The Japanese Film Festival returns for its 8th year in Malaysia! Movie fans are in for a treat, as a variety of contemporary Japanese films will be screened from 15-20 September 2011 at GSC International Screens in GSC Mid Valley, GSC 1 Utama (New Wing), and a new venue this year: GSC Pavilion KL. After that, Penangites will get a chance to catch these films at GSC Gurney Plaza from 22-25 September 2011. Don’t miss this yearly movie affair which always showcases great new Japanese films!
Japanese Film Festival 2011 is organized by The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur with the assistance from Golden Screen Cinemas. The ticket price is RM5 per screening. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. There are 10 titles in this year’s lineup, including heartwarming comedy “Double Trouble”, master filmmaker Yamada Yoji’s first contemporary feature in ten years entitled “About Her Brother”, a film from the director of the internationally successful comedy “Shall We Dance?”, Suo Masayuki’s movie “I Just Didn’t Do It”, animation feature “Mai Mai Miracle”, and many others.
KLANG VALLEY
Duration : 15-20 September 2011
Venues : GSC Mid Valley, GSC 1 Utama, GSC Pavilion KL
Ticket : RM5 per ticket
PENANG
Duration : 22-25 September 2011
Venue : GSC Gurney Plaza
Ticket : RM5 per ticket
More info @ www.gsc.com.my | www.facebook.com/gscinemas | www.twitter.com/gscinemas
* Tickets can be purchased from GSC box office, GSC E-Payment (Online Ticketing) @ www.gsc.com.my or GSC Mobile App (iPhone) two (2) days before the date of screening.
“About Her Brother” おとうと(2010)
[Dir] YAMADA Yoji
[Cast] YOSHINAGA Sayuri, SHOFUKUTEI Tsurube, AOI Yu
Widowed young, Ginko runs a pharmacy and lives with her daughter, Koharu, and her mother-in-law, Kinuyo. Koharu has plans to marry a distinguished doctor, but out of the blue, Ginko’s long lost brother, Tetsuro, shows up drunk at the wedding, ruining the occasion.
“Double Trouble” 歓喜の歌(2008)
[Dir] MATSUOKA Joji
[Cast] KOBAYASHI Kaoru, YASUDA Narumi, ITO Atsushi
It’s December 30, and everyone is milling about. But the ‘incident’ that rocked this small town began with a single phone call. “Hello, Mitama Cultural Center. Yes, you’re calling to confirm your concert, correct? That’s right. Mitama Chorus Girls, tomorrow evening at 7:00. All set. We’ll see you then.” Thus the cultural center’s director confidently replies to the caller. But just a moment later, he realizes that they are hardly “all set”! There’s the “Mitama Chorus Girls” and the “The Mitama Ladies’ Chorus”: two similar-sounding names were confused by this hapless director. Of all things, his mismanagement has led to a double-booking on New Year’s Eve!
“HAPPY FLIGHT” ハッピーフライト(2008)
[Dir] YAGUCHI Shinobu
[Cast] SEIICHI Tanabe, SABURO Tokito, HARUKA Ayase
A co-pilot Kazuhiro Suzuki is on an assessed flight that will determine whether he gets promoted to the rank of pilot. However, an emergency situation occurs! A rookie cabin attendant Etsuko Saito also brings chaos from the strain. Will this flight safely arrive at Honolulu?
“I Just Didn?t Do It” それでもボクはやってない(2007)
[Dir]SUO Masayuki
[Cast]KASE Ryo, MOTAI Masako, YAKUSHO Koji
Kaneko Teppei had been working as a freeter, or part-time worker, and was on his way to an interview; he was running late and was preoccupied, fearing that he had forgotten his resume. He dashed onto a crowded train as the doors were closing, and his jacket got caught in the door. He struggled to free it, and apologized to the woman next to him when he bumped her. From out of the crowd a young woman?s voice cried out, but he didn?t understand what it meant. On the platform, however, she grabbed his arm and accused him of groping her.
“Mai Mai Miracle” マイマイ新子と千年の魔法(2009)
[Dir]KATABUCHI Sunao
[Cast]FUKUDA Mayuko, MIZUSAWA Nako
An exuberant tomboy, Shinko feels completely at home in the wheat fields of the small town of Kokuga, where she races imaginary creatures and daydreams of the ancient capital city of Suo, on which Kokuga now stands. Nine-year-old Kiiko has a very different temperament – shy, withdrawn, still mourning a mother she barely remembers. A transplant from Tokyo, Kiiko, with her exotic Western dress and pale complexion, is marked as alien to her peasant schoolmates.
“RAILWAYS” RAILWAYS 49歳で電車の運転士になった男の物語(2010)
[Dir]NISHIKIORI Yoshinari
[Cast]NAKAI Kiichi, TAKASHIMA Reiko, MOTOKARIYA Yuika
Hajime is in line to be the next head of a prominent electronics company. He toils day and night over his work and has no time for his family. But one day, his mother in Shimane falls ill, and his best friend dies in an accident. Grief-stricken, Hajime returns home where memories of his childhood dream come back to him. He had always wanted to be a train conductor and drive the local “bataden” Ichibata Electric Railway.
“Sawako Decides” 川の底からこんにちは(2009)
[Dir]ISHII Yuya
[Cast]MITSUSHIMA Hikari, ENDO Masashi, AIHARA Kira
Sawako has gone through life taking a halfhearted approach to her career and her love life. One day, she unexpectedly inherits her father’s clam factory. Not only is she pushed around by the employees and her boyfriend, but the factory is also on the verge of bankruptcy.
“The Dark Harbor” 不灯港(2008)
[Dir]NAITO Takasugu
[Cast]KOTE Shinya, MIYAMOTO Yuko, HIROOKA Kazuki
Manzo is a fisherman in a small seaside community who lives and works alone, but longs for a relationship and maybe a wife. When a sign is posted advertising a matchmaking party with city women, all the men gussy themselves up and videotape themselves for the dating service. Manzo borrows a camcorder and tries his luck, but his rehearsed speech doesn’t go as planned. When showing the videotape to the prospective dates, he discovers something unusual: There is a woman and her son living in one of his closets. Instead of kicking them out, he encourages them to stay and develops a relationship with them that makes the other fishermen jealous.
“Your Friends” きみの友だち(2008)
[Dir]HIROKI Ryuichi
[Cast]ISHIBASHI Anna, KITAURA Ayu, FUKUSHI Seiji
Nakahara, a writer, visits a free school in a small city for his research on children who have problems. At the school, he meets Emi, a volunteering college student who has a lame leg. Emi is called “Ms. Puffy” by the children because she always takes pictures of clouds. Interested in this girl, Nakahara asks her to be interviewed, but in vain. However, Emi gradually changes her mind towards Nakahara when he comes to the school many times and evokes sympathetic responses from the children. Then, she answers his questions and tells him about her childhood friendship with Yuka, who was chronically ill.
“Second Chance” セカンドバージン(2011)
[Dir]KUROSAKI Hiroshi
[Cast]SUZUKI Kyoka, HASEGAWA Hiroki, FUKADA Kyoko
Rui Nakamura, well-known throughout the publishing industry as a shrewd producer, falls madly in love with Koh Suzuki, the head of an Internet securities company, who is 17 years younger than her and already married to another woman. They had managed to overcome various obstacles, and the two of them had started living together, but then one day Koh just suddenly disappears from Rui’s life. Five years later, Rui is in Malaysia for a business trip, and as if by destiny she meets Koh once again. But then Koh is shot before her very eyes! While hearing the inspirational words of the Koran in the distance, he lingers in the world between life and death. Before long, Koh’s wife Marie learns of his situation, and also shows up in Malaysia.
