The annual Japanese Film festival is around the corner. 8 films will be screened at GSC Mid Valley, GSC 1 Utama in Klang Valley and GSC Gurney Plaza in Penang.

Good news to Samurai fans! This time, 2 famous Samurai films will be screened during the festival. Comedy or Horror film fans will also have the chance to watch your favourite movies too. So grab your calendar and mark down the festival days, round-up your family members, loved ones and friends to have a ‘date with Japanese Film festival’. This is the golden opportunity that should not be missed. KUALA LUMPUR Venue : GSC Mid Valley & GSC 1 Utama (New Wing) Duration :23 (Thu) 27 (Mon) August 2007 Ticket Price : RM5 per screening Reservation: Call GSC at 03-8312 3456 or log on to www.gsc.com.my PENANG Venue : GSC Gurney Plaza Duration :31 (Fri) August 2 (Sun) September 2007 Ticket Price : RM5 per screening Reservation: Call GSC at 04-222 3456 or log on to www.gsc.com.my

* Booking can be made from 2 days before the screening. ** If reservation is full, tickets may be available for walk-in purchase at participating cinemas. *** All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Love and Honor & Infection are in Japanese with English and Chinese subtitles.

Love and Honor [武士の一分] Directed by YAMADA Yoji (2006, 121min)

Hana [花よりもなほ] Directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu (2006, 127min)

Linda Linda Linda [リンダ リンダ リンダ]Directed by YAMASHITA Nobuhiro (2005, 114min)

We Shall Overcome Someday [パッチギ!] Directed by IZUTSU Kazuyuki (2004, 119min)

Yoshino’s Barber Shop [バーバー吉野]Directed by OGIGAMI Naoko (2003, 96min)

Kamome Diner [かもめ食堂]Directed by OGIGAMI Naoko (2005, 102min)

The Milkwoman [いつか読書する日]Directed by OGATA Akira (2005, 127min)

Infection [感染]Directed by OCHIAI Masayuki (2004, 98min)

Notes: Titles are subject to change in the case of unforeseeable matters.

Love and Honor [武士の一分] YAMADA Yoji / 2006 / 121min

Mimura Shinnojo is a lower class samurai who is a poison tester for the domain lord. He is poor but happily leading his humble life with his beautiful wife, Kayo. One day, however, Shinnojo is poisoned during the testing and loses his sight. He is made redundant and is reduced to poverty. It is such a time when Shimada, a clerk, offers help to Kayo. He wants her body in return, and Kayo accepts the offer to supplement the family income. When the relationship becomes public, Shinnojo is devastated for being robbed of his beloved wife and for his helplessness.

Hana [花よりもなほ] KORE-EDA Hirokazu / 2006 / 127min

Revenge killing was the norm in 1702, when Sozaemon, a country samurai, comes from Matsumoto to Edo to revenge himself on Kanazawa Jubei for killing his father. However it takes longer than expected to find Kanazawa, and Sozaemon decides to take residence at a tenement to take time to search. He meets people with colorful personalities at the tenement, including a beautiful widow Osae. They live happily despite being poor, and Sozaemon realizes the existence of life without revenge.

Linda Linda Linda [リンダ リンダ リンダ] YAMASHITA Nobuhiro / 2005 / 114min

Kei, Kyoko and Nozomi form a rock band for their school festival, but three days before the festival, their band splits up when the guitarist breaks her fingers and the vocalist storms out. Then, suddenly they hear ?Linda, Linda?, the famous song by legendary Japanese band, the Blue Hearts. Cheered by the song, they decide to do the cover version of it. With the new vocalist Son, a Korean student who was just walking by and was persuaded to join, they re-start rehearsing for the festival.

We Shall Overcome Someday [パッチギ!] IZUTSU Kazuyuki / 2004 / 119min

It’s 1968. The Higashi High School Karate Club clashes with a gang of delinquents from a high school for resident Koreans, and their leader Ang-son. Kosuke from the Higashi High falls in love with Ang-son’s sister Kyong-ja, a talented flautist. Kosuke starts studying Korean and playing the guitar to get close to Kyong-ja and learns the tune she plays called “Imujing River,” a song about homesickness for Korea. Kosuke gradually wins her over and becomes friends with her brother and the other resident Koreans. But when one of his new friends dies in an accident Kosuke realizes the real depth of anti-Japanese feeling among Korean Residents in Japan.

Yoshino’s Barber Shop [バーバー吉野] OGIGAMI Naoko / 2003 / 96min

In a picturesque rural village, everyone has their haircut at the local barber shop the only one by the fearsome Yoshiko. Without exception, all the local boys are required to sport the hairdresser?s proprietary bowl-shaped ?Yoshino Cut,? which is a long-standing town tradition. But when a trendy transfer student Yosuke arrives on the scene, his fashionably dyed and coiffed locks ruffle the community?s clean-cut consensus as the local boys start questioning the status quo.

Kamome Diner [かもめ食堂] OGIGAMI Naoko / 2005 / 102min

Sachie, from Japan, opens the ?Kamome Diner? in Helsinki, Finland. The specialty menu is Onigiri rice ball. However, the only customer day after day is a geeky Japan enthusiast, Tommi. One day, two Japanese ladies, each with some personal issues, come to help at Sachie?s diner. The number of customers gradually increases, but the diner seems to attract only those with problems. Conversation with Sachie and the tasty food seem to resolve peoples concerns.

The Milkwoman [いつか読書する日] OGATA Akira / 2005 / 127min

In a town of hills, Minako begins her day running up and down its steep slopes delivering milk, after which she works as a supermarket cashier. She is 50, single. In one of the houses to which she delivers milk lives a man with whom she has secretly been in love since high school. That man, Keita lives with his wife Yoko, who is terminally ill. Caring for her at home, he works in the Children’s Affairs Section of the local municipal office. Insisting that he wants nothing more than an ‘ordinary’ existence, his life is one of constant turmoil.

Infection [感染] OCHIAI Masayuki / 2004 / 98min

A doctor?s negligence causes a patient to die and the panicked hospital staff decides to cover up the fatal mistake, setting off a deadly chain of events. Paramedics bring a new patient into the hospital who has been stricken with a virus so horrible and revolting that his internal organs have mysteriously disintegrated. The doctors attempt to contain the virus, but the ill patient escapes through the ventilation system ensuring that everyone inside the doomed hospital will have to fight for their lives from the horrifying epidemic.

Organisers: – The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur – Golden Screen Cinemas – GSC International Screens In Cooperation with: – Consulate-General of Japan in Penang – The Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur Official Movie Channel: – ASTRO KIRANA For further inquiry, please contact The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur at 03-2161 2104 or email tojpcc@jfkl.org.my

To download the programme booklet, click here