The Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival 2011 (KKIFF 2011) is the opening event for the annual Kota Kinabalu Arts Festival, and will take place from 3 ? 9 June 2011. The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur is proud to present 3 distinct Japanese films to be screened on the final 3 days of the film festival (7 ? 9 June 2011).

First in the line-up is One Million Yen Girl, which is about a junior college graduate’s journey of self-discovery, as she decides to try out a nomadic way of life by traveling from one town to another, but not before saving up one million yen in each town. Next is 5 Centimeters per Second, a breathtaking and visually stunning animated movie about the rift of separation between a boy and a girl ? magnified by the passage of time. Last but not least is Departures, which won Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Academy Awards, as well as 10 Japan Academy Prize Awards including Best Picture, Best Director & Best Screenplay. The film follows a funeral professional’s profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living. All 3 films are in Japanese with English subtitles.

“One Million Yen Girl”

Date: 7 June 2011 (Tuesday)
Time: 7.30pm
Price: RM5
Venue: GSC Suria Sabah, Level 8, Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen, Kota Kinabalu

Synopsis:
A 21-year-old junior college graduate named Suzuko is involved in an incident which leads to her getting arrested and leaves her with a criminal record. After paying a fine, she ends up stuck back home with her parents and younger brother. She decides that she wants to get away from her family and their gossiping neighbors, so she begins traveling from town to town, working menial jobs until she saves up one million yen (enough to get situated in the next place, she figures). She does her best to move on before anyone really gets to know her, but when she falls for a coworker, her life once again gets complicated.

“5 Centimeters per Second”

Date: 8 June 2011 (Wednesday)
Time: 7.30pm
Price: RM5
Venue: Theatrette Ahmad Nisfu, School of Arts Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu

Synopsis:
A tale of two people, Tono Takaki and Shinohara Akari, who were close friends but gradually grow farther and farther apart as time moves on. They become separated because of their families yet continue to exchange contact in the form of letters. Yet as time continues to trudge on, their contact with one another begins to cease. Years pass and the rift between them grows ever larger. However, Takaki remembers the times they have shared together, but as life continues to unfold for him, he wonders if he would be given the chance to meet Akari again as the tale embarks on Takaki’s realization of the world and people around him.

“Departures”

Date: 9 June 2011 (Thursday)
Time: 7.30pm
Price: RM5
Venue: GSC Suria Sabah, Level 8, Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, Jalan Tun Fuad Stephen, Kota Kinabalu

Synopsis:
Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled “Departures” thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a “Nokanshi” or “encoffiner,” a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of “Nokanshi,” acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living.