The evening kicked off with a reception in which thanks were given to our sponsors by James, then a witty presentation from the president of Subaru Canada, the company that contributed the substantial amount of money that allowed this event to happen. The latter, Yokoyama-san, got a whole load of kudos from me after recalling his movie-watching youth hanging around the legendary ATG cinema in Shinjuku, and reeling off a whole load of names of Japanese directors before settling on his favourite, the mighty Shohei Imamura (which reminds me, I’ve some exciting Imamura news to share within the next week). Speeches were completed, all guests were brought to the stage, a toast was raised, much sake was quaffed and sushi scoffed, and photos taken, including some of me and Chris with our default poster girl, Thunderfish’s Junko Kimoto, which I’ll somehow insert into this posting as soon as I get access to one of them.

Naked of Defenses

The films went down really well too: I’d not yet seen Naked of Defenses, the Grand Prix Winner from last year’s Pia Film Festival, but it was a brilliant one to open with, a hugely moving and inventive tale that really reminded me exactly what it was that got me attracted me to Japanese cinema in the first place – we’ve got a review of this popping up on Midnight Eye soon, but I’ll say now its already among my favourites of the year. It got a great response from the audience too. Tsuki Inoue’s brilliantly inventive short, A Woman Who is Beating the Earth, which I remember being praised vociferously by Tom Mes on Midnight Eye not so long ago, was another revelation, and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing more from this exciting new director in the future. Maya Yonesho’s Wiener Wuast was another of Chris’ picks, an experimental mixture of stop-motion animation and real-life cityscapes – we’re screening a similar work of hers later today, Israel Mix. And then the surreal, hypnotic non-narrative work Hottentot Apron, probably one of the most challenging of the festival, but great to see such experimental films getting an airing outside Japan.

Little Birds

Anyway, I’m hoping we get a similar load of attendances for today, and I’m pretty sure we’ll even be seeing a whole lot more, now the conflicting schedules of Toronto After Dark downtown has come to an end, although I’m not sure whether we’re really appealing to the same audience. We’ve got six program slots today, so it’s going to be a long ‘un, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how some of my selection goes down, especially the Iraq documentary Little Birds, which has been far too seldom screened overseas in my opinion.

Some great press also appearing, so I’ll link up here from yesterday’s Toronto Star and today’s Globe and Mail. Another update tomorrow…

Less than a fortnight to go now till the first annual Shinsedai Festival, a weekend event I helped organize with Chris MaGee of the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow to celebrate the best in new indie talent currently working in Japan, and I must say, I’m mighty excited. It’s been about 15 years since I was last in Toronto, and I have a very hazy recollection of the place: all I remember is that they had black squirrels and hot dogs the size you could take someone’s eye out with them if you weren’t careful.

I, of course, am going to have to rely heavily on a chaperone for the weekend I’m there, but Toronto-ites interested in attending will probably know how to get to the venue where it’s all happening, the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, located at 6 Garamond Court in Toronto, Ontario.

Hottentot Apron: A Sketch

And wow, should you attend if you get a chance!? There’s a full weekend of screenings, kicking off on Friday, 21^st August, at 7.30pm, with last year’s Pia Film Festival Grand Prix Winner, Naked of Defenses, directed by Masahide Ichii, which is followed directly by Kei Shichiri’s intriguingly-titled Hottentot Apron: A Sketch. I know nothing about this second one, which was one of Chris’ selection, one of the reasons why the event is going to be such a revelation. Chris and I have programmed the whole event about 50/50, and I know he keeps his ear pretty close to the ground, but effectively every one of these titles is getting its Canadian premiere, and these are the sort of films that seem to fall under the radar of most festivals, so you can be rest assured, there’s going to be some revelations.

Thunderfish

The full schedule has been up online for a while now, so I won’t go over it here, but I will say I am delighted we’re screening Thunderfish, which was a big hit at Raindance a couple of years back, and features some stunning cinematography and a loopy set design quite unlike anything else I’ve seen from Japan in recent years – I’m happy to say that director Touru Hano, lead actress Junko Kimoto and cinematographer Tetsuhiro Kato will also be around for the weekend. Other top tips are Yuki Tanada’s hilarious feature debut Moon and Cherry, playing under its new North American retitling as Electric Button, Yutaka Tsuchiya’s enlightening documentary and a personal favourite of mine, The New God, and Yoshihiro Ito’s stunning shorts program, Vortex and Others – Ito will also be around the festival, along with his main muse and star of several of these works, Natsumi Seto. I’m not usually a big fan of shorts programs, but these are really something. Ito knows how to use the 8mm and 16mm formats perfectly, and these decidedly trippy films are a must if you’re into the likes of Seijun Suzuki and David Lynch. There’s a full interview on the main homepage of the festival, if you haven’t seen it already.

There’s a whole host of guests going to be around the festival, including Yasutomo Chikuma (Now, I…), Atsuko Ohno (producer of the Peaches shorts program) and yours truly, who will be signing copies of Behind the Pink Curtain for anyone that wants one signed. A damn fine weekend lies ahead, so I suggest you all get signing up for your tickets right away!

One thing I am disappointed about though is that I’m arriving too late to catch the Shinsedai tie-in screenings with the monthly screening even Film Fort, who are going to be showing a whole load of recent experimental Japanese animation on Tuesday, August 18th to whet everyone’s appetites.

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