Camera Japan Announces Complete Programme for 2024

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Camera Japan returns for its 19th edition in Rotterdam 26th to 29th September and in Amsterdam 3rd to 6th October bringing with it another fantastic selection of the best in recent and not so recent Japanese cinema.

Feature Films

  • Afterschool Anglers Club – a bullied teen makes new friends through fishing in Hideo Jojo’s laidback drama.
  • Alien’s Daydream – surreal drama in which a jaded reporter investigates reports of alien activity.
  • All the Long Nights – mismatched colleagues struggling amid contemporary corporate culture find unexpected solidarity in Sho Miyake’s gentle human drama. Review.
  • All the Songs We Never Sang – a young woman finds herself diving into the past after receiving a less than enthusiastic welcome on visiting her mother’s island home in Chris Rudz’s gentle indie drama. Review.
  • Baby Assassins: Nice Days – the Baby Assassins try to have a nice holiday but instead find themslves facing off against a rogue hitman. Review.
  • The Box Man – those who obsess over the Box Man, become the Box Man, in Gakuryu Ishii’s adaptation of the Kobo Abe novel. Review.
  • Bushido – a stoical ronin’s peaceful life is disrupted by a face from the past in Kazuya Shiraishi’s elegantly lensed period drama. Review.
  • Confession – latest from Nobuhiro Yamashita starring Toma Ikuta and Yang Ik-june as two men hiking in memory of a late friend.
  • Desert of Namibia – a young woman struggles with the conditions of modern living.
  • Fly Me to the Saitama – From Biwa Lake with Love – Osaka is on the March in the sequel to the popular comedy. Review.
  • Great Absence – a forced reconnection with his estranged father forces a young man to contemplate the great absences of life in Kei Chikaura’s poetic drama.
  • Hoyaman – the tranquil island life of a pair of brothers is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious woman in Teruaki Shoji’s quirky comedy. Review.
  • Ichiko – when a young woman disappears, it transpires that she never existed in the first place in Akihiro Toda’s twisty psychological mystery. Review.
  • 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.
  • Let’s Go Karaoke! – an old school yakuza and high school boy find themselves fighting similar battles through the medium of Karaoke in Nobuhiro Yamashita’s zany comedy. Review.
  • The Moon – a formerly successful author struggling with personal tragedy takes a job at a care home and is shocked by what she finds in Yuya Ishii’s hard-hitting drama.
  • One Second Ahead, One Second Behind – misaligned romantics eventually rediscover a long forgotten connection in Nobuhiro Yamashita’s take on Taiwanese rom-com My Missing Valentine. Review.
  • Penalty Loop – a man trapped in a timeloop of vengeance begins to realise the fallacy of revenge in Shinji Araki’s absurdist drama. Review.
  • Promised Land – a young man takes drastic action when traditional bear hunting is called off.
  • Qualia – a timid poultry farmer’s wife begins to feel her coop’s a little cramped after unwittingly inviting her husband’s mistress to live with them in Ryo Ushimaru’s quirky family dramedy. Review.
  • Retake – a diffident teenage boy finds himself editing in real time in Kota Nakano’s movie-making summer holiday movie. Review.
  • Shin Masked Rider – Hideaki Anno’s take on the classic tokusatsu series.
  • Sin and Evil – when their friend is murdered, three teenage boys end up killing a man they assume to be responsible and then carry on with their lives only for the case to echo 20 years later.
  • Six Singing Women – a man finds himself trapped in a strange place after travelling to the mountains in the wake of his estranged father’s death in Yoshimasa Ishibashi’s surreal drama. Review.
  • Stay Mum – on returning to care for estranged father, a woman finds herself taking care of a neglected little boy in Kosai Sekine’s maternal melodrama. Review.
  • Swimming in a Sand Pool – a group of high school girls ponder the role of gender in their lives while shovelling the sand in Nobuhiro Yamashita’s charming teen comedy. Review.
  • Tatsumi – a fisherman/cleaner for a drug gang teams up with his ex-girlfriend’s sister to avenge her death.
  • Till the Day I Can Laugh about My Blues – lonely young woman bonds with a mysterious girl after being given a magic kaleidoscope.
  • Worlds Apart – a young woman goes to live with her eccentric aunt after her parents are killed in an accident in a gentle drama from Natsuki Seta.
  • Yoko – an isolated woman begins to rediscover herself while hitchhiking to her estranged father’s funeral in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri’s quietly moving road movie. Review.

Animation

Documentary

Special Screenings

  • All Mixed Up – new restoration of Yasuzo Masumura’s adaptation of the Tanizaki novel Quicksand.
  • Hoodlum Soldier – first in the series of films featuring Shintaro Katsu.
  • Kisses – Masumura’s debut feature subverts the Sun Tribe narrative for sweet and charming youth romance.
  • Nakano Spy School – drama starring Raizo Ichikawa as a recruit at Japan’s famous espionage academy.
  • The Wife’s Confession – searing drama starring Ayako Wakao as a wife accused of killing her husband. Review.

Camera Japan 2024 takes place in Rotterdam 26th to 29th September and Amsterdam 3rd to 6th 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.