Press Release May 06, 2024


  ¼   Press

The program of the 24th Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection is complete! From May 28 to June 2, the festival offers the opportunity to delve into Japan's film and cultural scene. The festival presents around 100 short and feature-length films at eight venues, including numerous premieres. Over 60 filmmakers and artists will travel from Japan to Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to present their works to the audience. At the freely accessible grounds of the festival centers Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm and Produktionshaus NAXOS, visitors can enjoy the festival atmosphere with a large Japanese market featuring numerous food and craft stands. Detailed information and tickets for all films and events are available at NipponConnection.com.

This year's film selection promises exciting discoveries. Fans of genre films can enjoy Shinji Araki's acclaimed time-loop thriller Penalty Loop, Kaz I Kiriya’s apocalyptic drama From The End Of The World, and Shimako Sato's action-packed fantasy adventure The Yin Yang Master Zero. Multi-layered entertainment is guaranteed in Naoko Ogigami's biting comedy Ripples, Akihiro Toda's twist-filled psycho-thriller Ichiko, and Ryutaro Ninomiya's understated drama Dreaming In Between, which already garnered praise at the Cannes Film Festival. Particular highlights of the animation film program include the European premiere of Totto-Chan: The Little Girl At The Window by Shinnosuke Yakuwa, set in Japan shortly before the outbreak of World War II, and the German premiere of the time travel anime The Tunnel To Summer, The Exit Of Goodbyes by Tomohisa Taguchi. A wide range of documentary films shed light on multifaceted topics such as mental illness in Tomoaki Fujino's What Should We Have Done?, the dark side of Japan's colonial rule in Sungwoong Kim's Arirang Rhapsody, and Japanese art in Hiroshi Sunairi's FROM OKINAWA WITH LOVE about renowned photographer Mao Ishikawa as well in SHUNGA: The Lost Japanese Erotica by Junko Hirata.

The focus on the relationship between Japanese cinema and the world outside Japan is set by the theme Crossing Borders, funded by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain. In addition to current co-productions that represent the mutual influence and collaboration of filmmakers, the retrospective showcases seven classics of Japanese film noir, which was influenced by American crime films and German film expressionism. These include Yasujiro Ozu's early work Dragnet Girl, with live piano accompaniment by silent film musician Günter A. Buchwald, as well as Yoshitaro Nomura's crime drama Stakeout and Akira Kurosawa's thriller The Bad Sleep Well.

The guest of honor at the 24th Nippon Connection Film Festival is actress Kotone Furukawa, who will receive the Nippon Rising Star Award. Additionally, numerous other prominent Japanese filmmakers are expected to attend, including Hideki Takeuchi (Fly Me To The Saitama -FROM BIWA LAKE WITH LOVE-), Naoko Ogigami (Ripples), Keisuke Yoshida (missing, God Seeks In Return), and Shinji Araki (Penalty Loop).

For a journey of artistic and culinary discovery through Japan, the festival offers around 60 cultural events, inviting visitors to explore various aspects of Japanese culture. A diverse range of concerts featuring traditional and experimental sounds by singer Ai Higuchi, the band SAMURAI APARTMENT, Taiko drummer TAKUYA, Shakuhachi player Tony Clark, and Okinawan music duo jujumo are included in the program as well as workshops on Taiko drumming, sugar figure crafting, and bag dyeing. In addition, visitors can look forward to exciting lectures on Japanese writers Kenzaburo Oe and Yukio Mishima, manga translation, and German-Japanese films of the 1980s, as well as various tastings. The Nippon Kids program offers numerous activities for young visitors, such as aikido, manga, and origami workshops. 

Further Information On The Film Program

Thematic Focus Crossing Borders

The thematic focus Crossing Borders presents many documentaries that are either co-productions or were directed by international filmmakers in Japan. The BBC documentary Predator: The Secret Scandal Of J-Pop by Megumi Inman deals with the abuse scandal surrounding the Japanese boy band talent agency Johnny & Associates. Ema Ryan Yamazaki presents her international co-production The Making Of A Japanese, which portrays the education of Japanese elementary school children. With AUM: The Cult At The End Of The World, Ben Braun and Chiaki Yanagimoto investigate the origins and consequences of the Aum Shinrikyo cult's sarin gas attack in 1995. The screening of Arnold Fanck’s 1937 feature film Die Tochter des Samurai (The Daughter of the Samurai), considered one of the first German-Japanese co-productions, is a historic rarity. Dr. Iris Haukamp from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies will give an introductory lecture at the DFF cinema.

Sensitive Dramas And Captivating Comedies

From gender roles and family dynamics to value and generational conflicts, Japanese filmmakers address a broad range of social issues. Director Yoshiyuki Kishi questions societal taboos, deviations from norms, and boundaries of tolerance in (Ab)normal Desire. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's YOKO tells the compelling journey of an introverted woman trying to reach her father's funeral in time by hitchhiking. The sensitively told drama All The Long Nights by Sho Miyake, which had its international premiere at this year's Berlinale to critical acclaim, follows two outsiders seeking a new place in society. With God Seeks In Return, director and festival guest Keisuke Yoshida achieves an entertaining mix of romantic comedy, love drama, media satire, and thriller in his story about an awkward YouTuber and an event manager. The festival also presents his media-critical drama missing. Mitsuhiro Mihara's Takano Tofu tells the heartwarming story of an unlikely father-daughter duo and their jointly operated tofu shop.

Japanese Genre Cinema

Genre films are also back in the program. Yoshiki Matsumoto's award-winning debut film Alien’s Daydream is a self-deprecating science fiction comedy with the finest DIY aesthetics. In their documentary The J-Horror Virus, Sarah Appleton and Jasper Sharp delve into Japanese horror films of the 1990s. As a special screening, the two British filmmakers also present the horror film classic Psychic Vision: Jaganrei by Teruyoshi Ishii. The legendary cult event Nippon Heimkino, with genre film experts Marcus Stiglegger and Kai Naumann, once again presents a gem of Japanese trash cinema with live commentary.

Independent Films From Japan

In the Nippon Visions section, the festival showcases not only major film productions but also exciting independently produced films, including Kahori Higashi's humorous episodic film Belonging, which will have its world premiere at Nippon Connection in the presence of the director. Atsuro Shimoyashiro has created a charming detective story full of endearing characters with Lonesome Vacation. In Hijacked Youth – Dare To Stop Us 2, Junichi Inoue tells an episode from the life of cult director Koji Wakamatsu. Several short film programs present the works of promising young talent.

International Jury And Awards

At the Nippon Connection Film Festival, two jury awards are presented. Members of the Nippon Visions jury this year include internationally acclaimed director Naoko Ogigami, whose new film Ripples will be screened at the festival, Kristina Aschenbrennerova, curator of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, as well as film critic, curator, and film scholar Daniel Kothenschulte. The jury will award the 14th Nippon Visions Jury Award for the best film in the Nippon Visions section. The winner will receive a free film subtitling provided by the Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (JVTA) in Tokyo. Additionally, the jury will award the new Nippon Storytelling Award for the best screenplay, sponsored by the Storymaker Agency for Public Relations and endowed with €1,000. In three sections, the audience can choose the winning films: For the 19th time, the Metzler Bank in Frankfurt, which celebrates its 350th anniversary this year, is sponsoring the Nippon Cinema Award and has increased the prize money to €4,000. The tenth Nippon Visions Audience Award is sponsored by the Japanese Cultural and Language Center in Frankfurt am Main and has been endowed with €2,000. Additionally, the festival is sponsoring the fifth Nippon Docs Award for the best documentary film with a prize of €2,000.

Program And Tickets

The complete program and tickets are available on the festival website

Event Locations

Festival Centers: Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm and Produktionshaus NAXOS
Additional venues in Frankfurt am Main: Cinéma Arthouse Kino, cinema of the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Mal Seh’n Kino, Internationales Theater Frankfurt, Saalbau Bornheim, NaxosAtelie

Partner Hotels

Hotel partners offer special conditions for a stay during the festival.

About The Festival

The Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection is organized by the 80-member, largely voluntary team of the non-profit association Nippon Connection e.V. It is under the patronage of the Hessian State Minister for Science and Research, Arts and Culture, Timon Gremmels, the 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 more than 18,500 visitors in 2023

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