Time out for Eigasai 2010

You may wish to take time off from your regular schedule from August 3 to 8 and enjoy the 8 films lined up for this year’s Japanese Eigasai.

The film festival is part of the celebration of the Philippines-Japan Friendship Month and is presented by the Consular Office of Japan Cebu and the Japan Foundation Manila Office, in cooperation with the Japanese Association Cebu, Inc., the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cebu, Inc., and the Ayala Center Cinema Cebu. Like the previous films shown for the past 11 years, this year’s festival “aims to enhance the understanding and appreciation of Japanese arts and culture.”

Those who can have the time to watch all eight films will certainly learn much about the Japanese in various settings and in various parts of Japan, especially about the “contemporary lives of the Japanese young generation,” according to Consul Okajima of the Consular Office of Japan Cebu.

“Always Sunset on Third Street (originally entitled ALWAYS zoku San-chome no yuhi), the first film to be shown on Tuesday, August 3, will allow the audience to see how a working class Japanese neighborhood of Tokyo in 1959 rallies to support their neighbor, Chagawa, an aspiring writer win Akutagawa Prize, Japan’s most famous literary honor.

The second film, entitled Glasses (Megane, in Japanese) and scheduled for August 4 leads the audience to observe how Taeko, a tourist on her first trip to a quiet tropical island (the Yoron Island just north of Okinawa) finally learns to view and appreciate the island from the “lens” of those who have long known and loved the place.

From Okinawa in the south, Film #3, Houtai Kurabu or The Bandage Club to be shown on Thursday, August 5, takes the audience to another setting, to Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, in present-day Japan. The film is based on a 2006 novel by Tendo Arata, who went on to win the 2009 Naoki Prize.The story was also released as a manga in 2007. Those who need “ a bandage” to mend their “ traumas or hurts,” like this film’s characters may be moved to organize a “Bandage Club” like the characters in this film.

On August 6, Friday, baseball fans may wish to watch Film #4 by Director Takita Yojiro, the first Japanese director to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for 2008’s Departures (“Okuribito”). This film, The Battery – Future in Our Hands, was based on a novel by Asano Atsuko, which sold 3.8 million copies.

Two films will be shown on Saturday, August 7: Film #5 (Fourteen or Juuyon-sai) about Fukatsu Ryo, a 14-year-old student, goes through an unforgettable dramatic experience and Film #6 ( I Just Didn’t Do It) about Kaneko Teppei who is arrested after being accused of groping a woman inside a very crowded train. Film #6 was Japan’s official submission for Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards for 2007 and is described as “an indictment of Japan’s labyrinthine legal system, in which defendants are coerced into signing confessions and criminal cases go on for years.”

On August 8, Sunday, Film #7 (How to Become Myself or Ashita no watashi no tsukurikata) how two girls resolve their challenges, including bullying (ijime), a word that continues to be reported almost daily in present Japan. You may want to watch the Film #8 ( Tokyo Tower? Mom & Me, and Sometimes Dad? Or Tokyo tawaa?Okan to boku to tokidoki oton?) to not only see Tokyo Tower but to understand why it is part of the movie’s title.

All the films will be shown with English subtitles and admission is free! Bring your friends along to watch eight free films for 6 days! For more details, please contact the Consular Office of Japan in Cebu at tel. nos. 231-7321/22/23.

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