Seinendan reimagines their conversations about postwar rule
and power as a darkly humorous satire.
第2次世界大戦の終戦間際、戦後世界の支配をめぐって米・英・ソ首脳によって行われた「ヤルタ会談」を痛快にパロディ化した劇団青年団の人気レパートリーの30分の演劇をコロナ禍のさなかに置き換えそのままオンライン化。
http://www.weareoneglobalfestival.com/events/zoom-yalta-talks-2020

*Inabe*
35 min.—TIFF—FUKADA KOJI
In Koji Fukada’s (*Harmonium*) 2013 short, pig farmer Tomohiro’s (Matsuda
Hiroaki) sister Naoko (Kurata Ami) suddenly returns to their pastoral home
city with her new baby after a 17-year absence. She’s evasive about why she
left, but as they reminisce, they resolve to dig up “something” they buried
long ago.
養豚場で働く智広のもとに、姉の直子が赤ちゃんを連れて17年ぶりに帰ってくる。理由を聞いても素っ気ない直子だったが、ある日突然、子どもの頃に2人で埋めた「何か」を掘り起こしに行こうと言いだす。

*June 3*

*Genius Party: Happy Machine*
16 min., TIFF
After an innocent baby’s nursery crumbles away before his eyes, he enters
into a surreal world in this head trip from Masaaki Yuasaka, part of an
omnibus film created by STUDIO4˚C and 7 filmmakers.
STUDIO4℃が7人の映像作家を集め制作したオムニバスの一篇。無垢な赤ん坊が入り込んだシュールな世界を描くファンタジー。
http://www.weareoneglobalfestival.com/events/genius-party-happy-machine-2020

*June 4*

*Ice Cream and the Sound of Raindrops*
74 min., — TIFF
Daigo Matsui’s mesmerizing shape-shifter compresses a month in the life of
a theater troupe into a serpentine 74-minute single take, whose fluidity
evokes the dissolved boundaries between the actors’ real lives and their
roles. In a small town in Japan, a theatrical premiere is planned for the
British play "Morning” by Simon Stephens, which centers on two teenagers
who share a grim, violent secret. The director (Matsui himself) casts six
local teenagers and pushes them through emotionally demanding rehearsals:
they throw themselves into every aspect of the production, but weak ticket
sales and a general lack of public interest lead to the abrupt cancellation
of opening night. Instead of wallowing in disappointment, though, the cast
decides to rehearse the play anyways. Anchored by a star-making lead
performance from Kokoro Morita, this unconventional coming-of-age tale
probes the subversive possibilities of performance in a world that claims
to have no place for it.
2017年、小さな町で、イギリスの戯曲「MORNING」の日本初公演が予定されていた。少年少女たちは初舞台に意気込んでいたが、舞台は突如中止に。そんなとき「ねぇ、稽古しようよ」
と、1人の少女が言い放ち…。
http://www.weareoneglobalfestival.com/events/ice-cream-and-the-sound-of-raindrops-2020

*June 5*

*Tremble all You Want*
117 min. — TIFF
Yoshika (Mayu Matsuoka) is a self-possessed 24-year-old office worker, but
her past is always on her mind. For the past 10 years, she's harbored a
secret crush on her middle school classmate Ichimiya (Takumi Kitamura)—or
“Ichi” (One)—and her unrequited yearning has made it difficult for her to
move on, or even consider dating other people. One day, her colleague (Daichi
Watanabe)—whom she privately calls "Ni" (Two)—asks her out, but out of
loyalty to Ichi, she has trouble pursuing this new romance. When Yoshika
realizes that she needs to see Ichi again, she organizes a class reunion,
but things don't quite go as she’d planned. Akika Ohku’s fresh and funny
adaptation of Risa Wataya’s award-winning novel thrums along on Matsuoka’s
livewire energy. As she opens up about her love triangle to her friends,
she’s also admitting the extent of her fantasies to herself—but just how
she’ll choose to regain control is open to interpretation.
http://www.weareoneglobalfestival.com/events/tremble-all-you-want-2020

*On Transmission: Ang Lee in Conversation with Kore-eda Hirokazu*
63 min., —Berlin
Nine-time Academy Award®–winning Ang Lee and Kore-eda Hirokazu (
*Shoplifters*) discuss the state of film art today. The conversation is
fascinating and unexpected: it presents not only one of many possible
narratives of the festival but also a vibrant picture of cinema, taken at a
crucial time of transition. These remarkable filmmakers have left a mark on
the Berlinale and in all our lives.
http://www.weareoneglobalfestival.com/events/on-transmission-ang-lee-in-conversation-with-kore-eda-hirokazu-2020

---

*Markus Nornes*
*Professor of Asian Cinema*
Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and
Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design

*Department of Film, Television and Media*
*6348 North Quad*
*105 S. State Street*
*Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*
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