Japan Film Festival

The Embassy of Japan in the Slovak Republic is pleased to invite you to the Japanese Film Festival, which will be held from 30 January to 2 February at the Mladost Cinema.

The festival is organized as part of the activities and efforts aimed at deepening interest in Japan and understanding of its culture by Slovaks in Bratislava (30 January – 2 February 2025) and Košice (13-14 February 2025).

Organised in cooperation with the Japan Foundation, the festival will offer a showcase of four contemporary Japanese films.

All films will be screened in Japanese with English as well as Slovak subtitles.

Programme:

BRATISLAVA:

30 January at 19:30 We Make Antiques!

31 January at 19:30 Awake

1 February at 7:30 p.m. Nosari: Impermanent Eternity

2 February  at 7:30 p.m. After the Sunset

KOSICE:

13 February at 6:00 p.m. We Make Antiques!

13 February  at 8:15 p.m. Awake

14 February at 6:00 p.m. Nosari: Impermanent Eternity

14 February  at 8:30 p.m. After the Sunset

1. We Make Antiques!

Japan, 2018, comedy, 110 min.
Masaharu Take
Starring. Nakai, K. Sasaki, A. Morikawa, Tomochika and others

As a rule, old tea bowls are of little value, but all it takes is a certificate of origin to skyrocket their price to astronomical heights. The madcap story of two lifelong misers, the merchant Norio and the potter Sasuke and their families, brings us to the town of Sakai, near Osaka. Norio is buying up tea cups from the estate, hoping to one day find a valuable piece whose owner has no idea of its worth. But unfortunately in this business, even a renowned appraiser and expert can cheat a man. The two castaways realize they have a common enemy and a diabolical plan for revenge with interest is born in their minds. One day, a lost teacup from Master Sen no Rikyu himself “turns up”. The technique of workmanship is appropriate to the period and the bowl is accompanied by a letter. If it were truly genuine, its value would be difficult to quantify…

2. Nosari: Impermanent Eternity

Japan, 2020, drama, 129 min.
Directed by Tatsuya Yamamoto
Kisetsu Fujiwara, Chisako Hara, Akira Emoto, Ken Yoshizawa and others

“Hi Grandma, it’s me. I need to borrow some money…’ A young con man travels through Japan and lures old gullible people out of their savings. Grandma Tsuyako, however, will not be the next victim of a widespread trick by Japanese swindlers. She is lonely, but not helpless. And so she invites the “long unseen” fake grandson, Shota, to her home. He, despite initial resistance, must help her. He repays him with a kindness he has never experienced before in his life… This nostalgic film portrays many problems of contemporary Japanese society in a humanly friendly way.

3. Awake

Japan, 2020, drama / sports, 120 min.
Directed by Acuhiro Yamada
Ryo Yoshizawa, Ryuya Wakaba, Motoki Ochiai, Fumika Baba and others

Eiichi doesn’t have too many friends. In an attempt to fit in, Eichi starts attending the school’s Japanese shogi chess club. But shogi is not just for fun. They teach children strategies, respect for their opponents, and how to accept defeat. His arch rival becomes Riku, who aspires to be the leader in his category. Unable to beat him for years, Eiichi gives up the shogi game. His passion for the game returns, however, when the opportunity arises to create a computer program that could one day beat even a professional player. The film depicts a thrilling duel between two different characters. The battle between a genius shogi player and a man who, although he did not become a professional, discovered the meaning of his life in programming. In these worlds, losing doesn’t mean the end, but motivates to perform better.

4. After the Sunset

Japan, 2019, drama, 133 min.
Directed by Michio Koshikawa
Shihori Kanjiya, Maho Yamada, Masaru
Nagai, Satoru Kawaguchi, Midori Kiuchi and others

Life in the fishing town of Nagashima seems quite idyllic. Handsome Akane has been working as a waitress in a restaurant for a year, inventing activities for local children, but no one knows why she moved here from Tokyo. Sacuki helps her husband, as do most of the local fishermen’s wives, and, with the support of her grandmother, raises the little boy, Towu, who has been entrusted to their care. When, after several years, they are finally ready for adoption, the boy’s birth mother expresses interest in him. This shatters Sacuki’s dream of a real, functioning family, which she had been trying to create for her son. At the same time, she doesn’t at all entertain the possibility of Towa walking away with the woman who abandoned him all those years ago. This emotionally powerful social drama about the conflict between a biological mother and a woman whose child has called her mom for practically his entire life asks insidious questions. Which of the women is the “real” mother to the child?

All films will be screened in Japanese with English as well as Slovak subtitles.

Organizers: Foundation in cooperation with Mladost (Bioscop) cinema in Bratislava and Úsmev cinema in Košice

Bratislava:

Place: cinema MLADOSŤ, Hviezdoslavovo nám. 17, Bratislava
Date: 30 January – 2 February 2025
Start: always at 7:30 p.m.

Košice:

Venue. Cinema ÚSMEV, Kasárenské nám. 1, Košice
Date: 13 – 14 February 2025
Admission: free of charge

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