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JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL
SEPTEMBER 24–26 / FREE
Join us for a Japanese Film Festival inspired by kimono and themes from the first half of the 20th century. Guest lecturer Bob Shelton, Professor of Film Studies at Birmingham-Southern College, will introduce the films and share insightful background information.
GATE OF HELL (JIGOKUMON)
FRIDAY · SEPTEMBER 24 · 6:00 PM 1953 / 86 MINUTES / WINNER, ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST FOREIGN FILM, 1954 / GRAND PRIX, CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, 1954 / DIRECTED BY TEINOSUKE KINUGASA
This exciting, colorful epic details the doomed love between a soldier and a married noblewoman in 12th-century feudal Japan. The film is lauded as one of the best examples of Japanese color photography of the 1950s.
SISTERS OF THE GION (GION NO SHIMAI) SATURDAY · SEPTEMBER 25 · 11:30 AM
1936 / 95 MINUTES / WINNER, BEST FILM, KINEMA JUNPO AWARDS, 1937 / DIRECTED BY KENJI MIZOGUCHI
Sisters of the Gion follows the parallel paths of the independent, unsentimental Omocha and her sister, the more tradition-minded Umekichi, both geishas in the working-class district of Gion. Mizoguchi’s film is a brilliantly shot, uncompromising look at the forces that keep many women at the bottom rung of the social ladder.
LIFE OF OHARU (SAIKAKU ICHIDAI ONNA) SATURDAY · SEPTEMBER 25 · 1:45 PM
1952 / 133 MINUTES / WINNER, INTERNATIONAL AWARD, VENCE FILM FESTIVAL, 1952 / DIRECTED BY KENJI MIZOGUCHI
This dramatic film examines one woman’s harsh life in Japan’s feudal society. Kinuyo Tanaka stars as Oharu, a lady-in-waiting who refuses to live outside her moral code. She eventually shames her family by loving a peasant, which leads to their exile and a sorrowful life of forced prostitution for Oharu.
FLOATING WEEDS (UKIKUSA)
SATURDAY · SEPTEMBER 25 · 4:30 PM 1959 / 119 MINUTES / DIRECTED BY YASUJIRO OZU
Shot in color by Kazuo Miyagawa, Floating Weeds was chosen by Roger Ebert as one of his top ten films of all time! This postwar remake of the original silent drama begins with a troupe of traveling players arriving at a seaport in the south of Japan.
KAGEMUSHA
SUNDAY · SEPTEMBER 26 · 12:00 PM 1980 / 162 MINUTES / WINNER, GOLDEN PALM AWARD, CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, 1981 / DIRECTED BY AKIRA KUROSAWA
In this sprawling epic, a petty thief in feudal Japan impersonates a recently killed warlord, and he begins to take on the fiery drive of his predecessor as he leads his clan into battle.
THE MAKIOKA SISTERS (SASAME-YUKI)
SUNDAY · SEPTEMBER 26 · 3:30 PM 1983 / 140 MINUTES / NOMINATED FOR WINS IN EIGHT CATEGORIES OF THE AWARDS OF THE JAPANESE ACADEMY, 1984 / DIRECTED BY KON ICHIKAWA
The third of three films based on the serial novel of the same name by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki. Set just before World War II, this film chronicles the experiences of four upper- class Osaka sisters, two of them married. We see the shifting political and social scene through their eyes.
VISIT OUR FRIENDS AT SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND TOO! Birmingham’s own nationally recognized film festival takes over downtown once a year to screen more than 160 films in some of the city’s coolest venues. In addition to the films, there will be networking events, master classes, educational workshops and tons of killer parties! New to Sidewalk this year is a video art show curated by J.D. Conley.
The Sidewalk Film Festival takes place September 24–26 in downtown Birmingham. Find out all you need to know about this don’t-miss event at Sidewalkfest. com. |