Kyoto's newest museum, the Toy Film Museum, opened on May 18th 2015 on a tiny little side street just off Koin Doori in the Mibu area. I ventured down there shortly after it opened to see what it was like. My general feeling after visiting is that the place has a lot of potential, but if you are not fluent in Japanese and/or super interested in old movies then this place isn't … [Read more...]
Parasophia: A Major Festival of Art & Culture in Kyoto Starts this Week!
Well, this looks interesting, doesn't it? Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015 March 7–May 10, 2015 Parasophia: Kyoto International Festival of Contemporary Culture 2015 is the first large-scale international exhibition of contemporary art to be held in Kyoto. Approximately 40 artists from around the world will participate in the … [Read more...]
People & Nature in SouthEast Asia: A January Screening @ Kyoto University
via Mario Lopez, On January 14th 2015, there will be a film forum at Kyoto University to screen five documentaries by independent, young film-makers from Southeast Asia on the topic of people and nature. All of the films are subtitled in both English and Japanese. From the sky to the mountains, forests to mangroves, fields to orchards and animals to insects,what is the … [Read more...]
Hafu the Film is Coming to Kyoto!
From Megumi Nishikura, "“Hafu” is the unfolding journey of discovery into the intricacies of mixed-race Japanese and their multicultural experience in modern day Japan. The film follows the lives of five “hafus”–the Japanese term for people who are half-Japanese–as they explore what it means to be multiracial and multicultural in a nation that once proudly proclaimed itself … [Read more...]
Buddhism after the Tsunami – Free Movie Screening at Chion-in
From Souls of Zen via Jean Downey: "We are delighted to announce that Chion-in, the head temple of Jodo (Pure Land) Buddhism in Japan will show Buddhism after the Tsunami this March in Kyoto!" From Ten Thousand Things: Souls of Zen – Buddhism, Ancestors, and the 2011 Tsunami in Japan follows the "greatest religious mobilization in Japan´s postwar history." Filmed from … [Read more...]
CSEAS Visual Documentary Project: “Plural Co-existence in Southeast Asia”
From Mario Lopez, The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University is proud to announce that it will host a film forum to show five selected documentaries by independent, young film-makers from Southeast Asia on the topic of plural co-existence. This is an OPEN forum and we invite anyone who is interested to participate. Date and Time: March 11 … [Read more...]
Japanese Film Screenings with English Subtitles at KICH
Kyoto International Community House has a series of FREE Japanese film screenings with English subtitles now ongoing. This would be a wonderful opportunity for movie fans if it weren't for the awkward scheduling during weekday office hours. Why not an evening or weekend showing? Well, if you are free at these times, then these are the films up-coming: … [Read more...]
A Life in Japan
On Monday evening I attended the premiere of Petri Storlöpare's documentary movie "A Life in Japan" at Urbanguild. In the movie, footage from all over Japan is accompanied by excerpts from interviews with 19 foreign residents of Japan. According to the film-maker, the objective is to let the viewer have a glimpse of Japanese life through foreign eyes. The participants explain … [Read more...]
“Children of Water” & Morphic Jukebox @ Jittoku
Last Friday I attended the Kyoto premiere of Roger Walch's new movie "Children of Water" at Jittoku. The venue was a legendary live house in Kyoto (Japan's oldest in fact) that has been open since 1973. Like the equally famous TakuTaku the building is a converted saka-gura - a kind of traditional sake warehouse. This was my first time to visit this fine old venue. Folk … [Read more...]
