Jasper Sharp : 2011 : July

Currently browsing July 2011:

This is just a very quick post following on from the last, to go through with my earlier promise of putting some information up on the programme for the retrospective I curated with the Era New Horizons Festival in Wroclaw, Poland, to coincide with the Polish edition of Behind the Pink Curtain. For those who are interested, you can follow this link here. Just to give a quick teaser though, this is one of the fullest pink/Roman Porno retros I’ve ever curated, and aside from a lot of the usual films I’ve shown at other similar retros I’ve curated to tie in with the book (at the BFI in 2008, Nippon Connection, Montreal’s Fantasia and Thessaloniki in 2009 etc), including the beautiful new prints of Blue Film Woman and Gushing Prayer that got done up originally for Austin Fantastic Fest and which have been doing the rounds recently, we’ve got some new stuff too.

Assault! Jack the Ripper, one of the treats in store for visitors to Poland's Era New Horizon festival

On the Roman Porno front, I’m most excited we’re screening Yasuharu Hasebe’s quite bonkers Assault! Jack the Ripper. On the pink side, there’s a whole load of treats, but am particularly pleased that women directors are being well-represented, with two films by Yumi Yoshiyuki, who will be there to introduce them, and one by the wonderful Sachi Hamano.

Anyway, the festival’s already been running a few days, so I’ll be arriving in the thick of things and am really looking forward to seeing what the Polish audiences are making of it all. Hope to post either from Poland with my news, or at least not too long after I get back home.

Era New Horizons Festival’s Behind the Pink Curtain retrospective full programme

Event: ‘Behind the Pink Curtain’ Retrospective at New Horizons International Film Festival
Venue: Helios Cinema, Wroclaw, Poland
When: 21-31 July 2011

New Horizons audience for Yumi Yoshiyuki's Widow Apartment

A 20-film retrospective of pink and Roman Porno films at the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wroclaw to coincide with the Polish-language edition of Behind the Pink Curtain, entitled “Za różową kurtyną”, published by Korporacja Ha!art Press. Special guest included Yumi Yoshiyuki.

Event: Shinsedai Cinema Festival: The New Generation Japanese Film Festival
Venue: The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, 6 Garamond Court, North York, ON M3C 1Z5, Canada
When: 21-24 July 2011

Curated by Chris MaGee, the founder and editor of Toronto’s own J-Film Pow-Wow and Jasper Sharp, author, film historian, and co-founder of Midnight Eye, the Shinsedai Cinema Festival will celebrate the wide range of talent coming out of Japan today. For four days between 21-24 July the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre will be host to everything from insightful dramas, quirky comedies, hard-hitting documentaries, experimental shorts, and beyond. The Shinsedai Cinema Festival will have something for everyone this summer.

Read about the lineup here.
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