For the primary time in 15 years, the 2021 Tokyo Worldwide Movie Competition’s programming is being formed by a brand new cinematic sensibility. Shozo Ichiyama, a producer and competition veteran, was named Tokyo’s new programming director in March, changing Yoshi Yatabe, who held the position since 2004.
Ichiyama was beforehand head of Tokyo Filmex, a competition that was as soon as a rival of the Tokyo Worldwide Movie Competition however lately turned an ally, with the 2 occasions now held concurrently within the Japanese capital. As a producer, Ichiyama is greatest identified for his long-running collaboration with the celebrated Chinese language auteur Jia Zhangke, however he additionally has produced work by Taiwanese arthouse star Hou Hsiao-hsien and Japanese display screen legend Takeshi Kitano.
On the eve of the 2021 Tokyo Worldwide Movie Competition, which runs Oct. 30 -Nov. 8, The Hollywood Reporter requested Ichiyama to pick 10 semi-overlooked Japanese movies from the final 5 years that he believes all movie buffs ought to see. From stylized violence to unrequited like to social commentary, Ichiyama’s eclectic decisions provide a window into each up to date Japanese filmmaking and the aesthetic sensibilities that may govern the Tokyo competition’s forthcoming programming.
The Dork, the Woman and the Douchebag (2016）
If the title alone isn’t sufficient to seize your consideration, Yosuke Okuda wrote, directed, produced and performed perhaps the world’s greatest douchebag on this manic story of low-life shenanigans, duplicity and scams. Okuda crowdfunded the manufacturing, notes Ichiyama, who hails his “eager cinematic sense for violence and offbeat humor.”
Vigilante (2017)
Directed by Yu Irie and set within the director’s residence turf of Saitama, the prefecture to Tokyo’s north that’s usually the butt of jokes from the capital’s cosmopolitan denizens. Irie has bounced effortlessly between indie and business fare, with Vigilante is a excessive mark “virtually forgotten from his filmography,” suggests Ichiyama. Following the disparate life paths of three brothers as they arrive collectively once more, Vigilante comprises some violent torture scenes and isn’t for the faint of coronary heart.
Come On, Irene (2018)
A love story by Keisuke Yoshida, this yr’s Director in Focus at Tokyo, set partly within the Philippines, the place the protagonist takes a package deal tour seeking a spouse. “The movie then offers with the issues confronted when he takes her again to his small hometown in Japan,” explains Ichiyama. The script was co-written by Yoshida alongside Hideki Arai, creator of the manga on which it was primarily based.
Destruction Infants (2016)
The breakthrough manufacturing of Tetsuya Mariko, Destruction Infants is a, “Poetic movie about violence directed by the enfant horrible of 2010s Japanese cinema,” says Ichiyama. Set within the underbelly of an remoted port metropolis, the movie chronicles the descent into brutality of a younger man. Starring Yuya Yagira and Masaki Suda, the movie took greatest director within the Cinema within the Current part of Locarno Movie Competition.
A Woman Lacking (2020)
Ichiyama charges this “portrayal of 1 girl who faces the injustice of latest Japanese society” as, “in all probability the perfect movie so far of Koji Fukada,” final yr’s Director in Focus at Tokyo. The cerebral director is greatest identified for Harmonium, which gained the Prix du Jury in Un Sure Regard at Cannes in 2016.
Theatre: A Love Story (2020)
Set in Tokyo’s Shimo-Kitazawa, usually present in lists of the world’s hippest neighborhoods, “a spot stuffed with small theaters,” this completed story of a tortured artist and his dysfunctional relationships by Isao Yukisada noticed its launch axed as a result of pandemic. Nevertheless, it “was saved by Amazon, which picked it up and it premiered there.”
From Miyamoto to You (2019)
One other slab of stylized violence from Tetsuya Mariko. Based mostly on a manga by Hideki Arai (Come on, Irene) and profitable in Japan, From Miyamoto to You didn’t garner a lot consideration abroad, regardless of that includes award-winning performances and what Ichiyama calls “very exaggerated motion” that also manages to work.
Farewell Music (2019)
Akihiko Shiota’s story of the farewell tour of a feminine indie-pop duo is a “sort of street film in its cinematic type,” topped with “unrequited lesbian love in a twisted love triangle,” notes Ichiyama. Launched by Gaga, the movie strides the independent-commercial area.
Romance Doll (2020)
Feminine director Yuki Tanada crafted this “very superbly erotic movie” a few man who secretly works as a intercourse doll creator and makes one which carefully resembles his spouse, which finally ends up turning into a best-seller.
Bangkok Nites (2016)
Uncommon for a Japanese impartial movie, this title was fully shot in Thailand. Underground filmmaker Katsuya Tomita tells the story of a Japanese man who falls in love with a Thai lady, and works in “homages to Apichatpong Weerasethakul,” says Ichiyama.
