PROGRAM 2

Human Comedy in Tokyo

2009/Japan/140min.
Director : Koji Fukada
Set in Tokyo, the story consists of three episodes, “White Cat,” “Photo” and “Right Arm,” which looks at solitude and the possibility of relief with a sharp and clear eye. Like Balzac’s multi-volume collection of novels, “La Comédie humaine,” “Human Comedy in Tokyo” is an interlinked movie where the leading character of one episode appears in another episode in a supporting role, surpassing a mere omnibus story or ensemble play. This is the first feature film featuring the entire cast of Seinendan. Officially selected for the Rome International Film Festival 2009 and the Festival Paris Cinema 2010. The winner of the Cine Drive 2010 Grand Prix.。

Bicycle & Music

2009/Japan/7min.
Director : Koji Fukada
A girl is practicing bicycle riding with her father. A boy who was told off for scrawling graffiti is watching the park from his apartment balcony. He starts making sounds by beating the fence of the balcony. A girl on the next veranda is also beating the fence. Another sound joins from upstairs, and more and more… “Bicycle & Music” is a short film produced in response to a request from the Dutch educational organization, Watch That Sound. Dutch children created impromptu sounds with their favorite instruments in the workshop and recorded sounds in the street for the film. The sounds created in the Netherlands are set to the pictures of Japanese children shot by Fukada, and the completed movie shows the children’s brilliant sensibility. The viewers can see a new possibility of cinematic expression through this work.

PROGRAM 4

Kids and Grownups

2010/Japan/70min.
Director : Shingo Oota
Eriko, who stars in “hospitalité,” becomes friends with Masahide and other boys living in the neighborhood of the location. Mr. Kobayashi is watching the filming from an alley, and teaches the film crew how to operate a printing machine with a gentle smile. The camera recording the making of “hospitalité” captures the irreplaceable summer of the girl, the local boys, Mr. Kobayashi, the neighbors and crew. Shingo Ota who was awarded an accolade at the Image Forum Festival 2010 for his work “Graduation” directed this inspiring portrayal of one summer’s friendship, wavering emotion and interaction of people involved in the filmmaking.