Comprising international premieres, short programs, and some of the country’s finest-ever films in new restorations, 2024’s Japan Cuts––running July 10-21 at New York’s Japan Society––has been unveiled. It’s in the festival’s nature that numerous works and directors are lesser-known on American shores, though a cursory search has one regularly stopping: new films by Takeshi Kitano (KUBI), Shunji Iwai (Kyrie), Shinya Tsukamoto (Shadow of Fire), and Gakuryu Ishii (The Box Man) populate the selection. Meanwhile, Hideaki Anno’s modern classic Shin Godzilla debuts in a new, black-and-white cut SHIN GODZILLA: ORTHOchromatic.
Its classics section is three-for-three: Ishii’s August in the Water, Shinji Somai’s Moving, and Toshiharu Ikeda Mermaid Legend, which is more or less one of the greatest films ever made. One can anticipate at least a couple of Japan Cuts’ current unknowns are tomorrow’s figureheads.
See the full lineup below:
Opening Film
Between the White Key and the Black Key (North American Premiere)
『 白鍵と黒鍵の間に』(Hakken to Kokken no Aida ni)
Wednesday, July 10 at 6:30 PM – With Director Q&A and Reception
Dir. Masanori Tominaga, 2023, 94 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Sosuke Ikematsu, Riisa Naka, Go Morita, Crystal Kay.
Opening Night Film with Director Masanori Tominaga Q&A and Reception. Music sweeps through 1980s Ginza, a glamorous and dangerous neighborhood where well heeled Tokyoites, artists and thugs all sway together under the power of jazz. Sosuke Ikematsu stars in this spiraling, splintering, intersecting Mobius strip of a film based on the memoirs of jazz pianist Hiroshi Minami and a single night and a forbidden song that changes destiny. Also featuring Japanese pop star Crystal Kay.
Centerpiece Film
Shadow of Fire (U.S. Premiere)
『ほかげ』(Hokage)
Wednesday, July 17 at 6:30 PM – With Award Presentation, Q&A, and Reception
Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto, 2023, 95 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Shuri, Mirai Moriyama, Oga Tsukao, Hiroki Kono.
The sickness of postwar Japan runs at a fever pitch in Shinya Tsukamoto’s (Tetsuo the Iron Man, Bullet Ballet) latest entry to his war trilogy, following his acclaimed wartime dramas Fires on the Plain and Killing (JC 2019). A chamber drama that evolves beyond its initial setup, Shadow of Fire opens with the chance rendezvous of two survivors—an orphan child who steals food from the black market (Oga Tsukao) and a woman forced to sell her body (Shuri) in the ruins of a burnt-out tavern. The introduction of a young soldier still tormented by the war and a mysterious stranger (played by 2024 CUT ABOVE Award recipient Mirai Moriyama) bring new complications to the pair’s impermanent way of life. An unflinching examination of the immediate postwar chaos, Tsukamoto’s masterful direction once again offers a brutally searing critique of war as Shadow of Fire portrays a populace fashioned into specters, unable to reckon with the trauma of the past. Followed by Mirai Moriyama CUT ABOVE Award presentation, Q&A with Shinya Tsukamoto and Mirai Moriyama, and Reception.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Great Absence (New York Premiere)
『 大いなる不在』 (Oinaru Fuzai)
Thursday, July 18 at 6:30 PM – With Award Presentation, Q&A, and Reception
Dir. Kei Chika-ura, 2023, 133 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tatsuya Fuji, Mirai Moriyama, Yoko Maki, Hideko Hara.
Tokyo-based actor Takashi (Mirai Moriyama) reluctantly travels to northern Kyushu with his wife (Yoko Maki) after local police inform him of a distress call made by his estranged father Yohji (Tatsuya Fuji), a retired professor who shows signs of rapidly progressive dementia. Once there, Takashi becomes involved in a mystery concerning the disappearance of Naomi (Hideko Hara), the woman for whom Yohji abandoned his family 20 years ago. Did she really commit suicide as Yohji claims? A deeply moving and artfully multi-layered sophomore feature about reconciliation, love and mortality by director Kei Chika-ura (Complicity) featuring stellar cinematography by frequent Hirokazu Kore-eda collaborator Yutaka Yamazaki. Followed by Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation for Tatsuya Fuji, Q&A with Kei Chika-ura and Tatsuya Fuji, and Reception.
FEATURE SLATE
In Alphabetical Order
Visit the JAPAN CUTS website for full descriptions of all films:
All the Long Nights (U.S. Premiere)
『夜明のすべて』(Yoake no Subete)
Tuesday, July 16 at 6:30 PM
Dir. Sho Miyake, 2024, 119 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mone Kamishiraishi, Hokuto Matsumura, Ken Mitsuishi.
Auteur Sho Miyake’s (And Your Bird Can Sing, JC 2019) tender followup to acclaimed boxing drama Small Slow but Steady focuses on the interpersonal lives of two coworkers afflicted with debilitating conditions—a beautifully compassionate drama shot on 16mm.
Between the White Key and the Black Key (North American Premiere)
『 白鍵と黒鍵の間に』(Hakken to Kokken no Aida ni)
Wednesday, July 10 at 6:30 PM – With Director Q&A and Reception
Dir. Masanori Tominaga, 2023, 94 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Sosuke Ikematsu, Riisa Naka, Go Morita, Crystal Kay.
Opening Night Film with Director Masanori Tominaga Q&A and Reception. Sosuke Ikematsu stars in this spiraling Mobius strip of a film based on the memoirs of jazz pianist Hiroshi Minami and a single night and a forbidden song that changes destiny.
The Box Man (East Coast Premiere)
『箱 男』(Hako Otoko)
Saturday, July 13 at 5:30 PM
Dir. Gakuryu Ishii, 2024, 120 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Masatoshi Nagase, Tadanobu Asano, Ayana Shiramoto, Koichi Sato.
Featuring Director Gakuryu Ishii In-Person. Absurdist, self-aware and characteristically bizarre, Gakuryu Ishii’s rendition of Kobo Abe’s experimental nouveau roman is fashioned with the punk ethos of Ishii’s early work as it follows a photographer who obsesses over a “box man”—a purposeful outcast who renounces everything to live inside a cardboard box.
Cha-Cha (North American Premiere)
『 チャチャ』(Cha-Cha)
Friday, July 19 at 9:30 PM
Dir. Mai Sakai, 2024, 108 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Marika Ito.
Cha-Cha is the love story between a free-spirited artist and a boy with increasingly questionable tastes. The film is painted with the whimsical colors of a romantic comedy at its surface that belie much, much, much darker hues to be found in its deranged depths.
Following the Sound (North American Premiere)
『 彼方のうた』(Kanata no Uta)
Sunday, July 21 at 1:30 PM
Dir. Kyoshi Sugita, 2023, 84 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With An Ogawa, Yuko Nakamura, Hidekazu Mashima.
A film of stillness and quotidian beauty, Following the Sound features all the hallmarks of director Kyoshi Sugita’s lyrical stylings.
Great Absence (New York Premiere)
『 大いなる不在』 (Oinaru Fuzai)
Thursday, July 18 at 6:30 PM – With Award Presentation, Q&A, and Reception
Dir. Kei Chika-ura, 2023, 133 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tatsuya Fuji, Mirai Moriyama, Yoko Maki, Hideko Hara.
Tatsuya Fuji stars as a retired professor who shows signs of rapidly progressive dementia. A deeply moving and artfully multi-layered feature about reconciliation, love and mortality by director Kei Chika-ura.
ICE CREAM FEVER (North American Premiere)
『 アイスクリームフィーバー』(Aisukurimu Fiba)
Saturday, July 20 at 12:30 PM
Dir. Tetsuya Chihara, 2023, 104 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Riho Yoshioka, Serena Motola, Utaha (Wednesday Campanella), Marika Matsumoto.
Adapted from a short story by award-winning author Mieko Kawakami, this colorful debut by Tetsuya Chihara follows four young women who intersect one summer at a Shibuya ice cream shop where they each find sweet inspiration.
KUBI (New York Premiere)
『首』 (Kubi)
Tuesday, July 16 at 9:00 PM
Dir. Takeshi Kitano, 2023, 131 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Takeshi Kitano, Ryo Kase, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Shido Nakamura.
77-year-old icon of Japanese film and television Takeshi Kitano returns to the big screen in epic fashion with his 19th feature—a bloody and comically subversive retelling of the death of samurai warlord Oda Nobunaga. Heads will roll!
Kyrie (North American Premiere)
『キリエのうた』(Kyrie no Uta)
Thursday, July 11 at 6:30 PM
Dir. Shunji Iwai, 2023, 178 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With AiNA THE END, Hokuto Matsumura, Haru Kuroki, Suzu Hirose.
Starring singer AiNA THE END in her first leading role, Kyrie tells the story of a street musician who cannot speak and can only communicate through song. From Shunj Iwai, masterful director of Swallowtail Butterfly and All About Lily Chou-Chou.
Shadow of Fire (U.S. Premiere)
『ほかげ』(Hokage)
Wednesday, July 17 at 6:30 PM – With Award Presentation, Q&A, and Reception
Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto, 2023, 95 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Shuri, Mirai Moriyama, Oga Tsukao, Hiroki Kono.
Centerpiece Film. An unflinching examination of the immediate postwar chaos, Shinya Tsukamoto’s Shadow of Fire is a brutally searing critique of war, examining the destroyed lives of those who survived its horrors. Followed by Mirai Moriyama CUT ABOVE Award presentation, Q&A with Shinya Tsukamoto and Mirai Moriyama, and Reception.
SHIN GODZILLA: ORTHOchromatic (International Premiere)
『シン・ゴジラ：オルソ』(Shin Gojira Oruso)
Sunday, July 13 at 9:00 PM
Sunday, July 21 at 8:30 PM
Dir. Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, 2023, 119 min., DCP, black and white, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara.
Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s 21st century masterpiece is reborn with this stunning black-and-white version. ORTHOchromatic adds new dimensions to the film’s visual impact by rendering it in orthochromatic (“ortho” for short) black-and-white, a type of monochrome characterized by starker contrasts and more pronounced blacks. The results are awe-inspiring and presents Shin Godzilla as never seen before.
Six Singing Women (U.S. Premiere)
『唄う六人の女』 (Utau Rokunin no Onna)
Friday, July 12 at 6:30 PM
Dir. Yoshimasa Ishibashi, 2023, 113 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Yutaka Takenouchi, Takayuki Yamada, Naoto Takenaka.
A car accident finds two men imprisoned by a group of enigmatic, animalistic women who seem spiritually connected to the land. A bold and decadent mystery-laden ecological fable, Six Singing Women is the first feature film in over a decade from artist and JAPAN CUTS alum Yoshimasa Ishibashi.
Whale Bones (North American Premiere)
『鯨の骨』(Kujira no Hone)
Sunday, July 14 at 3:00 PM
Dir. Takamasa Oe, 2023, 88 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Motoki Ochiai, Ano, Mayuu Yokota.
Written and directed by Takamasa Oe—who co-wrote the Oscar winner Drive My Car with Ryusuke Hamaguchi—Whale Bones is an ethereal noir-tinged mystery that investigates the loneliness and desperation of our internet-mediated modern life.
NEXT GENERATION
In Alphabetical Order
This sole competitive section of the festival features a hand-picked selection of independently produced narrative feature films by emerging directors who offer a glimpse into the future of Japanese cinema. One film within the section—determined as the most accomplished by a jury of film industry professionals—will receive the “Obayashi Prize” in honor of the late filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi (1938-2020).
Blue Imagine (North American Premiere)
『 ブルーイマジン』 (Buru Imajin)
Saturday, July 20 at 3:00 PM
Dir. Urara Matsubayashi, 2024, 93 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mayu Yamaguchi, Asuka Kawatoko, Yui Kitamura, Iana Bernardez.
In the aftermath of being assaulted by a well-known director, young actress Noel finds refuge in a communal living space for abused women. Blue Imagine complexly explores the physical, mental, and emotional scars of abuse, transformative power of friendship, and difficult questions of revenge, recovery and self-realization.
Motion Picture: Choke (New York Premiere)
『映画 (窒息)』(Eiga Chissoku)
Friday, July 12 at 9:00 PM
Dir. Gen Nagao, 2023, 108 min., DCP, black and white, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Misa Wadam, Daiki Hiba, Takashi Nishina, Minori Terada.
In an imagined post-apocalyptic future, humanity reverts to prehistoric conditions and spoken language is lost. A highly original, dialogue-free indie drama shot in black-and-white.
Performing KAORU’s Funeral (International Premiere)
『カオルの葬式』(KAORU no Soushiki)
Saturday, July 20 at 5:30 PM – With Director Q&A
Dir. Noriko Yuasa, 2023, 100 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Kano Ichiki, Koji Seki, Chise Niitsu.
Featuring Director Noriko Yuasa In-Person. Failed actor Jun receives a phone call that informs him that his elusive ex-wife Kaoru has chosen him to be the chief mourner at her funeral in her last will and testament. With an ensemble of off-kilter performances, accompanied by a percussive soundtrack and propulsive editing, director Noriko Yuasa delivers a dark comedy that etches an entertaining yet poignant portrait of familial dysfunction. Winner of the JAPAN CUTS Award at the 2024 Osaka Asian Film Festival.
Rei (North American Premiere)
『莉の対』(Rei no Tsui)
Monday, July 15 at 6:30 PM
Dir. Toshihiko Tanaka, 2024, 190 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Takara Suzuki, Maeko Oyama, Shogo Moriyama, Toshihiko Tanaka.
Unhappy in the big city, Hikari can’t find meaning in her existence until she meets Masato, a photographer from far off Hokkaido. This connection leads to an adventure, loneliness, dependency and a destructive love affair.
RETAKE (North American Premiere)
『リテイク』(Riteiku)
Sunday, July 21 at 3:30 PM
Dir. Kota Nakano, 2024, 110 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Yuta Muto, Urara, Areina Takano.
RETAKE follows a high school student who decides to make a movie over summer break with her friends and is a celebration of adolescence and the raw joy of cinema.
Sayonara, Girls. (North American Premiere)
『少女は卒業しない』(Shojo wa Sotsugyo Shinai)
Saturday, July 13 at 12:30 PM
Dir. Shun Nakagawa, 2022, 120 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Yuumi Kawai, Rina Komiyama, Tomo Nakai, Rina Ono.
With graduation around the corner, a group of students at Shimada High School in Yamanashi Prefecture spend their final days processing their time together and the future ahead. Led by an impressive cast of young actresses, Shun Nakagawa’s poignant feature debut deftly captures the bittersweet sensitivity of adolescence.
CLASSICS
In Alphabetical Order
August in the Water
『水の中の八月』 (Mizu no Naka no Hachigatsu)
Sunday, July 14 at 5:30 PM – With Director Q&A
Dir. Gakuryu Ishii (as Sogo Ishii), 1995, 117 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with live English subtitles. With Rena Komine, Shinsuke Aoki, Reiko Matsuo.
Imported 35mm Print – Featuring Director Gakuryu Ishii In-Person. An unlikely coincidence of strange cosmic phenomena unites highschoolers Izumi and Mao in a race against ecological ruin brought on by drought and disease. Ishii’s mid-1990s masterwork is an evocative daydream infused with the enigma of existence—a primordial rite of passage awash in cloudburst and myth.
Mermaid Legend
『人魚伝説』 (Ningyo Densetsu)
Saturday, July 20 at 8:30 PM
Dir. Toshiharu Ikeda, 1984, 110 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mari Shirato, Jun Eto, Kentaro Shimizu.
40th Anniversary. The first Direkan production, Mermaid Legend is one of the great works of ’80s independent cinema, an elemental eco thriller in which an ama diver enacts near mythical revenge for the murder of her husband.
Moving (East Coast Premiere of 4K Restoration)
『お引越し』 (Ohikkoshi)
Friday, July 19 at 6:30 PM – With Actress Q&A
Dir. Shinji Somai, 1993, 124 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tomoko Tabata, Junko Sakurada, Kiichi Nakai.
Featuring Tomoko Tabata In-Person. Shinji Somai’s undisputed masterpiece is a heartbreaking elegy to childhood, focusing on Ren (Tomoko Tabata), a resilient young girl grieving the separation of her parents and desperately clawing for some type of control in her life. A sweeping odyssey of self-discovery, Moving finds young Ren having to grow up in the face of it all, culminating in a surreal matsuri drenched in billowing flame and fantasy.
SHORT CUTS
In Chronological Order
SHORT CUTS Program 1 – Saturday, July 13 at 11:00 AM
Hail Mary (International Premiere)
『マリアに幸あれ』( Maria ni Sachiare)
Dir. Mayu Nakamura, 2023, 10 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Stefanie Arianne, Takashi Yuki.
A Filipino woman must protect a mysterious package from the cold and dangers of the Tokyo night. Hail Mary is shot entirely on a Xperia smartphone.
Wife’s Power Outage (U.S. Premiere)
『妻の電池切れ』 (Tsuma no Denchigire)
Dir. Kimi Yawata, 2023, 21 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Asami Usuda, Munetaka Aoki.
Hana and Yusuke have been growing more distant and now sit in a karaoke room contemplating divorce. As they weigh their future, Tokyo suffers a blackout, and at the same time, Hana suddenly collapses.
Bottle George
『ボトルジョージ』(Botoru Jo-Ji)
Dir. Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, 2024, 13 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, Nodoka Kumeda, Hajime Takagi.
From the mind of Akihiro Nishino comes a short film with a big message. Told through disarmingly beautiful stop motion animation, Bottle George is a parable for addiction, what we can lose when trapped by alcohol, and the hope of breaking free.
SHORT CUTS Program 2 – Saturday, July 20 at 11:00 AM
Social Circles
『Social Circles』
Dir. Eri Saito, 2023, 15 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles.
Through this experimental art piece, artist Eri Saito explores the faint boundaries that emerge between individual communications, relationships and our inability to fully connect.
Parking Area (International Premiere)
『Parking Area』
Dir. Toru Masuyama, 2022, 9 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Saemi Okano.
Parking Area sends a weary traveler into a psychedelic kaleidoscope. Stopping at a highway rest area, each step the traveler takes propels them into a realm where nature and concrete merge and sprawl into the sky.
Nezumikozo Jirokichi (U.S. Premiere)
『山中貞雄に捧げる漫画映画「鼠小僧次郎吉」』(Yamanaka Sadao ni Sasageru Manga Eiga “Nezumikozo Jirokichi”)
Dir. Rintaro, 2023, 23 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Mami Koyama.
Legendary anime director Rintaro’s first new work in over a decade depicts pioneering 1930s director Sadao Yamanaka and the production of his Nezumikozo Jirokichi.
DOCUMENTARY
In Alphabetical Order
Kadono Eiko’s Colorful Life: Finding the Magic Within (International Premiere)
『カラフルな魔女 ～角野栄子の物語が生まれる暮らし～』 (Karafuru na Majo ～Kadono Eiko no Monogatari ga Umareru Kurashi～) (International Premiere)
Sunday, July 21 at 11 AM
Dir. Marina Miyagawa, 2024, 96 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Eiko Kadono.
A documentary bounding with energy on the renowned children’s book author most known as the writer of Kiki’s Delivery Service.
The Making of a Japanese (North American Premiere)
『小学校～それは小さな社会～』(Shogakko ～Sore wa Chisana Shakai～)
Sunday, July 21 at 6:00 PM – With Director Q&A
Dir. Ema Ryan Yamazaki, 2023, 99 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles.
Featuring Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki In-Person. Concerning itself with the formative qualities and values instilled by the country’s education system, The Making of a Japanese documents the lives of grade schoolers in one of Japan’s largest public elementary schools, intimately capturing what it means to learn and become a member of Japanese society.
Shunga: The Lost Japanese Erotica (North American Premiere)
『春の画 SHUNGA』 (Haru no e SHUNGA)
Saturday, July 13 at 9:00 PM
Dir. Junko Hirata, 2023, 121 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tadanori Yokoo, Makoto Aida, Ryoko Kimura, Mirai Moriyama, Yo Yoshida.A lush documentary on the past, present and future of sexually explicit art prints known as shunga. Recommended for mature audiences.