New York Japan CineFest 2019 |
ニューヨーク・ジャパン・シネ・フェスト Film Festival

Highlighting some of the most exciting new voices in cinema, New York Japan CineFest (NYJCF) returns to the JICC for a night of Japanese short films! The program will feature a selection of films from the 2019 festival program.

About the Festival

The New York Japan CineFest (NYJCF), now in its ninth year, is a film festival of short films from up-and-coming Japanese and Japanese American filmmakers. It has been presented in New York City at the Asia Society and since 2015 has expanded by holding screenings around the U.S. and in Japan. The festival focuses on the independent filmmakers who committed to achieving their full potential and expressing their voice and vision to the world. For more information about the festival, please visit the New York Japan CineFest website.

The theme is diversity as reflected by this year’s wide-ranging selection of short dramas, documentaries, and anime.

Partnership with BJFF

This year the JICC is presenting NYJCF 2019 in partnership with the Boston Japan Film Festival (BJFF) who will showcase their own selections from the NYJCF festival program on November 24 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Boston Japan Film Festival is aimed at introducing cinema and other elements of Japanese culture to audiences in New England. Its mission is to strengthen cultural understanding through the provocative nature of film, and help sustain the ongoing and dynamic relationship between Japan and the City of Boston.

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Join us after the screening for a special discussion and Q&A with the director of Ofuku, Sayoko Akutsu and its star Takashi Hasegawa!

The following films will be screened at the JICC on Friday, November 22. The total running time is approximately 92 minutes.

• Formal Warrior Suit Ranger | 正装戦士スーツレンジャー
  Japan | 2018 | 10 min | Comedy | Directed by Shinichiro Ueda
  Five men and women in suits confront villains who are disturbing the city. They are the Suit Rangers. They are appropriately dressed for both their occupations and their battle with the villains.
  
  

• Albatross Soup
  United States | 2018 | 7 min | Animation | Directed by Winnie Cheung
  Albatross Soup is a delightfully fluid animation that complements a chorus of voices attempting to investigate a puzzling suicide: a man gets off a boat, he walks into a restaurant and orders albatross soup. He takes one sip...pulls out a gun, and shoots himself. So...why did he kill himself?
  
  

• A Banal Man | 陳腐な男
  Japan | 2018 | 11 min | Animation | Directed by Kurumi Hakamata
  Courtesy of Aichi International Women’s Film Festival
  I could not bear a child. So I made robots instead. But people hated and rejected them. I made up my mind to get even with the person responsible for destroying the robots. Anyone who would want to kill my beautiful children must surely be a monster.
  
  

• Mountain Monks
  Japan | 2018 | 10 min | Documentary | Directed by Fritz Schumann
  The Yamabushi in northern Japan practice a once forbidden ancient religion. While their tradition is at risk of disappearing, it offers a way for those seeking a different path in Japan‘s society.
  
  

• The Man Traveling with the Pasted Rag Picture | 押絵ト旅スル男
  Japan | 2018 | 12 min | Animation | Directed by Shigeyoshi Tsukahara
  A story that begins in the early Showa era of the 20th century. A mysterious old man on a train investigates the disappearance of his older brother three decades ago in the seaside town of Uozu, Japan. The mystery revolves around telescopes, peep shows, and the blurred boundary between reality and dreams.
  
  

• Anna, Kidnapper | 誘拐アンナ
  Japan | 2018 | 27 min | Animation | Directed by Kaichi Sato
  Anna, an enigmatic and attractive professional kidnapper, abducts The Professor during his wedding ceremony, on request from one of The Professor’s former girlfriends, who wishes to die with him before he marries. Leaving the church with The Professor on the back seat of her motorbike, Anna starts on the journey to the fictional city of “Alpha Paris.” An homage to the movies of the 60’s, ANNA, Kidnapper is a sophisticated cartoon with captivating visual effects.
  
  

• Ofuku
  Japan | 2016 | 15 min | Drama | Directed by Sayoko Akutsu
  Ofuku has been searching for her mother since the Edo era 360 years ago. Eventually, she meets Tomiko, an aspiring actress, who is plagued by one misfortune after another. Together, they cook up off-the-wall ideas to rescue Tomiko from a financial crisis instigated by her money-grubbing boyfriend.