Retrospective will focus on Japanese independent cinema from the past 15 years and includes Cannes favourite Naomi Kawase.

San Sebastian focus on indie Japanese cinema

The San Sebastian Film Festival is to programme a retrospective for its 63rd edition (Sept 18-26) titles New Japanese independent cinema 2000-2015.

Among the titles making up the retrospective from known directors are:

  • H Story (2001) by Nobuhiro Suwa;
  • A Snake of June (Rokugatsu no hebi, 2002) by Shin’ya Tsukamoto;
  • Bright Future (Akarui mirai, 2003) by Kiyoshi Kurosawa;
  • Vibrator (2003) by Ryuichi Hiroki;
  • Bashing (2005) by Masahiro Kobayashi;
  • Birth/Mother (Tarachime, 2006) by Naomi Kawase;
  • Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi, 2008) by Shion Sono.

The works of several new talents to have made their debut since 2000 include:

  • Hole in the Sky (Sora no ana, 2001) by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri,
  • Border Line (2002) by Sang-il Lee,
  • No One’s Ark (Baka no hakobune, 2003) by Nobuhiro Yamashita,
  • The Soup, One Morning (Aru asa, soup wa, 2005) by Izumi Takahashi,
  • Fourteen (Ju-yon-sai, 2007) by Hiromasa Hirosue,
  • Sex Is Not Laughing Matter (Hito no sekkuso o warauna, 2007) by Nami Iguchi,
  • Passion (2008) by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi,
  • Parade (Parêdo, 2009) by Isao Yukisada,
  • Yellow Kid (Ierô Kiddo, 2009) de Tetsuya Mariko,
  • Love Addiction (Fuyu no kemono, 2010) by Nobuteru Uchida,
  • No Man’s Zone (Mujin chitai, 2011) by Toshifumi Fujiwara,
  • Saudade (Saudâji, 2011) by Katsuya Tomita,
  • Cold Bloom (Sakura namiki no mankai no shita ni, 2012) by Atsushi Funahashi,
  • The Cowards Who Looked To The Sky (Fugainai bokutachi wa sora o mita, 2012) by Yuki Tanada,
  • Au revoir l’eté (Hotori no sakuko, 2013) by Kôji Fukada,
  • The Tale of Iya (Iya monogatari: Oku no hito, 2013) by Tetsuichirô Tsuta,
  • The Light Shines Only There (Soko nomi nite hikari kagayaku, 2014) by Mipo Oh.

Tribute to ‘King Kong’ duo

San Sebastian will also celebrate the work of Merian C. Cooper (1893-1973) and Ernest B. Schoedsack (1893-1979), who worked during the golden age of Hollywood.

Acclaimed as the masterminds behind King Kong (1933), Cooper and Schoedsack also made the likes of The Most Dangerous Game (1932), and Dr. Cyclops (1940), a fantasy about miniature beings that was directed by Schoedsack.

Click here for more details