The Japanese Film Festival 2020

Bangkok • Khon Kaen • Chiang Mai • Phuket

The Japan Foundation, Bangkok, in collaboration with SF Corporation Public Company Limited and AEON Thana Sinsap (Thailand) Public Company Limited, welcomed the year 2020 with our prime and annual film festival, the ‘Japanese Film Festival 2020’, which was started from Thursday 6 February until Sunday 8 March 2020! This year we had earnestly brought a variety of 14 award-winning and recent films for our cinephiles and Japanese culture and film enthusiasts to relish the moment as much awaited and anticipated. The festival travelled to four different regions of Thailand, including Bangkok, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, and Phuket.

Event periods and venues

Bangkok

Period
6 (Thu) – 16 February (Sun) 2020

Venue
SF World Cinema, Central World

Participants 3,465 persons

Media Coverage N:6 Asia Center1 Arts and Culture1 HQ ProjectFY2019Japanese Film Festival 2020

Special event: Producers Talks

Dance With Me

Post-talk by Mr. MASUI Shoji and Mr. TSUCHIMOTO Takao

Period
7 February 2020 at 20:30 p.m.

Venue
Cinema 4, SF World Cinema, Central World

Participants 105 persons

Angel Sign

Post-talk by Mr. KATO Shusei

Period
8 January 2020 at 15:00 p.m.

Venue
Cinema 4, SF World Cinema, Central World

Participants 87 persons

Khon Kaen

Period
21 (Fri) – 23 (Sun) February 2020

Venue
SF Cinema Central Plaza Khon Kaen

Participants 346 people

Media Coverage N:6 Asia Center1 Arts and Culture1 HQ ProjectFY2019Japanese Film Festival 2020

Chiang Mai

Period
28 (Fri) February – 1 (Sun) March 2020

Venue
SFX Cinema, MAYA Chiang Mai

Participants 618 people

Media Coverage N:6 Asia Center1 Arts and Culture1 HQ ProjectFY2019Japanese Film Festival 2020

Phuket

Period
6 (Fri) – 8 (Sun) March 2020

Venue
SFX Cinema, Central Festival Phuket

Participants 344 people

Media Coverage N:6 Asia Center1 Arts and Culture1 HQ ProjectFY2019Japanese Film Festival 2020

Lists of Films

	1.		A Banana? At This Time of Night? directed by Tetsu Maeda (120 min/ 2018)
	2.		Angel Sign directed by Tsukasa Hojo, Nonzee Nimibutr, Kamila Andini, Ham Tran, Ken Ochiai, Masatsugu Asahi (105 min/ 2019)
	3.		Bento Harassment directed by Renpei Tsukamoto (106 min/ 2019)
	4.		Children of the Sea directed by Ayumu Watanabe (111 min/ 2019)
	5.		Dance with Me directed by Shinobu Yaguchi (103 min/ 2019)
	6.		I Go Gaga, My Dear directed by Naoko Nobutomo (102 min/ 2018)
	7.		Little Love Song directed by Kojiro Hashimoto (123 min/ 2019)
	8.		Masquerade Hotel directed by Masayuki Suzuki (132 min/ 2019)
	9.		Miyamoto directed by Tetsuya Mariko (129 min/ 2019) * R – 20
	10.		My Dad is a Heel Wrestler directed by Kyohei Fujimura (111 min/ 2018)
	11.		Samurai Shifters directed by Isshin Inudo (120 min/ 2019)
	12.		The Fable directed by Kan Eguchi (123 min/ 2019)
	13.		Until I Meet September’s Love directed by Toru Yamamoto (105 min/ 2019)
	14.		12 Suicidal Teens directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi (118 min/ 2019)

Note:

* R -20 The film contains language, violence and sexual scenes which are not suitable for people under 20. Audiences of the film are required to show ID card or passport at the entry of the Cinema.

***All of the films had both English and Thai subtitles except Angel Sign which hadno dialogue.***

Especially in Bangkok, two special talks were organized.

The special talks by Mr. Shoji MASUI (Exevutive Producer) and Mr. Takao TSUCHIMOTO (Producers) from Dance with Me, on Friday 7 February during 20:40 – 21:10 at Cinema 4. SFW Cinema Central World.

The special talk by Mr. Yusei KATO, Producer of Angel Sign and Mr. Nonzee Nimibutr, one of the Directors of Angel Sign, on Saturday 8 February during 15:30 -16:00 hrs. at Cinema 4, SFW Cinema Central World.

***	The audiences with the ticket of Dance with Me on Friday 7 February (19:00) and Angel Sign on Saturday 8 February 2020 (13:30) were able to attend the relevant post-talk which started after the screening of each film. The talk was conducted in Japanese and Thai.

On Thursday 6 February 2020, the Opening day of the Japanese Film Festival 2020, Mr. Shoji MASUI, Mr. Takao TSUCHIMOTO , Mr. Yusei KATO and Mr. Nonzee Nimibutr were present on the stage during the Opening ceremony at Sky Lobby on 8^th floor of SF World Cinema Central World.

There was a mini show by BNK48 before the official Opening ceremony.

The Opening Film was “A Banana? At This Time of Night?” directed by Tetsu Maeda who won the 43^rd Fumiko Yamaji Welfare Award and starred by Yo Oizumi, Mitsuki Takahata, and Haruma Miura. The film is based on a true story from the novel “Konna Yofuke ni Banana kayo” by Kazufumi Watanabe winning the 35^th of Soichi Oya Nonfiction Award and also the 25^th of Kodansha Nonfiction Award. The story was evolved around the life of Yasuaki Shikano at the age of 34 who long suffered from muscular dystrophy and was confined a wheelchair. How he lived his life with his audacious whims and interacted with everybody as equals would definitely leave meaningful messages to kindred spirits and us all.

In addition, we recommended a special array of outstanding films which will bring joy, excitement, and impression to everyone. For instance, these include:

“Angel Sign” is the anthology film of interconnected stories based on five award winning SILENT MANGA AUDITION® adaptations. Directed by Tsukasa Hojo, the creator of “City Hunter” as his directorial debut, the film contains no dialogue using only ambient sounds and music. Remarkably, one of the adaptation is based on “SKY SKY” by Prema – Ja, Thai illustrator and SMA1 Grand Prix Award Winner and directed by Nonzee Nimibutr, the famed Thai Director best known for “Nang Nak.”

“I Go Gaga, My Dear” is the heartfelt documentary film directed by Naoko Nobutomo who filmed the day-to-day struggles of caring a family member of dementia. The film was initially screened in a small cinema in Sapporo before eventually expanded to 70 screens as a big hit in Japan for over three months thanks to word-of-mouth. Winning the Grand Prix Award from Agency for Cultural Affairs Film Award and the 43^rd Japan Catholic Film Award, this documentary was particularly recommended by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and also by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan.

“The Fable,” is about an enigmatic assassin who terrorized the underworld but was later told to live a normal life without killing anyone. Based on manga series “The Fable,” winner of the general category of the 41^st Kodansha Manga Award in 2017 by Katsuhisa Minami, the film won the Best Asian Film Award for New Cinema from Asia at the 19^th Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland and the Best Action Movie at the 23^rd Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada.

Directed by Shinobu Yaguchi, the Director of Woodjob! Survival Family, Swing Girls and Water Boys, “Dance with Me” is centered on Shizuka, a working woman, who falls under the spell of breaking uncontrollably into singing and dancing whenever and wherever she hears music. The film won Toronto Japan Film Festival’s Audience Choice Kobayashi Award and Shinobu Yaguchi himself also won the Special Director Award from the same Festival. Moreover, this film earned the Silver Award (Audience Award) of the 23^rd Montreal Fantasia International Film Festival’s Best Asian Feature Award.

“Masquerade Hotel,” starring Takuya Kimura, a former member of J-Pop “SMAP,” and Masami Nagasawa, a famed actress winning a Japan Academy Prize, Mainichi Film Award and Blue Ribbon Award,” is based on the best-selling novel “Masquerade Hotel” by Keigo Higashino (published by Shueisha). Kosuke Nitta of the Metropolitan Police Department Investigative Division and Naomi Yamagishi, the first-rate clerk of Hotel Cortesia, must overcome their butting heads to unveil the masks of hotel guests and discover the killer and serial murderer. The film was swiftly ranked number one of Japan Box Office gaining 798 million yen from selling 614,450 movie tickets during the first three days of 18-20 January 2019.

“Miyamoto” projects the rollercoaster experiences of Hiroshi Miyamoto, an awkward and tactless salesman, who falls in love with Yasuko Nakano, a friend of senior coworker but their love would be put through the ultimate and greatest test of their lives. Adapted from the award winning comic from the seinen general category of the 38^th Shogakukan Awards in 1992, the film was directed by Tetsuya Mariko who won the Best Director Award and Sokuke Ikematsu, the male protagonist, who also earned the Best Male Actor Award from the 32^nd Nikkan Sports Film Award 2019.

Apart from these films, audiences were encouraged to watch more of our selected films, including Until I Meet September’s Love, 12 Suicidal Teens, Samurai Shifters, Bento Harassment, Little Love Song, Children of the Sea and My Dad is a Heel Wrestler.