Camera Japan Announces Complete Programme for 2023

Written by

Posted on

Camera Japan returns for its 18th edition in Rotterdam 21st to 24th September and in Amsterdam 28th September to 1st October bringing with it another fantastic selection of the best in recent and not so recent Japanese cinema.

Feature Films

  • #Manhole – a salaryman’s moment of triumph is disrupted when he falls down a manhole the night before his wedding in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s unhinged B-movie thriller. Review.
  • Baby Assassins 2 Babies – the Baby Assassins are back and continuing to struggle with the demands of adulting in Yugo Sakamoto’s sequel to the hugely popular slacker action comedy. Review.
  • Bad Lands -fast paced crime thriller from Masato Harada starring Sakura Ando as a conwoman in over her head.
  • Baian the Assassin, M.D. 1 – period drama starring Etsushi Toyokawa as the famous acupuncturist hitman.
  • Cafune – a pair of teenagers with differing priorities struggle to deal with the discovery of an unplanned pregnancy in Haruki Kinemura’s evenhanded indie drama. Review.
  • December – bereaved parents are confronted by the unresolved past when the woman who killed their daughter appeals her sentence in Anshul Chauhan’s empathetic courtroom drama. Review.
  • The Dry Spell – drama starring Toma Ikuta as a municipal worker charged with turning off the water supply at homes that haven’t paid their bills.
  • Egoist – a fashion editor reflects on the nature of love after falling for a personal trainer in Daishi Matsunaga’s deeply moving romantic drama. Review.
  • Firing the Lighter Gun – indie drama set after a nuclear disaster.
  • I Am What I Am – a young woman uninterested in sexual relationships struggles to find acceptance in a conservative society defined by marriage in Shinya Tamada’s empathetic drama. Review.
  • Is this Heaven? – a middle-aged couple ponder loss and regret on a surreal odyssey into the afterlife , or something like it at least, in Shinji Imaoka’s cheerfully absurdist dramedy. Review.
  • Life of Mariko in Kabukicho – surreal drama from Eiji Uchida & Shinzo Katayama starring Sairi Ito as a bar owner/detective charged with hunting down a missing alien.
  • Love Will Tear Us Apart – eccentric indie slasher scripted by Hirobumi Watanabe and directed by Kenichi Ugana.
  • MAYHEM GIRLs – pandemic-era drama in which a group of high school girls suddenly develop superpowers.
  • Mondays: See You ‘This’ Week! – harried office workers must get through to their dejected salaryman boss if they’re to escape a workplace time loop in Ryo Takebayashi’s zany corporate comedy. Review.
  • Mountain Woman – a young woman walks into the mountains to die but unexpectedly discovers what it is to feel truly human in Takeshi Fukunaga’s bleak folk tale. Review.
  • A Mother’s Touch – real life drama inspired by the life of Satoshi Fukushima who became the world’s first deaf-blind university professor.
  • Natchan’s Little Secret – comedic road trip drama in which three drag queens travel to their friend’s funeral.
  • New Religion – supernatural horror in which a woman struggles to deal with her grief following the death of her daughter.
  • Ninja vs Shark – B-movie action drama from Koichi Sakamoto ini which a small feudal town is bothered by a giant shark and a gang of satan-worshipping bandits.
  • People Who Talk to Plushies Are Kind – A collection of sensitive uni students pour out their worries to cuddly toys to avoid burdening others with their fears in Yurina Kaneko’s charmingly empathetic drama. Review.
  • Perfect Days – Tokyo-set tale from Wim Wenders starring Koji Yakusho as cleaner living a simple but soulful life.
  • Remembering Every Night – a series of women wander around Tama New Town each searching for something in Yui Kiyohara’s wistful drama. Review.
  • The Rest of Our Lives – drama following three elderly people who become friends at a swimming club.
  • Ripples – latest from Naoko Ogigami starring Mariko Tsutsui as a housewife who joins a weird water-themed cult after her husband leaves her in the wake of natural disaster.
  • Sabakan – heartwarming nostalgia drama in which a struggling writer looks back to the summer of 1986.
  • Suncream and Windchimes – whimsical drama in which a paranoid husband begins spying on his wife.
  • Tea Friends – empathetic drama from Bunji Sotoyama in which a collection of elderly people are drawn into a sex ring in order to stave off loneliness and poverty.
  • Tocka – a trio of lost souls battle despair in northernmost Hokkaido in Yoshitaka Kamada’s bleak social drama. Review.
  • Tsugaru Lacquer Girl – a young woman encounters resistance in her desire to take over the family lacquerware business.
  • Your Lovely Smile – Hirobumi Watanabe stars as a version of himself but this time for Lim Kah-Wai as the pair come together in shared sensibly and frustration with the indie way of life. Review.
  • Yudo – Toma Ikuta stars as a failed Tokyo architect returning to his home town with the intention of getting control of the family bathhouse currently run by his brother (Gaku Hamada) to tear it down and build an apartment block in this warmhearted celebration of traditional bathhouse culture.

Animation

  • Blue Thermal – a young woman ends up in the university gliding club but discovers a new passion.
  • Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom – after centuries of conflict, two feuding countries finally begin to put the past behind them to work for a common future in Kotono Watanabe’s animated fantasy romance. Review.
  • Komada: A Whisky Family – a young woman takes over the family whisky business after her father’s death.
  • Macross Plus – classic 1995 mecha anime.

Documentary

  • Origami – documentary following artist Atsushi Suwa as he creates a portrait of a deceased young man.
  • Polan – documentary charting the final days of a second-hand bookshop.
  • The Night Before Upheaval – documentary exploring the difficulties faced by indie filmmakers in Japan.
  • UMUI – Guardians of Traditions – documentary focussing on traditional music and dance in Okinawa.

Special Screenings

  • The Oldest Profession – 1974 Roman Porno from Noboru Tanaka.
  • Priest of Darkness – a feckless gambler brings trouble on himself by accidentally stealing a samurai’s knife and hides out in a tavern run by a “priest” while his sister (a young Setsuko Hara) desperately searches for him.
  • Spaghetti Ramen – avant-garde live action/animation hybrid in which a restauranteur lusts after his wife who has become a sex worker to make ends meet.
  • Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo – a priceless pot containing a treasure map is accidentally given away and later used as a goldfish bowl by a child who is taken in by a tavern frequented by one-eyed, one-armed swordsman Tange Sazen while seemingly everyone else is desperately trying to find it.
  • Tokyo Pop – 1988 classic following a young American woman in Tokyo.

Camera Japan 2023 takes place in Rotterdam 21st to 24th September and Amsterdam 28th September to 1st October. Full information on all the films as well as ticketing links can be found on the official website and you can also keep up to date with all the latest news via Camera Japan’s official Facebook page, X (formerly known as Twitter) account, and Instagram channel.