Nippon Connection 2012 announces first films in their line-up
Thursday, March 8, 2012
by Chris MaGeeSpring is on it's way, and for Japanese film fans that means that it's also coming up time for the annual Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival in Frankfurt, Germany. Yes, once again I and the Pow-Wow's Marc Saint-Cyr will be on hand, and we're getting very hyped about being over in Europe and glutting ourselves on the latest and best in cinema from Japan. The question is, what films will be screening? The programmer of Nippon Connection recently announced a few titles of this year's line-up via their Facebook page to whet everyone's appetite.
Audiences in Frankfurt can expect to see Shinya Tsukamoto's psychological thriller "Kotoko", Toshiaki Toyoda's latest art house offering "Monster's Club" (above), Shuichi Okita's charming comedy/ drama "The Woodsman and the Rain", Nobuhiro Yamashita's period biopic "My Back Page" and Yoju Matsubayashi's 3/11 doc "Fukushima: Memories of a Lost Landscape." More titles should be announced soon, and it will be interesting to see which of these filmmakers will be making it to Germany to present their films in person.
Also, on the Nippon Connection from is the newly minted VGF Nippon in Motion Award. Created in conjunction with Frankfurt’s transportation association VGF, the competition is open to filmmakers to create a 12-second short film on the theme “Nippon in Motion”. All the competing short films are now loaded up here, and voting is as simple as liking your favorite entry. The winner will receive 250 euro.
The 12th annual Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival will take place May 2nd to May 6th on the Goethe-Universität campus, Frankfurt Germany. Click here for full details on the fest.