Details about the Singapore Japanese Film Festival 2019

The Singapore Japanese Film Festival 2019 will be held between 18 Jan and 10 Feb 2019 which straddles across the Chinese New Year holidays. However, most of the screenings are in January while there are two "outlier" sessions for the classics in February.

There are also some changes compared to past editions. For example, the commercial films are shown at Shaw Lido this time while the short films and classics will be shown at *SCAPE Gallery and The Projector respectively unlike in the past few years when the Gallery Theatre at National Museum was the primary venue. I actually like the Gallery Theatre for the convenience of its location and the vibe of the place but I guess having a commercial cinema support this film festival will be good especially in terms of the graphics and audio quality in presenting these films.

Do check out the schedule here so that you can plan ahead before ticket sales open from 3 Jan 2019. However, ticket prices have not been announced yet and it's still not clear if the presalewill be done on the respective venue's website or on the film festival's website. And in Shaw Lido's case, it's also unknown whether they will be using bigger or smaller halls for these screenings and if it will be free seating as per in the past.

If you wish to find out more about the films in the contemporary category (some of them have been featured on this blog before), you can click the title tags at the bottom of this post.

In case you are curious, here are the films which I am considering to watch. I probably may not be able to watch everything especially that screening on a Wednesday evening so will have to give some serious thought on what to catch based on my schedule. I usually limit my selection to 3 so I still have some time to consider before tickets go on sale.

Opening Film: Camera wo tomeru na! - NC16
This film was featured during the Singapore International Film Festival where the sole screening was sold out. As such, if you missed this before, you may want to catch it this time where there are two screenings. The opening film screening at 9pm on 18 Jan (Fri) will feature a post-Q&A with the director who will be here. I'm not sure if the director will appear at the other screening on the following day at 3.20pm though.

Sanposuru Shinryakusha - PG13 - 19 Jan (Sat) at 9.30pm
Cast: Nagasawa Masami, Matsuda Ryuuhei, Takasugi Mahiro, Tsunematsu Yuri, Maeda Atsuko, Mitsushima Shinnosuke, Kojima Kazuya, Mitsuishi Ken, Higashide Masahiro, Koizumi Kyoko, Sasano Takashi & Hasegawa Hiroki

Inori no maku ga orirutoki - PG - 20 Jan (Sun) at 7pm
Cast: Abe Hiroshi, Matsushima Nanako, Mizobata Junpei, Tanaka Rena, Kimura Midoriko, Iitoyo Marie, An, Kagawa Teruyuki, Oikawa Mitsuhiro, Ito Ran, Kohinata Fumiyo & Yamazaki Tsutomu etc.

Suteki na Dynamite Scandal - R21 - 23 Jan (Wed) at 6.45pm
Cast: Emoto Tasuku, Maeda Atsuko, Miura Touko, Mineta Kazunobu, Matsushige Yutaka, Murakami Jun & Ono Machiko

Ikiterudake de, Ai - NC16 - 26 Jan (Sat) - 4.30pm
Cast: Shuri, Suda Masaki, Tanaka Tetsushi, Nishida Naomi and Matsushige Yutaka

What are the films you would be interested in watching from this year's film festival? How about sharing your choices with me?

Actually, at first glance, I think the selection this year is pretty impressive so you should be able to find something of interest. In the past, the film festival tended to give the impression that the chosen films were rather indie which attracted a niche audience. Credit ought to be given to the organisers especially seen from the selection of very new movies (some even shown within the same year in Japan) and getting a mix of films with commercial appeal vs. those which tend to be more on the artistic side to attract a wider audience.

If you happen to be in Singapore in January, do support this film festival if you can by watching these movies.

Winners of the 72nd Mainichi Film Awards (2017)

Grand Prix Award - Japanese Movies:  HANAGTAMI

Excellence Award - Japanese Movies: Aa, Kouya

Best Foreign Movie: I, Daniel Blake

Best Leading Actor: Suda Masaki (Aa, Kouya)

Best Leading Actress: Nagasawa Masami (Sanposuru Shinryakusha)

Best Supporting Actor: Yakusho Koji (Sandome no Satsujin)

Best Supporting Actress: Tanaka Rena (Osanako warera ni umare)

Sponichi Grand Prix Male Newcomer: Takasugi Mahiro (Sanposuru Shinryakusha)

Sponichi Grand Prix Female Newcomer: Itou Aoi (Shimajima Kaisha)

Winners of the 91st Kinema Junpo Best Ten & Individual Awards (2017)

Top 10 Japanese movies
1) Yozora wa itsudemo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da
2) HANAGATAMI
3) Aa, Kouya Parts 1 & 2
4) Osanako warera ni umare
5) Sanposuru Shinryakusha
6) Bangkok Nites
7) Kanojo no jinsei wa machigai janai
8) Sandome no Satsujin
9) Kanojo ga sono na wo shiranai toritachi
10) Karera ga honki de amu toki wa

Top 10 foreign movies
1) I, Daniel Blake
2) Paterson
3) Manchester By The Sea
4) Dunkirk
5) The Woman Who Left
6) Silence
7) The Other Side of Hope
8) Hidden Figures
9) Moonlight
10) La La Land

Best Leading Actor: Suda Masaki (Aa, Kouya / Hibana / Teiichi no Kuni / Kiseki - Ano hi no sobito)

Best Leading Actress: Aoi Yu (Kanojo ga sono na wo shiranai toritachi)

Best Supporting Actor: Yang Ik-Joon (Aa, Kouya)

Best Supporting Actress: Tanaka Rena (Osanako warera ni umare)

Best Male Newcomer: Yamada Ryosuke (Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki / Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi)

Best Female Newcomer: Ishibashi Shizuka (Yozora wa itsudemo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da / PARKS / Misshi to bannin)

Best Director: Obayashi Nobuhiko (Yozora wa itsudemo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da)

Best Scriptwriter: Ishii Yuuya (Yozora wa itsudemo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da)

Best Foreign Director: Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake)

Source: Kinema Junpo

Winners of the 9th TAMA Movie Awards (2017)

Best Movie
- Sanposuru Shinryakusha
- Eiga Yozora wa itsudemo saikou mitsudo no aoiro da

Special Award
- Director Yuasa Masaaki & the staff of the movies "Yoru wa mijikashi arukeyo otome" & "Yoake tsugeru ruu no uta"
- Director Tomita Katsuya & the staff of the movie "Bangkok Nites"

First-day-screening event of new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha" was held at Shinjuku Picadilly on 9 September which was attended by the director Kurosawa Kiyoshi and cast members Nagasawa Masami, Matsuda Ryuhei, Hasegawa Hiroki, Takasugi Mahiro and Tsunematsu Yuri. The movie is adapted by Kurosawa from the same-titled 2015 stage play from theatre group Ikiume. Matsuda plays the role of Kase Shinji who has the habit of going on daily walks every evening but disappears without a trace for a few days. When he returns home, it is as if he has become an entirely different person which makes his wife Narumi (Nagasawa) shocked at his changes especially when he becomes very gentle and nice to her. Suddenly, Shinji tells Narumi that there will be an attack on Earth which is then followed by a series of strange happenings such as the mass killing of a family in the town they live in and the happening of weird events that disrupts the peaceful life they once had. Hasegawa Hiroki plays the role of a journalist Sakurai who follows the "invader" around as part of his job.

With regard to working with Nagasawa for the first time, Kurosawa revealed that he wasn't sure what to make of her responses whenever he gave her instructions during the filming. Most people would usually say yes or show their dislike for being told what to do but Nagasawa had a long pause before she said yes each time and her facial expressions didn't show how she felt about it so Kurosawa wasn't sure what to make of it. In response, Nagasawa said that the pause was because she was thinking about and digesting what had been said to her.

As for Matsuda, Kurosawa revealed that when he first met the actor, he didn't give very specific instructions on how to play an alien and that there were no specific characteristics in the role. When he asked Matsuda if he was OK and knew what to do, the latter simply smiled and replied in the affirmative. It turned out that Matsuda did a brilliant job in playing his character so Kurosawa was very satisfied with his performance.

Hasegawa who admitted to being a big fan of Kurosawa, said that he talked to the director a lot about his past works to the extent that he worried if Kurosawa found him to be a nuisance. The director said that it was rare for him to engage in casual talk on the filming set because he usually has a lot to think about during the filming which led Hasegawa to apologise for being an over-zealous fan.

The movie will be taking part in the 22nd Busan International Film Festival's The window of Asian movies category as announced during the event.

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 9th & 10th Sep 2017

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Dunkirk (346)

2) Sandome no satsujin (313)

3) Sekigahara (338)

4) Despicable Me 3 (359)

5) Wonder Woman (338)

6) HIGH&LOW THE MOVIE 2 END OF SKY (314)

7) Kimi no suizou wo tabetai (319)

8) Uchiage hanabi, shita kara miruka? Yoko kara miruka? (298)

9) Spider-Man: Homecoming (355)

10) Sanposuru Shinryakusha (181)

Source: Eiga.com

Completion screening event of new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha"

The completion screening event of new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha" was held at Marunouchi Picadilly on 8 August which was attended by the director Kurosawa Kiyoshi, original play's writer Maekawa Tomohiro and cast members Nagsawa Masami, Matsuda Ryuhei, Hasegawa Hiroki, Takasugi Mahiro, Tsunematsu Yuri, Maeda Atsuko, Mitsushima Shinnosuke, Kojima Kazuya and Mitsuishi Ken. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 9 September.

Matsuda plays the role of Kase Shinji who has the habit of going on daily walks every evening but disappears without a trace for a few days. When he returns home, it is as if he has become an entirely different person which makes his wife Narumi (Nagasawa) shocked at his changes especially when he becomes very gentle and nice to her. Suddenly, Shinji tells Narumi that there will be an attack on Earth which is then followed by a series of strange happenings such as the mass killing of a family in the town they live in and the happening of weird events that disrupts the peaceful life they once had. Hasegawa plays the role of a journalist Sakurai who follows the "invader" around as part of his job.

The tickets for the event were snapped up in a mere 15 seconds which led Nagasawa to express her joy at the support shown for their movie. Maekawa remarked that when they staged the play 12 years ago, only 100 people came to the small underground theatre in Shinjuku so he was especially touched to see so many people here to watch the movie. Kurosawa also commented that when he first had the idea of making the play into a movie about 8 years ago, there was a lot of trial and error along the way before they could finally make this movie so he expressed confidence at the outcome which was thanks to their strong conviction in seeing this through.

Nagasawa commented that as her character Narumi is angry throughout most of the movie, she needed a lot of energy to play this character. In response, Matsuda who plays Shinji, the person she's always angry at, remarked that she was so frightening that he could actually immerse himself into playing his character .

In line of the movie's theme of how the aliens are trying to rob the human beings of their character traits, Mitsushima commented that he would like to take away Matsuda's calmness and see how the latter would behave like if he loses his cool. Especially since they did the filming in summer and had to wear leather jackets, he could not understand why Matsuda appeared unaffected by the heat. On the other hand, Matsuda revealed that he's actually experiencing a lot of emotions within which don't get conveyed to other people despite his cool facade.

Source: Eiga.com

Kaho, Sometani Shota & Higashide Masahiro to star in spin-off drama from new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha"

Kaho, Sometani Shota and Higashide Masahiro will be starring in the spin-off drama from new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha" starring Nagasawa Masami and Matsuda Ryuhei which is due to be shown in cinemas from 9 September. The spin-off drama titled "Yochou Sanposuru Shinryakusa" (Omen The strolling invader) consists of 4 episodes and will be shown on WOWOW from 18 September at 12 midnight on Mondays after it gets released on WOWOW members on demand first from 7 September at midnight. It will be directed by Kurosawa Kiyoshi who also directed the movie version.

The story describes how Yamagiwa Etsuko (Kaho) brings her colleague Asai Miyuki (Kishii Yukino) to the hospital where her husband Tatsuo (Sometani) works at after Miyuki tells her that there is a ghost in her house. However, when Etsuko pays a visit to Miyuki's place, she finds his father to be the only person with her. Miyuki is then diagnosed with a psychological deficiency in her mental concept of a family. Just then, Etsuko also meets a new surgeon Makabe Shiro (Higashide) at the hospital and finds him strange for some reason. When explainable things start happening around Etsuko and Tatsuo is stressed psychologically for some reason, she starts to suspect Makabe for having a part to play in this especially after he tells her that he is here to invade Earth. Co-stars also include Nakamura Eriko, Yasui Junpei, Ishibashi Kei, Yoshioka Mutsuo, Otsuka Hirota, Chiba Tetsuya, Suwa Taro, Watanabe Makiko, Nakamura Makoto and Oosugi Ren.

Kaho commented that she was troubled over how to play Etsuko who has a strong faith but with the help of everyone around her, she was able to enjoy the filming to the fullest. Sometani revealed that he had not seen the final product yet but hopes that this drama will be an evergreen work which can be watched for a long time and repeatedly. As for Higashide, he expressed his joy at being able to work under director Kurosawa in this drama.

The movie version features Matsuda as Kase Shinji who has the habit of going on daily walks every evening but disappears without a trace for a few days. When he returns home, it is as if he has become an entirely different person which makes his wife Narumi (Nagasawa) shocked at his changes especially when he becomes very gentle and nice to her. Suddenly, Shinji tells Narumi that there will be an attack on Earth which is then followed by a series of strange happenings such as the mass killing of a family in the town they live in and the happening of weird events that disrupts the peaceful life they once had. Hasegawa Hiroki plays the role of a journalist Sakurai who follows the "invader" around as part of his job. Higashide also appears in the movie version.

Sources: Eiga.com / Oricon

Matsuda Ryuhei & Hasegawa Hiroki attends screening of their movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha" at Cannes Film Festival

Matsuda Ryuhei and Hasegawa Hiroki attended the red carpet event and official screening of their new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha" held at the Cannes Film Festival on 21 May along with the film's director Kurosawa Kiyoshi. The movie is scheduled to be shown in Japan from 9 September.

Prior to the event, the trio were interviewed by the media where Hasegawa commented that it was a miracle that he could attend this since he could only spend 24 hours at Cannes (arrived at 10am on 21 May and scheduled to leave at 10am the following day) before rushing back to Japan for the filming of his ongoing TBS Spring 2017 drama "Chiisana Kyojin". He revealed that his co-star in the drama Kagawa Teruyuki also encouraged him to attend the screening despite the tight schedule especially since Kagawa himself had gone to Cannes before with Kurosawa for the movie "Tokyo Sonata". Although Kagawa suggested to Hasegawa to check out the review of the movie in the papers the following morning, Hasegawa said wryly that he wouldn't be able to read it in time since he had to take the flight home in the early morning after the screening and continue with the drama's filming in the afternoon of 23 May. As for his memories of Cannes, Hasegawa said that he passed by the city 18 years ago while on a solo private trip to Nice in March and caught a cold at that time. On the other hand, this was Matsuda's second visit to the festival following his first trip for his debut movie "Gohatto" in 1999. Unfortunately, Nagasawa Masami who plays his wife in the movie, was unable to join them on this trip due to scheduling conflicts.

During the screening attended by 1,000 people, the actors greeted the audience in French. As the movie also touched on the theme of love between a married couple, Matsuda who was rumoured to be having problems with his wife Ota Rina earlier this year, was asked if he had thoughts about this topic after acting in the movie. Although he did not give any details, Matsuda said that the story did provide some food for thought. The actors were also pleased to see the audience clapping and shouting "Bravo!" at the end of the screening and vowed to return to the film festival again.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo 1 / Sponichi 1 / Sanspo 2 / Sponichi 2 / Eiga.com

Supporting cast line-up of new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha" announced

The supporting cast line-up of new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha" starring Nagasawa Masami & Matsuda Ryuhei has been announced. The movie is adapted by the director Kurosawa Kiyoshi from the same-titled 2015 stage play from theatre group Ikiume. Matsuda plays the role of Kase Shinji who has the habit of going on daily walks every evening but disappears without a trace for a few days. When he returns home, it is as if he has become an entirely different person which makes his wife Narumi shocked at his changes especially when he becomes very gentle and nice to her. Suddenly, Shinji tells Narumi that there will be an attack on Earth which is then followed by a series of strange happenings such as the mass killing of a family in the town they live in and the happening of weird events that disrupts the peaceful life they once had. Hasegawa Hiroki plays the role of a journalist Sakurai who follows the "invader" around as part of his job.

Maeda Atsuko will play Narumi's younger sister Asumi while Mitsushima Shinnosuke will be a hikkikomori young man Nanao who Shinji encounters while on his daily walks. Higashide Masahiro plays a pastor who Shinji meets while Unjash's Kojima Kazuya plays a police detective Kurumada investigating the mass killing case. Mitsuishi Ken plays Suzuki, the president of a company which has business dealings with Narumi, Koizumi Kyoko plays a doctor and Sasano Takashi plays a mysterious man Shinagawa.

The movie will be shown in cinemas from 9 September.

Source: Eiga.com

Takasugi Mahiro to appear in new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha"

Takasugi Mahiro will be appearing in the new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha" (The strolling invader) starring Nagasawa Masami, Matsuda Ryuhei and Hasegawa Hiroki which is adapted by the director Kurosawa Kiyoshi from the same-titled 2015 stage play from theatre group Ikiume.

Matsuda plays the role of Kase Shinji who has the habit of going on daily walks every evening but disappears without a trace for a few days. When he returns home, it is as if he has become an entirely different person which makes his wife Narumi shocked at his changes especially when he becomes very gentle and nice to her. Suddenly, Shinji tells Narumi that there will be an attack on Earth which is then followed by a series of strange happenings such as the mass killing of a family in the town they live in and the happening of weird events that disrupts the peaceful life they once had. Hasegawa plays the role of a journalist Sakurai who follows the "invader" around as part of his job. Takasugi plays the role of a mysterious young man Amano who Sakurai meets during the course of work and is actually the 2nd invader and partner of the first invader who takes over Shinji's body.


Although Takasugi is usually known for his cheerful and clean image in his works so far, the character of Amano in this movie was difficult to play because he had to show the ordinary exterior of Amano with a totally different inner world. However, he managed to proceed with the filming successfully with the help of the director.

The movie will be shown in cinemas from 16 September.

Sources: Eiga.com / Modelpress

Nagasawa Masami, Matsuda Ryuhei & Hasegawa Hiroki star in new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha"

Nagasawa Masami, Matsuda Ryuhei and Hasegawa Hiroki will be starring in the new movie "Sanposuru Shinryakusha" (The strolling invader) which is adapted by the director Kurosawa Kiyoshi from the same-titled 2015 stage play from theatre group Ikiume.

Matsuda plays the role of Kase Shinji who has the habit of going on daily walks every evening but disappears without a trace for a few days. When he returns home, it is as if he has become an entirely different person which makes his wife Narumi shocked at his changes especially when he becomes very gentle and nice to her. Suddenly, Shinji tells Narumi that there will be an attack on Earth which is then followed by a series of strange happenings such as the mass killing of a family in the town they live in and the happening of weird events that disrupts the peaceful life they once had. Hasegawa plays the role of a journalist Sakurai who follows the "invader" around as part of his job.

Nagasawa who was impressed with the script, expressed deep interest in the movie and commented that she can identify with Narumi's feelings as a woman and hopes to be able to convey the love she has for Shinji as a family. Matsuda said that he is thankful for Nagasawa's efforts and revealed that Shinji was a tough character to play as he was angry all the time and it has been a long time since he felt giddy every day on set due to the emotional rollercoaster he had to go through. As the presence of the invader poses a threat to the relationship between Narumi and Shinji which was already shaky before his disappearance, Matsuda commented that he had to show how Shinji tries to make things work again between them and show the difference between the original Shinji and the invader's characters. As there are many elements in this movie, he thinks that it will be an interesting film which will attract people of varying tastes.

Hasegawa revealed that before the filming, the director had told him to forget about his past roles so as to act in a new way for Sakurai. Besides the romance element, the friendship between men is also something to look out for in this movie.

Filming was done over a month from late July. The movie will be shown in cinemas from 16 September 2017.

Sources: Sanspo / Eiga.com