Family Matters ¼
Cityscapes And Countryside – Contrasting Lives In Japan
CITYSCAPES AND COUNTRYSIDE, this year’s Nippon Connection theme, explores the contrast between urban and rural life in Japan. Japan is still considered a country full of contradictions: centuries-old traditions meet technical innovations; conservative social models contrast with progressive views. This stark contrast is also evident geographically: Japan is characterized by a great dichotomy of city and country. Metropolises such as Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka contrast with rural regions where time seems to have stood still. With this thematic focus, we want to make visible the great diversity in Japan’s geography, but also reveal the conflicts that arise between life in the city and in the countryside. Japanese cinema presents contrasting images of urban and rural spaces that goes far beyond big-city utopias or transfiguring homeland films.
Following the festival, selected films will have additional screenings in cinemas throughout the Rhein-Main region. (Dates will be communicated on the festival website NipponConnection.com.)
The thematic focus CITYSCAPES AND COUNTRYSIDE is supported by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain.
Film Program
Amiko by Yusuke MORII
Carmen Comes Home by Keisuke KINOSHITA
Carmen’s Pure Love by Keisuke KINOSHITA
A Far Shore by Masaaki KUDO
Mountain Woman by Takeshi FUKUNAGA
My Small Land by Emma KAWAWADA
Nabbie’s Love by Yuji NAKAE
Okiku And The World by Junji SAKAMOTO
Our Huff And Puff Journey by Daigo MATSUI
Poupelle Of Chimney Town by Yusuke HIROTA
Remembering Every Night by Yui KIYOHARA
The River Fuefuki by Keisuke KINOSHITA
Sayonara, Girls. by Shun NAKAGAWA
She Was Like A Wild Chrysanthemum by Keisuke KINOSHITA
The Snow Flurry by Keisuke KINOSHITA
The Song Of Rain by Tetsuichiro TSUTA
Tekkon Kinkreet by Michael ARIAS
TOCKA by Yoshitaka KAMADA
Tokyo Uber Blues by Taku AOYAGI
Twenty-Four Eyes by Keisuke KINOSHITA
UMUI – Guardians Of Traditions by Daniel LÓPEZ
VIPO Presents: Cityscapes & Countryside Shorts
Your Lovely Smile by Kah Wai LIM
The Zen Diary by Yuji NAKAE
Accompanying Events
Anime Architecture – A lecture by Stefan RIEKELES
Moving Characters: From The Suburbs To The City And Beyond – A lecture by Claudia BERTOLÉ
Panel discussion: Between Extinction and New Rurality - Transformation Processes in Regional Japan