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JAPAN CUTS returns for 2024 once again presenting a selection of the best of recent Japanese cinema at Japan Society New York from July 10 to 21. This year’s Cut Above award goes to the actor Mirai Moriyama while his Great Absence co-star Tatsuya Fuji will receive a lifetime achievement award.
Opening Film: Between the White Key and the Black Key
Opening Night Film with Director Masanori Tominaga Q&A and Reception
Surreal adaptation of the memoirs of jazz musician Hiroshi Minami starring Sosuke Ikematsu and taking place over a single night of overlapping eras in ’80s Ginza.
Centerpiece Film: Shadow of Fire
Followed by Mirai Moriyama CUT ABOVE Award presentation, Q&A with Shinya Tsukamoto and Mirai Moriyama, and Reception
The ruins of a firebombed city become a purgatorial space haunted by the tortured souls who cannot escape the traumatic wartime past in Shinya Tsukamoto’s eerie voyage through post-war Japan. Review.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Great Absence
Followed by Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation for Tatsuya Fuji, Q&A with Kei Chika-ura and Tatsuya Fuji, and Reception
A forced reconnection with his estranged father forces a young man to contemplate the great absences of life in Kei Chikaura’s poetic drama. Review.
All the Long Nights
Mismatched colleagues struggling amid contemporary corporate culture find unexpected solidarity in Sho Miyake’s gentle human drama. Review.
Blue Period
Adaptation of the manga by Tsubasa Yamaguchi in which a lost young man discovers the power of art and embarks on a quest to enter one of Japan’s most prestigious art schools.
The Box Man
Surreal adaptation of the Kobo Abe novel starring Masatoshi Nagase as a photographer living his life inside a box and Tadanobu Asano as a scientist who becomes obsessed with him.
Cha-Cha
Quirky comedy that turns unexpectedly dark as a free-spirited young woman develops a crush on a taciturn chef while simultaneously the subject of office gossip due to her ambiguous relationship with the boss.
Following the Sound
Following the sound on her cassette recorder, a young woman interacts with two troubled souls in a gentle drama from Kyoshi Sugita.
ICE CREAM FEVER
Featuring Director Tetsuya Chihara In-Person.
Adaptation of a short story by Mieko Kawakami following four young women who come together at a local ice cream shop.
KUBI
Takeshi Kitano directs and stars as Toyotomi Hideyoshi in an ironic retelling of the Honnoji Incident in which Oda Nobunaga (Ryo Kase) is betrayed by his retainers.
Kyrie
Musical drama from Shunji Iwai told over 10 years and starring AiNA THE END as a street musician who can only communicate through song.
Look Back
Adaptation of an award-winning manga in which a manga artist looks back and recalls a childhood friendship asking themselves if they would still make the same choices despite knowing the outcome.
SHIN GODZILLA: ORTHOchromatic
Black and white version of Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s landmark take on the classic kaiju franchise.
Six Singing Women
Long-awaited feature from Milocrorze: A Love Story’s Yoshimasa Ishibashi in which a Tokyo-based photographer is called back to his mountain home on the death of his estranged father.
Whale Bones
An office worker joins a dating app after his fiancée abruptly breaks up with him but the date doesn’t exactly to plan leaving to follow cryptic clues from an augmented reality influencer.
Blue Imagine
A young woman finds the strength to fight back against her mistreatment thanks to a sense of female solidarity in Urara Matsubayashi’s timely drama. Review.
Motion Picture: Choke
Dialogue-free indie drama set in a post-apocalyptic society in which one woman’s days of self-sufficiency are disrupted by the arrival of a young vagabond.
Performing KAORU’s Funeral
Darkly comic drama in which a failed actor is summoned to play the part of the chief mourner at his former wife’s funeral. Review.
Rei
Unhappy in the city, a young woman embarks on a love affair with a photographer from Hokkaido .
RETAKE
Looping summer holiday drama as a teenager working on a film with his crush gets the opportunity to “retake” some of his mistakes.
Sayonara, Girls.
A collection of teens contemplate the ghosts of youth in facing graduation from a school soon to be demolished in Shun Nakagawa’s poignant drama. Review.
August in the Water
Imported 35mm Print – Featuring Director Gakuryu Ishii In-Person.
Sogo Ishii’s ’90s masterpiece in which a female transfer student enters a higher plane of consciousness after undergoing a diving accident.
Mermaid Legend
Elegiac horror from Toshiharu Ikeda in which an ama diver plots revenge when her husband is killed after witnessing a murder.
Moving
A young girl struggles to come to terms with her parents’ impending divorce in Shinji Somai’s ethereal coming-of-age drama.
Kadono Eiko’s Colorful Life: Finding the Magic Within
Documentary focussing on the renowned author best known for Kiki’s Delivery Service.
The Making of a Japanese
Featuring Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki In-Person
Documentary focussing on Japan’s elementary school system and shot over the course of a single year.
Shunga: The Lost Japanese Erotica
Documentary focussing on the erotic artwork of the Edo era.
JAPAN CUTS 2024 runs at Japan Society New York July 10 to 21. Tickets are on sale now. Full details for all the films are available via the official website and you can also keep up with all the latest details by following the festival’s official Letterboxd, Instagram, Facebook page and X (formerly) account.
Windows on Worlds 