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Japan Society New York and ACA Cinema Project will present Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux from February 15 to 24, a series focussing on the changing nature of the family in Japanese society.
February 15, 7pm: Still Walking
Family divisions, secrets, and prejudices are brought to the surface as a family gathers for the memorial service for their eldest son who was killed trying to save a child from drowning in Koreeda’s classic family drama. Review.
February 16, 7pm: Tsugaru Lacquer Girl
A young woman’s desire to take over her family’s traditional lacquerware business is frustrated by outdated social codes and a narrow definition of the traditional all while the art of lacquerware itself faces extinction in Keiko Tsuruoka’s gentle drama. Review
February 18, 4pm: Hoyaman
Island-set comedy featuring ramen, superheroes and tsunamis in which two brothers encounter a mysterious artist.
February 18, 7pm: Tokyo Sonata
Kiyoshi Kuroawa’s tale of urban hopelessness in which a family faces separate and parallel extential crises as a stereotypical salaryman is unceremoniously made redundant.
February 22, 7pm: Yoko (Screening at IFC Center)
Moving roadtrip drama from Kazuyoshi Kumakiri starring Rinko Kikuchi as an isolated middle-aged woman who begins to rediscover herself while hitchhiking to her estranged father’s funeral.
February 23, 7pm: Her Love Boils Bathwater
Introduced by filmmaker Ryota Nakano and followed by a Q&A and reception
Poignant maternal drama in which a mother receives a terminal cancer diagnosis and secretly begins trying to repair her family and prepare it for a world without her all while saving the family bathhouse. Review.
February 24, 4pm: A Long Goodbye
Touching drama in which a family attempt to cope with their father’s Alzheimer’s as he, a former headmaster, slowly loses the ability to read. Review.
February 24, 7pm: The Asadas
Introduced by filmmaker Ryota Nakano and followed by a Talk Session.
Drama inspired by the life of photographer Masashi Asada who made a name for himself taking amusing photos of his family before getting involved with the relief effort after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami helping other families recover the photographs and precious memories they had lost.
Classics
February 17, 4pm: Muddy River
2K restoration
Quietly devastating coming-of-age tale set in the early 1950s in which a little boy befriends a pair of children living on a ramshackle barge. Review.
February 17, 7pm: Tokyo Twilight
35mm Presentation.
Ozu’s darkest drama follows the fortunes of a pair of sisters abandoned by their mother, one of whom contends with an abusive marriage while the other encounters an unexpected pregnancy. Review.
Family Portrait: Japanese Family in Flux runs Feb. 15 to 24 at Japan Society New York (with the exception of Yoko which screens at ICF Center). Full details for all the films along with ticketing links are available via the official website and you can also keep up with all the latest details by following the festival’s official Facebook page and X (formerly Twitter) account.
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