Mar 3

Justin’s Japan: March Movies at Japan Society, New York International Children’s Film Festival

Article/Journalism, Film, Justin's Japan Comments Off on Justin’s Japan: March Movies at Japan Society, New York International Children’s Film Festival

Makoto Shinkai’s ‘Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below’ is a modern-day Orpheus tale with a sci-fi twist that pays tribute to the great works of Hayao Miyazaki. (Courtesy of GKids)

By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02). Visit his Japanese culture page on Examiner.com here for related stories.

Oscar season may be over, but this month offers a score of cinematic delights from Japan Society and the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

As part of its Love Will Tear Us Apart Globus Film Series, Japan Society presents outré love stories from Japan and Korea, including the U.S. premiere of Shinya Tsukamoto’s KOTOKO (March 2) and the world premiere of Koji Wakamatsu’s Petrel Hotel Blue (March 7) among 23 seminal films from the genre.

Other highlights include Hirokazu Kore’eda’s Air Doll (March 3), Nagisa Oshima’s arch-classic In the Realm of the Senses (March 16), Yukio Ninagawa’s Snakes and Earrings (March 16), Lee Sang-il’s Villain, (March 9) Lee Chang-dong’s Oasis, (March 18) and Kim Ki-duk’s Bad Guy, (March 10), among other twisted tales of star-crossed lovers on the rocks and on the run. (Click here for a complete list of films and showtimes).

For younger cineastes, the critically acclaimed New York International Children’s Film Festival kicks off its 15th anniversary event from March 2-25 at New York’s DGA Theater, Walter Reade Theater, IFC Center, Peter Norton Symphony Space, Asia Society, Scholastic Theater, and Cantor Film Center.

The nation’s largest festival for kids and teens will present four weeks of ground-breaking and thought-provoking new works for ages 3-18, with 100 new films, opening and closing galas, new feature premieres, six short film programs, filmmaker Q&As, filmmaking workshops, and the NYICFF Awards Ceremony. This year’s edition features three Japanese films from 2011.

For the complete story, click here.