Japan Film Festival (JFF) Online 2024: 5th-19th June

Sharing the list I made for this. Initial info (duration, genres, year) are all from the JFF site below. This list will become my personal record so I'll be adding my own comments as I watch the films. Comments and corrections from others welcome. If there is enough interest, we could make a voting list too.

JFF Online 2024  Films, countries they will be available in, subtitle information and more here: https://watch.jff.jpf.go.jp/page/jffonline2024/

Not on MDL, anime - Jungle Emperor Leo, aka Kimba the White Lion - 1h 15m - Anime, Classic -1966
Jungle Emperor Leo - from the 1960s school of What were they on? animation. It's an experience. It's very violent. Theme is working together to confront enemies.

not found in MDL - listings submitted 28/5/24. Hopefully they'll be accepted. These are all award winners in Japan Horror Film Competition.
 Best Wishes to All - 11m - Horror - 2023  Grand Prize Winner
closet - 8m - Horror - 2023   New Hope Award (for possibly pioneering a new genre)
KARAKASA - 29m - Horror - 2023   Occult Award
The Invitation - 13m - Horror - 2023
https://jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2024/lineup_horror/

FILMS WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE from June 5 noon to June 19 noon (JST).
Two drama series will be available after that June 19 noon to July 3 noon, 2024 (JST).
Don't leave until last minute. I lost access earlier than expected last year.

(Discussion thread in the link under these words. Please join in with your thoughts and comments.)

Elisheva mag 28, 2024
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  • Twenty-Four Eyes

    1. Twenty-Four Eyes

    Japanese Movie - 1954

    10

    2h 36m - Classic, Drama - 1954

    Melodrama that's also very real - anti-war and proto-feminist - from the Golden Age of Japanese Cinema, over-flowing with both love and sorrow.

    This is available in a few places outside the Festival. Well worth seeking out if you didn't get around to it here.

  • Sen Wa Boku o Kaku

    2. Sen Wa Boku o Kaku

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    9.0

    1hr 46 m - Art, Coming of Age, Drama - 2022

    The lines of this film shift from delicate to joyful to bold to struggle to fulfilling, embodying the ethos of its story of finding your own lines in art and traditional forms, the ones rooted in your own emotions and the life in them.

  • Single8

    3. Single8

    Japanese Movie - 2023

    10

    1 hr 53 m  - Coming of Age, Drama, SF - 2023

    Another youth film focused on creativity, a visual art and finding your own voice. High school students work together, with the help of a uni film student and a history teacher, pushing themselves, their skills and ingenuity to make a short science fiction film with meaning.
    It's left me with a big smile ?

  • Ginga Tetsudo no Chichi

    4. Ginga Tetsudo no Chichi

    Japanese Movie - 2023

    10

    2h 8m - Biography, Drama, Family - 2023

    Beautiful, poetic melodrama depicting a romanticised and idealised life of an idealistic young man who, after his death, became one of Japan's most loved poets and writers.

  • The Edge of Metamorphosis

    5. The Edge of Metamorphosis

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    10

    1h 58m - BL, Drama, LGBTQ+ -2022

    A simple story of friendship, creativity and hope delightfully told. The elderly woman is a joy and the young girl, full of dreams and fears, is too.

  • Freckles

    6. Freckles

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    10

    1h 44m - Drama, LGBTQ+ - 2022

    Aroace woman coping in a world where that's not understood. Striking was two characters in particular who, rather than listening to her when she told them, insisted on redefining her into their world views. It's an often lonely film, although she's rarely alone. Or at least it felt that way to me. She did have a supportive friend who was lovely.

  • My Broken Mariko

    7. My Broken Mariko

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    10

    1h 25m - Drama, Road Movie, Sisterhood - 2022

    intense, difficult but light amongst the dark, and very very good

  • Twelve Months to Eat Soil

    8. Twelve Months to Eat Soil

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    8.0

    1h 51m - Drama, Food, Japanese Culture - 2022

    Food, nature, living with the seasons and environment, and a 60 year old man dealing with grief and his fear of his own death. Also, the shallowness of relative 'privilege'. Overall, contemplative and contented.

  • Hanataba Mitaina Koi o Shita

    9. Hanataba Mitaina Koi o Shita

    Japanese Movie - 2021

    10

    2hr 4m - Drama, Romance - 2021

    One of the most equal relationships I've seen. There's something else I want to compliment it on but that would be a spoiler.
    All in all, it's an excellent film. Solid writing and acting so natural I managed to forget I was watching a film during some of it. Oh right, this isn't happening. If someone said, "I'm willing to watch one het love story this year" this is one of two I'd suggest.

  • Ume Kiranu Baka

    10. Ume Kiranu Baka

    Japanese Movie - 2021

    10

    1h 17m - Drama, Family - 2021

    Very well done and highly recommended. About acceptance of difference and problems caused by those quick to judge.

  • I Go Gaga, My Dear

    11. I Go Gaga, My Dear

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    1h 41m - Documentary, Family - 2022

    I've never made it through a Japanese documentary. Their style (and hey, it works for them so this isn't a complaint) feels drawn out and repetitious for me, with a very fine grain on attention to small details. I regret not giving everyone involved the respect of finishing, but I learn more about the world and its people by watching some and then, moving on isn't quite the right word because I do think about what I've learned after.

  • Baby Walkure

    12. Baby Walkure

    Japanese Movie - 2021

    1hr 35 m - Action, Comedy, Coming of Age - 2021

    Gave up after 50 minutes, the hyper-violence was too much and while I can see what they're doing in contrasting it with the girls' nonchalance, it's not how I want to spend my time. Sort of like a first-person shooter meets psychopathic baby Slackers.

  • Damashie no Kiba

    13. Damashie no Kiba

    Japanese Movie - 2021

    8.0

    1h 53m - Business, Drama, Mystery - 2021

    Well made but I don't get on with business settings and the artificial constructions of the corporate world. Kudos for a resourceful female protagonist fighting for her values and her character's message of choosing what standards to update and what to discard as society changes.

  • Daimyo Tosan

    14. Daimyo Tosan

    Japanese Movie - 2023

    7.5

    2h 0m - Comedy, Period Drama - 2023

    Fast-paced, silly with a good heart and only a bit of the laughing-at not -with side of Japanese humour.

  • School Meals Time Graduation

    15. School Meals Time Graduation

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    7.5

    1h 44m - Comedy, Drama, Food - 2022

    Physical comedy in the vein of Jerry Lewis or Jim Carey with a very straight face which morphs into something which runs Serious Film tropes over a tongue in cheek situation with an underlying serious message about not taking things so seriously. Plus food.

  • Handsome Suit

    16. Handsome Suit

    Japanese Movie - 2008

    1h 55m - Comedy, Drama, Romance - 2008

    Kept waiting for it to shift modes but it wasn't doing that so I gave up. Probably has a good message about looking beyond appearances, but the first hour is built around humour that puts people down for their appearance.

  • Haken Anime!

    17. Haken Anime!

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    7.5

    2 hr 8m - Anime, Business, Drama - 2022

    Not sure what to make of this. On the one hand, I feel like there must be a lot I didn't understand. But then I'm not sure it was really in there. Didn't get on with the first hour at all. Business pressure + ratings competition = could not care less. The whys which eventually emerged from the FL were poignant, but scant and cliched. Endings of the animes were moving, some of that was from the stories, some from music & reactions of those watching. Acting was excellent.

  • Wedding High

    18. Wedding High

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    7.5

    1h 57m - Business, Comedy, Drama - 2022

    Sometimes endearing comedy with a kitchen sink plot of several people's stories touched on before it dances away again. It's over full but does tie things together and is ultimately heartfelt.

  • Karakasa

    19. Karakasa

    Japanese Movie - 2023

    8.0

    Professional quality short horror

  • Closet

    20. Closet

    Japanese Movie - 2024

    7.5

    horror short The simplest of the three shortest and probably my favourite.

  • The Invitation

    21. The Invitation

    Japanese Movie - 2023

    8.0

    horror, short  Best Regards to All is technically better, but the ending of The Invitation makes it more complete as a short IMO.

    Glad I watched this in the afternoon :) Amongst other things, got a jump scare from the sound. Was using headphones and it was Right There :D

  • Best Wishes to All

    22. Best Wishes to All

    Japanese Movie - 2023

    6.0

    horror short  Technically good, but it felt very incomplete, more like a trailer than a short film. Interesting tension between apparent innocence and very much not, but it didn't really go anywhere.

  • Shitamachi Rocket

    23. Shitamachi Rocket

    Japanese Drama - 2015, 10 episodes

    10 episode drama, Business
    Available via JFF Online AFTER the films June 19 noon – July 3 noon, 2024 (JST)

    Episode 1 was a lot of earnest shouting from men. Same screenwriter and director as Rikuoh and that wore me out so I won't continue with Rocket.

  • Rikuo

    24. Rikuo

    Japanese Drama - 2017, 10 episodes

    7.0

    10 episode drama, business, sports
    Available via JFF Online AFTER the films June 19 noon – July 3 noon, 2024 (JST)

    Optimistic enough to keep me going through much of it, although eps 7-9 were a struggle to get through what with corporate greed needlessly ruining the quality of our real lives. And even though it all worked out for them because fiction, it's all worn me out and I need to get back to things which help my mental health rather than depleting me.

    So not for me.

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