Japan Visits The Main: Frankfurt Becomes A Hotspot Of Japanese Cinema & Culture

The complete program of the 25th Nippon Connection Film Festival

The program of the 25th Nippon Connection Film Festival is complete! From May 27 to June 1, the world's largest platform for Japanese film will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in Frankfurt am Main, offering six days of immersion in Japan's film and cultural scene. Around 100 short and feature-length films will be screened at ten venues, including 67 premieres of current Japanese films. In addition, over 60 filmmakers and artists from Japan will travel to Frankfurt am Main to present their works to the public. Around 70 cultural events and a free Japanese market with various food and craft stalls round off the program. Detailed information and tickets for all films and events are available at NipponConnection.com. 

This year's film selection presents a diverse cross-section of current Japanese cinema. The Nippon Connection Film Festival will open on May 27 at 7:00 p.m. at the Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm with Tetsu Maeda’s comedy 90 Years Old – So What? about a successful retired author who is persuaded to make an unexpected comeback. Junichi Yasuda's charming time travel comedy A Samurai In Time also promises good entertainment and has already delighted audiences across Japan. Coming-of-age film My Sunshine by Hiroshi Okuyama and the sensitive drama SUPER HAPPY FOREVER by Kohei Igarashi are two critically acclaimed dramas that will be shown as German premieres. In addition, genre films, such as Morito Inoue's ludicrous trash gem Hotspring SharkAttack and the short film program Nippon Shorts: Seeking the Bizarre, are once again represented in the program. In the Nippon Animation section, the festival is bringing In This (And Other) Corners Of The World by Sunao Katabuchi and the Japanese Academy Award-winning drama Look Back by Kiyotaka Oshiyama back to the big screen. With Modest Heroes, the animation studio Studio Ponoc presents three varied short films. Multifaceted documentaries shed light on the culture of the indigenous people of northern Japan in Ainu Puri by Takeshi Fukunaga, the world of Japanese theater in Floating Weed by Mohamed Ghanem, and the dying craft of textile dyeing in Shades Of Indigo by Shigeru Yoshida. Thematically, the festival program revolves around Obsessions – From Passion To Madness, dealing with various forms of obsession. The thematic focus is supported by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain. 

To mark its 25th anniversary, Nippon Connection is presenting a talk on the history of the festival as well as an exhibition by artist Robert J. Klings with watercolor sketches that recall many pink tinted moments at Nippon Connection. In addition, film critic and author Dr. Jasper Sharp will give a lecture on the most important works of Japanese cinema of the last 25 years. The retrospective Turning Point – Japanese Cinema Of The 90s is dedicated to an important decade in Japanese film history that inspired the founding of Nippon Connection. Films such as Takashi Miike's apocalyptic action thriller Dead Or Alive, Hideaki Anno's feature film debut LOVE & POP, and Hirokazu Koreeda's poetic drama Maborosi will be shown at the cinema of the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum.

The guest of honor at the 25th Nippon Connection Film Festival is art director and background artist Kosuke Hayashi who will be presented with the Nippon Rising Star Award (sponsored by KYOCERA Document Solutions). In an in-depth discussion with gallery owner Stefan Riekeles, he will provide an insight into his creative work. Other prominent Japanese filmmakers expected to attend include Nobuhiro Yamashita (Ghost Cat Anzu / Hazy Life), Toshiaki Toyoda (Transcending Dimensions / Pornostar), Natsuki Seta (Worlds Apart), Kenichi Ugana (The Gesuidouz / We Are Aliens), Go Koga (The Birth Of Kitaro: The Mystery Of GeGeGe), Sora Hokimoto (BAUS: The Ship's Voyage Continues), Mai Sakai (CHA-CHA), and Hiroshi Okuyama (My Sunshine).

Japanese culture can be experienced up close as part of the festival's diverse culture program. Concerts by the internationally successful duo CHARAN-PO-RANTAN, girl rock band ЯeaL, jazz ensemble KOKO Trio, renowned pianist Takuma Ishii, and the singer NILO offer a wide range of music from classical to J-pop and rock. In a special event, Hamburg's Mario Kart Liveband will accompany the legendary video game on the big screen, performing iconic tunes. Free open-air events in front of the NAXOS production house, including short concerts, live painting with artist Kozue Kodama, and radio gymnastics, invite you to linger at the festival location. This year, visitors will once again be able to participate in plenty of workshops: from Japanese paper weaving and painting Noh masks, to manga drawing and sewing lucky charms. Of course, the popular tastings and cooking courses are also not to be missed. Exciting lectures will focus on translating Japanese literature and travel tips for northern Japan. A tour of the German Pavilion will also be livestreamed on the occasion of EXPO 2025 in Osaka. The Nippon Kids program offers numerous activities for young visitors, such as a greeting card design workshop with artist Kozue Kodama, a cooking class for Japanese sweets, and a screening of the puppet animation film Komaneko –A New Journey– by Tsuneo Goda.

The events and film screenings will take place in the two festival venues Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm and Produktionshaus NAXOS as well as in eight other venues: Cinéma Arthouse Kino, Kino des DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Mal Seh'n Kino, Pupille – Kino in der Uni, Internationales Theater Frankfurt, Saalbau Bornheim, NaxosAtelier, and NAXOS Galerie.

The complete program and tickets are available on the festival website NipponConnection.com.
 

Further Information About The Film Program

Visually stunning arthouse cinema

From dramas and romances to comedies, Japan's filmmakers prove their narrative and creative skills time and again and this is particularly evident in arthouse productions. Based on true events, BAUS: The Ship's Voyage Continues by Sora Hokimoto tells the story of the legendary Tokyo cinema “Kichijoji Baus Theater”, which closed its doors in 2014 after 30 successful years. The director will attend the European premiere of the film in person. At the festival, director Dai Sako is celebrating the world premiere of his film PRINCIPAL EXAMINATION, in which he paints a multi-layered yet lighthearted portrait of the Japanese school system with plenty of humor, offering a few surprises along the way. Teki Cometh by Daihachi Yoshida revolves around a retired literature professor who, in the tranquility of retirement, is gripped by an ever-deepening fear of a mysterious enemy. Joy and sadness, romance and tragedy lie very close together in Akiko Oku's atmospheric adaptation of the novel She Taught Me Serendipity, which features a cast of outstanding young actors. Director Yukihiro Morigaki is also represented in the program with a literary adaptation. His sarcastic thriller-comedy Rude To Love is a claustrophobic psychogram of a woman facing the ruins of her marriage.

Captivating genre films – focus on Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Japanese genre cinema is also strongly represented at this year's festival. Among others, Nippon Connection is presenting four films by influential director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who received the Nippon Honor Award at the 2016 festival. His latest psychological thriller CLOUD develops from a soberly observant drama with thriller elements into a portrait of an absurd world on the brink of collapse. The program also includes Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Japanese-French remake of his 1998 thriller of the same name SERPENT'S PATH. Both versions will be shown at the festival. As part of the retrospective, his 1999 drama Charisma will also be screened again, with Koji Yakusho in the leading role. With an enigmatic, metaphorical narrative style, the film is considered one of cult director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's masterpieces.

Independent films from Japan

In the Nippon Visions section, the festival is showing exciting, independently produced films, including Takuro Ijichi's drama VICISSITUDE, a sensitive portrait of the realities of youth life in Japan, characterized by conformity and competitive pressure. The director will be on site for the European premiere of the film. In Ryota Kondo's subtle horror film Missing Child Videotape, a young man tries to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of his brother. The feature film debut celebrates its European premiere at the festival in the presence of the director. In his tragicomic episodic film We Are Aliens, indie director Kenichi Ugana reminds us not to lose faith in the goodness of humanity, even in dark times. Ugana will also present his eccentric punk comedy The Gesuidouz at the festival. Yukiko a.k.a. by Naoya Kusaba revolves around primary school teacher Yukiko, who counters her fear and insecurity with a passion for hip-hop and rap. In addition to numerous feature films, Nippon Connection is also showing several short film programs by promising young talents.

Touching documentaries

The Nippon Docs section once again features many powerful documentaries. The festival will open in the NAXOS Cinema on May 27 with the film New Nemuro Pro Wrestling Story by Hiroshi Minato. With charm and empathy, the filmmaker tells an amazing underdog story that is guaranteed to touch even those who have never had any connection to the sport of wrestling. Director Ryo Takebayashi will personally present his documentary A Big Home about a Japanese children's home in person at Nippon Connection at its German premiere. In her deeply moving film Being Kazue, Hiroko Kumagai portrays the life of Kazue Miyazaki, who suffers from leprosy but never loses her willpower. The director will be present at the international premiere.

80 years after the war

To mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, a panel discussion presented by media partner hr INFO will focus on the artistic treatment of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The festival will also screen Shinya Tsukamoto's anti-war drama Shadow Of Fire and the Hiroshi Inagaki’s 1943 classic The Rickshaw Man, accompanied by the documentary Wheels Of Fate: The Story Of The Rickshaw Man by Ema Ryan Yamazaki, which places Inagaki's work in a historical context.

International jury and competitions

At the Nippon Connection Film Festival, two jury prizes will be awarded in the Nippon Visions section. This year's members of the international jury are the renowned director Natsuki Seta, who is presenting her new film Worlds Apart in the main Nippon Cinema program, Thomas Waldner from the Film Verleih Gruppe in Zurich, and the Greek film critic Panos Kotzathanasis. The jury will present the 15th Nippon Visions Jury Award for the best film in the Nippon Visions section; the winner will have one of their films subtitled for free, courtesy of the Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (JVTA) from Tokyo. For the second time, the jury will also present the Nippon Storytelling Award for the best screenplay, sponsored by the Storymaker Agency for Public Relations and endowed with EUR 1,000. The audience can choose the winning films in three sections: Frankfurt-based Bankhaus Metzler is donating the Nippon Cinema Award for the 20th time, which is endowed with EUR 4,000. The eleventh Nippon Visions Audience Award is sponsored by the Japanese Culture and Language Center in Frankfurt am Main and is endowed with EUR 2,000. In addition, the festival is sponsoring the sixth Nippon Docs Award for the best documentary film with prize money of EUR 2,000.
 

About The Festival

The Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection is organized by the approximately 100-member, largely voluntary team of the non-profit association Nippon Connection e.V.  It is under the patronage of Hessian State Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and the Arts Timon Gremmels, Mayor of the City of Frankfurt am Main Mike Josef, and the Consulate General of Japan in Frankfurt am Main. Since its founding in 2000, Nippon Connection has become the world’s largest platform for Japanese cinema and the most popular film festival in Hesse with around 19,000 visitors in 2024.