10 Films you shouldn’t miss at the Japanese Film Festival

By Asian Film Festival on November 27, 2020 • ( Leave a comment )

These are ten films you shouldn’t miss at the Japanese Film Festival which will take place online from December 4th – 13th, 2020. *Films only available for people located in Australia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, South Korea, USA*

Important Note:
– Films are available for 24 hours only, from the scheduled starting times.
– You will no longer be able to playback films when they reach the 24-hour expiration limit. For more information please go to https://watch.jff.jpf.go.jp

How to watch the films:
1) Visit our streaming page: https://watch.jff.jpf.go.jp
2) Create an account.
3) Select the film you want to see from the list.

Recommended Films:

**0.5mm** by Ando Momoko – Japan | 2014 – 196 minutes

Sawa works as a caretaker. One day she gets involved into unexpected events which have her lose her job and money. Not having a house to live and money to spend, she begins to hunt for her “clients” in the street, suggesting to take care of them as a sleep-in caretaker. She targets old men who seem having problems in their lives. At first they get confused by Sawa’s aggressive attitude and lots of energy, but gradually let her into their lives, and their “almost dead” lives start to shine again…

Screening Dates:
UNITED STATES – December 7th, 2020 (Tuesday) | 10:00 pm EST (7:00 pm PST)
AUSTRALIA – December 8th, 2020 (Tuesday) | 2:00 pm AEDT (11:00 am AWST)
CAMBODIA – December 8th, 2020 (Tuesday) | 10:00 am (ICT)
INDIA – December 8th, 2020 (Tuesday) | 8:30 am (IST)
INDONESIA – December 8th, 2020 (Tuesday) | 10:00 am (WIB)
NEW ZEALAND – December 8th, 2020 (Tuesday) | 4:00 pm (NZST)
SOUTH KOREA – December 8th, 2020 (Tuesday) | 12:00 pm (KST)

Trailer:

**Dance with me** by Yaguchi Shinobu – Japan | 2019 – 103 minutes

Shizuka works at a big Tokyo trading company and harbors a secret crush on her dashing boss. One weekend she takes her niece to visit a carnival hypnotist to inspire her for an upcoming school musical. But it is Shizuka who falls under the spell and she is soon breaking uncontrollably into song and dance whenever she hears music. Shizuka must embark on a cross country hunt for the hypnotist to break the spell, singing and dancing all the way!

Screening Dates:
AUSTRALIA – December 5th, 2020 (Saturday) | 2:00 pm AEDT (11:00 am AWST)
CAMBODIA – December 5th, 2020 (Saturday) | 10:00 am (ICT)
INDIA – December 5th, 2020 (Saturday) | 8:30 am (IST)
INDONESIA – December 5th, 2020 (Saturday) | 10:00 am (WIB)
NEW ZEALAND – December 5th, 2020 (Saturday) | 4:00 pm (NZST)
SOUTH KOREA – December 5th, 2020 (Saturday) | 12:00 pm (KST)
UNITED STATES – December 13th, 2020 (Sunday) | 10:00 pm EST (7:00 pm PST)

Trailer:

**Little nights, little love** by Imaizumi Rikiya – Japan | 2019 – 119 minutes

Sato is an employee conducting a survey in front of Sendai Station. Saki takes the survey and the two ultimately become a couple. 10 years later, Sato proposes to Saki on the occasion of their 10th anniversary.

Screening Dates:
UNITED STATES – December 12th, 2020 (Saturday) | 10:00 pm EST (7:00 pm PST)
AUSTRALIA – December 13th, 2020 (Sunday) | 2:00 pm AEDT (11:00 am AWST)
CAMBODIA – December 13th, 2020 (Sunday) | 10:00 am (ICT)
INDIA – December 13th, 2020 (Sunday) | 8:30 am (IST)
INDONESIA – December 13th, 2020 (Sunday) | 10:00 am (WIB)
NEW ZEALAND – December 13th, 2020 (Sunday) | 4:00 pm (NZST)
SOUTH KOREA – December 13th, 2020 (Sunday) | 12:00 pm (KST)

Trailer:

**Peace** by Soda Kazuhiro – Japan | 2010 – 75 minutes

In Okayama City in Okayama Prefecture, Soda’s father-in-law Kashiwagi Toshio is a driver for the elderly and disabled, and his mother-in-law Hiroko runs an non-profit organization. The yard in front of their home has become a haven for stray cats. Their simple everyday life offers glimpses of the meaning of peace.

Screening Dates:
UNITED STATES – December 10th, 2020 (Thursday) | 10:00 pm EST (7:00 pm PST)
AUSTRALIA – December 11th, 2020 (Friday) | 2:00 pm AEDT (11:00 am AWST)
CAMBODIA – December 11th, 2020 (Friday) | 10:00 am (ICT)
INDIA – December 11th, 2020 (Friday) | 8:30 am (IST)
INDONESIA – December 11th, 2020 (Friday) | 10:00 am (WIB)
NEW ZEALAND – December 11th, 2020 (Friday) | 4:00 pm (NZST)
SOUTH KOREA – December 11th, 2020 (Friday) | 12:00 pm (KST)

Trailer:

**Project Dreams – How to Build Mazinger Z’s Hangar** by Hanabusa Tsutomu – Japan | 2020 – 115 minutes

Company employees are depicted earnestly grappling with meaningless things in this drama. Doi of the Maeda Construction Company’s Advertising group has little passion for his work. One day the group’s leader Asagawa declares, “Let’s build the hangar for Mazinger Z!” Having been dragged in by Asagawa, Doi and his co-workers commence putting on appearances of having taken on this request from a fantasy world.

Screening Dates:
AUSTRALIA – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 2:00 pm AEDT (11:00 am AWST)
CAMBODIA – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 10:00 am (ICT)
INDIA – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 8:30 am (IST)
INDONESIA – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 10:00 am (WIB)
NEW ZEALAND – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 4:00 pm (NZST)
UNITED STATES – December 5th, 2020 (Saturday) | 10:00 pm EST (7:00 pm PST)
SOUTH KOREA – December 6th, 2020 (Sunday) | 12:00 pm (KST)

Trailer:

**Railways** by Nishikori Yoshinari – Japan | 2010 – 130 mintues

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.

Screening Dates:
UNITED STATES – December 9th, 2020 (Wednesday) | 10:00 pm EST (7:00 pm PST)
AUSTRALIA – December 10th, 2020 (Thursday) | 2:00 pm AEDT (11:00 am AWST)
CAMBODIA – December 10th, 2020 (Thursday) | 10:00 am (ICT)
INDIA – December 10th, 2020 (Thursday) | 8:30 am (IST)
INDONESIA – December 10th, 2020 (Thursday) | 10:00 am (WIB)
NEW ZEALAND – December 10th, 2020 (Thursday) | 4:00 pm (NZST)
SOUTH KOREA – December 10th, 2020 (Thursday) | 12:00 pm (KST)

Trailer:

**The flavor of green tea over rice** by Ozu Yasujiro – Japan | 1952 – 115 minutes

The story is about a middle aged couple who are different in every way, from each other. However in a critical situation, they find a hope for a renewal of their marriage when they share a simple meal together. As with all of OZU’s films, the family unit, in crisis, is portrayed, with warmth, humor, and resignation to the limit of li

Screening Dates:
AUSTRALIA – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 2:00 pm AEDT (11:00 am AWST)
CAMBODIA – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 10:00 am (ICT)
INDIA – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 8:30 am (IST)
INDONESIA – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 10:00 am (WIB)
NEW ZEALAND – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 4:00 pm (NZST)
SOUTH KOREA – December 4th, 2020 (Friday) | 12:00 pm (KST)
UNITED STATES – No Available

Clip:

**The great passage** by Ishii Yuya – Japan | 2013 – 133 minutes

Drama about the passion of an editor who struggles to create a dictionary, as depicted over a fifteen-year period. Publishing house salesman Majime has an earnestness about him that sets him apart from his peers. But he has a discerning sensibility when it comes to language, which lands him in the dictionary editorial department. He ends up editing “The Great Passage,” a huge dictionary with 240,000 entries.

Screening Dates:
UNITED STATES – December 6th, 2020 (Sunday) | 10:00 pm EST (7:00 pm PST)
AUSTRALIA – December 7th, 2020 (Monday) | 2:00 pm AEDT (11:00 am AWST)
CAMBODIA – December 7th, 2020 (Monday) | 10:00 am (ICT)
INDIA – December 7th, 2020 (Monday) | 8:30 am (IST)
INDONESIA – December 7th, 2020 (Monday) | 10:00 am (WIB)
NEW ZEALAND – December 7th, 2020 (Monday) | 4:00 pm (NZST)
SOUTH KOREA – No available

Trailer:

**Tremble all you want** by Ohku Akiko – Japan | 2017 – 113 minutes

24-year-old office employee Yoshika has a secret crush on her former junior high school classmate Ichi, but then her colleague Ni asks her to be his girlfriend. She’s excited but ambivalent about being asked out by a guy for the first time in her life, and she decides to throw a reunion party so she can see Ichi again. Yoshika anguishes over her feelings about Ichi versus Ni and ideals versus reality.

Screening Dates:
UNITED STATES – December 10th, 2020 (Thursday) | 10:00 pm EST (7:00 pm PST)
AUSTRALIA – December 11th, 2020 (Friday) | 2:00 pm AEDT (11:00 am AWST)
CAMBODIA – Not available
INDIA – December 11th, 2020 (Friday) | 8:30 am (IST)
INDONESIA – Not available
NEW ZEALAND – December 11th, 2020 (Friday) | 4:00 pm (NZST)
SOUTH KOREA – Not available

Trailer:

**Tsukiji Wonderland** by Naotaro Endo – Japan | 2016 – 110 minutes

Through the lives of professionals working at Tsukĳi Fish Market in Tokyo, the film portrays how Tsukĳi has been the center of fish culinary culture and helped Japanese food culture to flourish as we know it today.

Trailer: