The Japanese Film Festival returns for its 11th outing this April, with a packed programme that will bring the best of Japanese cinema to screens across Ireland.
This year the schedule includes 46 screenings of 16 feature films across Dublin, Galway, Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, Sligo, Waterford and Dundalk.
The festival kicks off this year on the weekend of Saturday April 6th and Sunday April 7th with screenings in Dublin and Galway, and will continue until Saturday April 20th with the final screenings in Dundalk and Waterford.
This year’s programme includes the brilliant yakuza thriller The Blood of Wolves, which recently picked up four Japan Academy Prizes. Born Bone Born is a crowd-pleasing family drama focused around the Okinawan custom of senkotsu (bone washing ceremony). Jesus is a true original from first-time director Hiroshi Okuyama, focusing on one lonely boy’s experiences when a miniature, dancing Jesus Christ shows up unexpectedly. Quirky rom-com Tremble All You Want boasts an extraordinary central performance from Mayu Matsuoka. Meanwhile, acclaimed director Shinya Tsukamoto (best-known for the Tetsuo series) returns with his latest film – the brutal but thoughtful samurai thriller Killing. Elsewhere, The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotineis an epic and intelligent drama in which the worlds of female sumo wrestling and anarchist violence collide.
The festival will host extra cinema screenings of the smash hit zombie comedy One Cut of the Dead plus an opportunity to discover a neglected one with the outrageous 1980s musical gem The Legend of the Stardust Brothers.
This year’s anime selection includes Irish premieres of two new films. The charming Penguin Highway marks the first full-length feature from Studio Colorido, and is a delight for all ages. Elsewhere, there will be few dry eyes in the cinema during the moving romantic drama I Want to Eat Your Pancreas.
Ticket sales information for screenings are available from each participating venue.
Ticketing links and listings are also available at www.jff.ie
JFF 2019 Screening Schedule:
Dublin – Chester Beatty Library: Saturday April 6th
Galway – Eye Cinema: Sunday April 7th to Thursday April 11th
Tipperary – LIT Clonmel: Monday April 8th
Limerick – University of Limerick: Tuesday April 9th
Cork – Cork Institute of Technology: Wednesday April 10th
Sligo – The Model Sligo: Wednesday April 10th
Cork – Gate Cinema: Thursday April 11th to Saturday April 13th
Dublin – Light House Cinema: Thursday April 11th to Sunday April 14th
Galway – Pálás: Friday April 12th to Monday April 15th
Tipperary – Tipperary Excel: Saturday April 13th to Sunday April 14th
Cork – Triskel Christchurch: Sunday April 14th to Thursday April 18th
Waterford – Garter Lane Arts Centre: Thursday April 18th to Saturday April 20th
Dundalk – An Táin Arts Centre: Saturday April 20th
