Balancing Art and Entertainment

For Ando, maintaining a balance between artistic ambition and accessibility is one of the festival’s defining challenges.

“If we put too much emphasis on the artistic side, people stay away,” he explained. “Only a limited number of people will come. But if we switch to the other end, the artistic community will think this is not a serious film festival. They’ll ask, ‘Why should we come here when we can watch entertainment films in theaters?’”

The solution, he says, lies in carefully calibrating the programme.

“You have to strike a balance between the two,” Ando said. “My programming director and I are constantly in dialogue about maintaining that balance. But even if you achieve it, there is another question: are the films good or bad? Ensuring that all the films are good films is the real challenge. It’s easy to say, but difficult to do.”

That philosophy has helped make TIFF a festival with broad appeal. When the festival closed with Godzilla Minus One, audiences had the chance to see the blockbuster long before it reached the rest of the world, underscoring how the festival caters to both cinephiles and mainstream audiences.

The Ethical Film Award and the SDG Vision

One of TIFF’s most distinctive initiatives is its Ethical Film Award, which celebrates films addressing pressing global issues.

For Ando, the award is rooted in a broader philosophical framework inspired by the United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“The award is related to the concept of the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said. “It’s not exactly the same, but it’s very similar. The purpose behind those objectives is very important to us.”

The SDGs recognise that social progress, economic growth, and environmental protection are interconnected, and Ando believes these ideas should influence the way film festivals operate.

“This is connected to how we manage the entire festival,” he said. “We would like to continue making this programme one of the central pillars of TIFF.”

A Moving Target

Measuring success for a festival of TIFF’s scale is surprisingly elusive.

“It’s difficult,” Ando admitted. “You cannot imagine the final destination.”

He described his tenure as a constantly shifting pursuit.

“When I first came in, the goal was in one place. When I got close to it, I moved it further. And then when I got close again, I moved it again. The goal keeps shifting.”

For Ando, that constant movement is both a challenge and a motivation.

“The more successful TIFF gets, the more things I want to do.”

The Strength of Theatrical Cinema in Japan

While cinemas in many countries are still struggling to recover from the pandemic, Japan’s theatrical landscape appears comparatively healthy.

“In Japan, more and more people are going to theaters,” Ando said. “Japanese cinema is doing well and revenues are increasing.”

He noted that the success of domestic films has been particularly striking.

“Every year, Japanese movies outperform Hollywood.”

This stands in contrast to some international festivals adjusting their focus toward streaming platforms. Ando pointed to the Busan International Film Festival as an example of a festival increasingly embracing streaming.

“But in our case, we are still pursuing theatrical,” he said. “The film business here is still doing well.”

For TIFF, that commitment remains central to its identity: celebrating cinema as a communal experience while continuing to evolve alongside the industry.

We spoke to festival chairman Hiroyasu Ando at this year’s edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

The post Striking the Balance: Tokyo International Film Festival Chairman Hiroyasu Ando on Cinema, Sustainability, and the Future of Film appeared first on Goggler.

For the 2025 edition, actress, singer, and filmmaker Elaiza Ikeda served as Jury President, leading a panel that evaluated three nominated films drawn from the festival’s lineup. Together, they selected a winner based on the award’s guiding principle of promoting “thoughts and actions that empathize with people, society, and the environment.” I spoke with Ikeda about the responsibility of judging films through an ethical lens, the personal connections that shape how audiences interpret cinema, and why storytelling remains one of the most powerful ways to spark empathy.

Umapagan Ampikaipakan: In your comment about the award, you said it was more than just a cinematic evaluation and described it as a “hope and declaration for the future.” What kind of change do you hope films like these can inspire?

Elaiza Ikeda: Working both as an actor and a director, I know how difficult it is to create a film. There is always the financial challenge, but beyond that there is the time that so many people give to a project. Everyone involved in a film is dedicating a part of their life to making it happen.

Naturally, we want as many people as possible to see the films we work on. As a jury member, what I wanted was to create a place where people could discover these films.

It’s not simply about a film winning an award or about me recommending something. It’s about creating a trigger. Maybe someone happens to come across a film by chance and thinks, “I just stumbled upon this.” That kind of encounter can be very meaningful.

UA: When evaluating these films through an ethical lens, what were you looking for first?

Elaiza Ikeda: When I watched the films, I thought a lot about how social issues are not separate from our personal lives. What happens in society always resonates with us individually. It’s similar to voting in elections. People don’t vote simply because they are told it will make the world better. They vote because something affects them personally — because something is missing or something matters to them.

So when we discussed the films as a jury, I suggested that we shouldn’t judge them purely from a political perspective. Instead, we should view them on a personal and intimate level. From there, an ethical perspective naturally emerges.

UA: Given that you were looking at the films on a personal level, were you also evaluating their artistic and cinematic qualities?

Elaiza Ikeda: Of course. All three films were excellent works of cinema.

If you imagine a chart that evaluates creativity, artistic quality, and storytelling, all of these films would score very highly. But each of us connected with the films in different ways. For example, there was one protagonist I personally found difficult to relate to because she never asked for help, and I didn’t fully understand that choice. But some of the other jury members related to her very strongly. It made me realize that maybe, as adults, we sometimes feel we have to be strong and handle everything ourselves. But perhaps we’re simply not very good at asking for help. One jury member pointed out that sometimes it’s not about refusing help. Life just becomes so busy that we don’t even pause to reflect on our problems. And eventually we end up resolving them on our own.

UA: Was it difficult to find common ground when evaluating films from such different cultures and countries?

Elaiza Ikeda: Yes, it was challenging. The films were very different, so there wasn’t an obvious common ground between them. But perhaps the one thing they shared was the effort behind them. A film only exists because many people come together to create it. Everyone involved is dedicating a part of their life to the project. As a director myself, I understand how exhausting that process can be. Sometimes you feel like you might fade away from fatigue. So maybe the common ground is the human effort and dedication that goes into filmmaking.

UA: You’ve worked across so many creative fields—you’re an actress, singer, model, and director. How have those experiences shaped your perspective on storytelling and the ethical dimension of cinema?

Elaiza Ikeda: I think it comes from my personality. When I was a child, if I discovered something delicious, I would immediately want my mother to try it. I would say, “Mom, you have to taste this.” She would sometimes say, “Why don’t you just enjoy it yourself?” But I always wanted to share it.

Storytelling is similar. When you discover something meaningful, you want to share it with others.

At the same time, I’ve experienced difficult moments in my life. Those experiences helped me develop empathy. Because of that, I feel like I can connect with people and reach out to them.

That’s probably why I enjoy working as an artist—someone who expresses things. I don’t know if I’m particularly good at it, but I enjoy doing it, and I want to communicate hope through my work.

UA: This award is quite unique because the jury members are students. What was it like working with young people? Did they surprise you?

Elaiza Ikeda: Actually, they were incredibly mature and thoughtful. I didn’t feel much of an age gap between us during the discussions. What surprised me more was how they related to certain characters and stories. Many of them attend very prestigious universities, so they come from very elite academic environments. Meanwhile, I only graduated from junior high school. So it was interesting for me to hear their perspectives. Those different viewpoints made the conversations richer and more meaningful.

We spoke to Ethical Film Award Jury President Elaiza Ikeda at this year’s edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

The post Elaiza Ikeda on Cinema, Empathy, and the Ethical Power of Film appeared first on Goggler.

Sister’s Apart

Language: German
Genre: Drama

Daphne Charizani’s film tells the story of Rojda, a Kurd soldier in the German military who volunteers to train female Kurdish soldiers in Iraq to fight ISIS. Rojda however has an ulterior motive and a secret that must not be discovered.

Gods of Molenbeek

Language: French
Genre: Documentary

While Molenbeek may seem to be the jihadi capital of Europe to some, but to Aatos and Amine, it’s just home. The two boys spend their time discussing the big things in life, like Aatos’ search for a God to compete with Amine’s Allah, listening to spiders, and finding black holes. This is a documentary about the innocence of children and how we can all learn to look at things without the distracting colours of life.

Madly In Life

Language: French
Genre: Drama, Comedy

What do you do when life answers your prayers, but only just kind of. Alex and Noémie are ready for a child, however when Alex’s mother contracts a neurodegenerative disease and goes from Suzanne the mother to Suzanne the unmanageable child, the couple have to learn how to turn the lemon into lemonade. A beautiful artistic look at the way relationships can shift, change, and evolve.

Goodwill Dumping

Language: Dutch
Genre: Documentary

A stylised and surrealist look at the afterlife of all our clothes. As fast fashion becomes more and more synonymous with our lives, what happens to all that discarded waste? Is donating your used t-shirts and trousers really best for the environment and everyone involved? Is that really the solution? Or are we just moving the problem from over here, to over there?

Doctor on Call

Language: Italian
Genre: Comedy

What do you get when a doctor with terrible bedside manners and a food delivery rider get into an accident that puts both their jobs at risk? Well you get tele-medicine at it’s purest form! Pierfrancesco can’t drive, and Mario’s bicycle is broken so they combine forces to use the former’s medical training and the latter’s able body to make house calls and attend to medical emergencies. Hilarity ensues!

The European Film Festival 2022 will be held at three GSC locations in the Klang Valley from the November 3 to 13, and from November 10 to 16 in Penang. Head over to GSC’s website to learn more about the festival, the other films being screened, as well as specific screening dates for each film.

The post The European Film Festival 2022 Is Here and These Are Our Top 5 Picks appeared first on Goggler.

On the face of it, Under the Open Sky tells the story of an ex-convict who tries to readjust to the outside world after being released from prison. Dig a little deeper, however, and you will find an incredible number of stories that reflect how we are as a society. I have to admit that it took me a couple of days after watching the film before I could actually put my thoughts and feelings about it into words. Writer/director Miwa Nishikawa left such an impact on me with this piece that I needed time to process everything that this movie is.

So here you have it. My attempt at putting down my thoughts, in as coherent a manner as I am capable.

You Can Run but You Can’t Hide

The narrative here centers on the struggle of former Yakuza member Misao Mikami (Kōji Yakusho) as he navigates his way in today’s world, after having spent 13 years in prison. From the moment he is released, he faces challenges with aspects of life that we simply take for granted: finding a home, an honest job, his next meal, all while still suffering a blood pressure condition which could end badly for him.

Now this, my fellow cinephiles, is where the reflections came in.

Our knee-jerk to judge those around us, without digging deeper, without knowing anything about who they are or what they’ve been through, has become a global pastime. It’s become a spectator sport. We take joy in other people’s misfortune. We like, and comment, and share their pain. It is something that rings true in Mikami’s journey in Under the Open Sky.

Every step of the way, he is constantly faced with rejection from the world simply by having the label “convict” thrust upon him. No matter how much he tries to change or reform his life, everyone he meets immediately looks down on him because of his past. It broke my heart. Because it was happening to him. And because it was happening to so many people all around us.

Life’s a Bitch and Then We Die

In one particular moment in the movie, Mukami is sat next to a BBQ pit with the two people who are documenting his life for a television programme. Their purpose is to educate viewers about the struggles of ex-convicts (which, let’s face it, is a reflection of what the entire movie is about). It’s then when one of them says: “Society today is extremely cruel to people who step off the path. One mistake and you’re essentially condemned.” It was a moment that hit way too close to home.

Why are we so cruel? Why are we so quick to turn our backs on people for one mistake? Yes, there are exceptions to the rule, depending on the severity of crime, but as a society that takes pride in helping those in need, why does there need to be a criteria of who we help? When a life in crime treats a man with more respect than his fellow countrymen and women do, you know something has gone disastrously wrong.

Be Kind, Rewind

But I digress. Actor Kōji Yakusho has delivered, in my opinion, an award-winning performance. Throughout his journey, you can feel every moment of joy and heartbreak that befalls him. So much so that you just want to reach through your screen and help the poor man (and scream at those who aren’t!). His weary face, holding back the tears caused by the injustice of the world, when all he wants is to move on with his life and become a new man, demonstrates a perfectly restrained performance.

There is still so much to say, but alas, I don’t know where to begin and when to stop. But if there’s one thing I can leave you with to encourage you to watch this film, it’s this. This is a story about humanity. A story about acceptance and rejection. How, at the end of the day, no matter how hopeless it may seem, no matter how insignificant you feel, each and every person has an impact, big and small, on their fellow human beings. Yes, we need to be responsible for our actions, but the world too needs to learn to be more forgiving. So be kind ladies and gentlemen. It doesn’t take much, but it makes the world of difference to those who need it.

Under the Open Sky is available to watch as part of the JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE 2022. Click here to find out more about the festival, what movies you can watch, and how to watch them.

The post Under the Open Sky Will Leave You Thinking Long After the Credits Have Stopped appeared first on Goggler.

Bermula pada 14hb Februari 2022, JFF Online 2022 akan menayangkan 20 filem Jepun, merentasi pelbagai genre, daripada drama ke thrillers, komedi, dokumentari dan animasi. Tayangan adalah secara PERCUMA dan disertakan dengan sari kata Bahasa Melayu!

JFF ONLINE 2022 akan berlangsung selama 2 minggu dari 14hb sehingga 28hb Februari dan apa yang anda cuma perlu lakukan untuk menonton filem-filem ini adalah dengan mendaftar di laman web festival, layari link di bawah dan ikuti 3 langkah mudah:

THE JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE 2022 WEBSITE

Cari HOW TO REGISTER. Kemudian, klik butang REGISTER NOW. Anda akan dibawa ke halaman JFF+.

Klik Watch yang tertera di bahagian atas laman web.

Kemudian, klik butang LOGIN di bahagian atas laman web.

Lengkapkan borang pendaftaran untuk memulakan akaun sendiri, dan anda sudah bersedia untuk menonton filem- filem di JFFOnline 2022.

Ada Lagi!

The Japan Foundation juga akan menganjurkan acara online menerusi laman Facebook dan Youtube rasmi, “Jom ke JFF ONLINE” pada 17hb Februari. Pelakon Sharifah Amani dan Sherry Alhadad akan menyertai sesi ini dan berkongsi  filem-filem  kegemaran mereka dari senarai filem yang akan ditayangkan di JFFOnline 2022.

Bagi anda yang fasih berbahasa Jepun, atau yang sedang mempelajari bahasa Jepun, kuiz “Nihongo” akan dianjurkan sepanjang festival ini dan pelbagai hadiah menarik mungkin menjadi milik anda.

Senarai Pendek Filem-Filem JFF ONLINE Pilihan Goggler

Kami faham. Untuk menonton 20 filem memang mencabar. Banyak sangat pilihan. Nak start kat mana? Walaupun kami menggalakkan anda menonton kesemua filem filem yang bakal ditayangkan,,namun, masa merupakan suatu yang bukan semua miliki (maklumlah, masa itu emas, ye tak?) Untuk membantu anda, kami telah menyenaraikan 5 filem yang kami di Goggler amat nanti-nantikan.

1. RASHOMON

Rashomon! Filem karya pengarah filem lagenda, Akira Kurosawa merungkai misteri pembunuhan seorang samurai daripada kacamata beberapa watak. Segala sanjungan yang telah diberikan  ke atas filem ini sememangnya membuktikan kepentingan filem ini di dalam sejarah perfileman dunia. Semestinya, Rashomon adalah tontonan wajib.

2. SUMODO ~ The Successors of Samurai ~

Dokumentari dari Pengarah Eiji Sakata memperkenalkan dunia sumo kepada penonton; pendekatan secara lebih mendalam mengenai kehidupan seharian dua pengamal sumo selama 6 bulan untuk mencapai kemuncak pertandingan Sumo.

3. THE GOD OF RAMEN

Dokumentari mengenai seorang chef ramen yang terkenal? YA! The God of Ramen adalah sebuah dokumentari karya Takashi Innami yang meyingkap kehidupan seorang chef di sebuah kedai ramen termasyhur di Jepun.

4. MIO’S COOKBOOK

Filem filem period Jepun telah lama bertapak di dalam dunia perfileman dan filem arahan Haruki Kadokawa mengisahkan tentang seorang chef muda dan pengembaraannya untuk bersatu semula dengan kawan akrabnya.

5. THE CHEF OF SOUTH POLAR

Filem komedi yang mengisahkan perjalanan pahit manis kehidupan Nishimura, seorang ketua chef yang telah ditugaskan ke sebuah pusat penyelidikan di Antartika. Di kala persekitaran yang sangat mencabar,  satu-satunya pekara yang menguatkan semangat mereka adalah makanan. Sayangnya… ramen dah habis!

Bukan Itu Sahaja!

Enam belas lagi judul filem yang boleh ditonton sepanjang festival ini boleh didapat di sini. Jangan lupa mendaftarkan diri untuk menonton kesemua filem secara percuma!

Kerja Penterjemahan Oleh: Amira Dayana Rahman dan Kumar Chandra

Baca review Rashomon kami di sini.

PESTA FILEM JEPUN ONLINE 2022 anjuran Japan Foundation berlangsung dari 14hb sehingga 28hb Februari. Kongsikan bersama kami filem-filem yang anda nanti-nantikan. Email kami di podcast@goggler.my, atau hubungi kami melalui Facebook, Twitter, atau Instagram. Anda juga boleh menghantar mesej WhatsApp di talian Goggler di +60125245208.

The post JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE 2022 (Edisi Bahasa Melayu) appeared first on Goggler.

But then Rashomon won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. It was given an honorary Oscar for being the most outstanding foreign language film released in the United States in 1951 (there wasn’t a category for Best Foreign Language Film until 1956). It broke box office records for a subtitled movie. It opened up Japanese cinema to the world. Even the word “Rashomon” has become a part of our cinematic lexicon as there is no other expression in the English language that best describes the narrative style of the movie.

Great movies last. Some of them end up as fascinating relics. Filmic artifacts that give us an insight into our past. Others, like Rashomon, become more and more relevant with each passing year.

Umapagan Ampikaipakan: Watching Rashomon again in 2022 was something of a jarring experience for me. I have seen the movie many times before, but for some reason, this was the first time I realised just how modern it was. Or maybe that’s just reflective of how timeless the message of the movie is.

Bahir Yeusuff: My biggest takeaway from this rewatch is how our experience of Roshomon evolves over time. The thing that I just realised is how Kurosawa has made us a big part of this movie by placing us in the position of judge and jury. We don’t know what is happening. We have to decide which version of the story we believe. Because Kurosawa doesn’t give this movie an ending. Well, he does, but he also doesn’t resolve the case at the centre of this story. Kurosawa tells us the story, shows us the different versions of the case that’s being argued, and lets us decide which one works best.

A lot has been said about Kurosawa’s camera work (he was allegedly the first person to point the camera up at the sun!), his manipulation of background and foreground elements, and his use of movement, but at 40 years old, I finally see Kurosawa’s mastery of narrative.

This movie BEGS you to write a thesis. To discuss and argue it’s plot, and character, and storyline. There is nothing here to hate. Everything is deliberate, and designed, and placed in order to evoke an emotion or a reaction. Rashomon is poetry in motion.

UA: And to do all of that in just 88 minutes too.

BY: Rashomon’s pacing is PERFECT.

UA: There is no filler. Nothing feels repetitive. Every scene, every moment, only serves to add more and more elements to the mystery at the heart of the movie. And yet, it isn’t the mystery that’s important here, but the plight of the people who are caught up in it.

The Usual Suspects

UA: There is only one thing in Rashomon that we know for certain and it is that someone is dead. That is the only objective truth in the movie. Everything else is left to our interpretation. Which sounds like it could be incredibly annoying. But don’t worry. Because this isn’t one of those European arthouse efforts that proclaims nothing is real. This is the opposite. 

In Rashomon, everything is real. And not just for the characters in the movie, but also for those of us watching it. Every time I watch the movie, depending on what is going on in my own life, I come away with a slightly different take on what happened in the woods on that day. I believe different accounts. And not knowing for sure has made me want to revisit the movie over and over again.

BY: I’ve always wondered if Kurosawa had a definitive explanation. Did he go into making Rashomon knowing who the murderer was in his version of the story. Was this his Citizen Kane “Rosebud” moment? Is there some little thing he’s left in the movie that is supposed to clue us in on who the actual murderer is? That one thing that will make it so absolutely obvious.

There are so many questions in Rashomon that I want answered. But no answer will ever be enough, because it’ll never be the right one, because it wouldn’t have come from Kurosawa himself. Was the medium real or was it just a scam? Where is the pearl inlay dagger? I feel like if I had the answer to these two questions I could crack this thing wide open.

But I also know that that isn’t the point of Rashomon. The murder feels like just a setting to tell a story about the human condition and how, like the priest, we too are confronted with a sense of absolute despair at humanity. That we too might find a woodcutter who will ultimately restore our faith in mankind.

(I still want to know who killed the samurai though!)

Courage Under Fire

UA: Rashomon is also a movie about how no one person sees another in the same way. Machiko Kyo’s portrayal of the Samurai’s wife is the perfect example of this. Depending on who is telling the story, she is either wholesome and pure, or seductive and sexy, or vicious and treacherous. She could be all of those things or none of them. But Kurosawa uses her character to emphasise the point that we, as human beings, contain multitudes. That we are neither good nor bad. That we are capable of great acts of nobility and cowardice in equal measure. It’s brilliant.

BY: For a movie that is this small – only seven cast members and one horse – Rashomon feels like it has immense scale. Its story of murder, told to the audience from four points of view, can be retold and reinterpreted in ways that tell more about the person watching it than the characters in it. Rashomon is the perfect harsh mirror to each audience member’s humanity. Even after having spent more hours thinking about it than I’d like to admit, I still don’t know who committed the crime. I honestly don’t even have an inkling. The stories are so tightly wound and so well told that there isn’t anything in this 88 minute runtime that would make my guess any more than a guess.

But like the priest, I too am comforted by the fact that the abandoned baby, taken directly into camera, and to us the audience, will have a loving family. Unless the woodcutter was lying about his six children and just wanted the amulet for himself.

UA: The first words spoken by the woodcutter, “I just don’t understand,” should be your guide to watching Rashomon. It’s a call for humility. You don’t have to figure it out. You don’t need to know everything. You just need to approach it with an open heart and an open mind. Which is kinda good advice for living too.

But watching it now, with the baggage and backdrop of the current state of our public discourse, I couldn’t help but feel that Rashomon is the perfect movie for our time. I mean, here you have a story that is told from four different perspectives, all of them both true and false, with absolutely no resolution on what actually happened. Each version is accurate to the person telling the story and yet each version is also fabricated because human beings are unable to talk about themselves without some sort of embellishment.

Every one of them suffers from Main Character Syndrome. They are all the heroes (or villains) of their own story. And they all believe in their own truth and their own experiences. Because to them, it is the only truth that matters.

Now if that doesn’t speak to where we are today as a society, I don’t know what does. 

Rashomon is available to watch as part of the JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE 2022. Click here to find out more about the festival, what movies you can watch, and how to watch them.

The post Rashomon Is More Relevant Today Than Ever Before appeared first on Goggler.

Starting at 4:00PM on the 14th of February 2022, JFF ONLINE 2022 will screen 20 Japanese films, across every genre, from dramas to thrillers, comedies, documentaries and animation. All of it is free. And you can even watch all of it with Malay subtitles!

JFF ONLINE 2022 runs for two weeks from the 14th until the 28th of February, and all you have do to watch these movies is register at the official festival page by clicking the link below and following just three simple steps.

THE JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE 2022 WEBSITE

Now scroll to the middle of the page and look for the HOW TO REGISTER section. Then click the REGISTER NOW button. You will then be taken to the JFF+ page.

Click the Watch option on the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Then click the LOGIN button at the top of the page.

You will then be required to fill in a brief registration form in order to create your account. And then you’re ready to go!

But Wait There’s More!

The Japan Foundation will also be hosting an online streaming event via Facebook and YouTube called “Jom ke JFF ONLINE!” on the 17th of February, where their two ambassadors, actresses Sharifah Amani and Sherry Alhadad will discuss and share their favourite titles from the festival’s line up.

What’s more, for those of you who speak Japanese or are trying to learn language, there will also be a series of “Nihongo” quizzes held throughout the festival with plenty of prizes and swag to be won.

Goggler’s JFF ONLINE 2022 Shortlist

So look, we get it, 20 movies is a lot to process. And while we encourage you to sign up, dig in, and watch every last one of them, we completely understand if you don’t have that kind of time. (We know how life can sometimes get in the way of movie time!) And so to get you started, we’ve put together a list of the five titles we’re most excited about.

1. RASHOMON

Seriously. Rashomon! Restored in 2008, legendary director Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 classic tells the story of a murdered samurai, from the point of view of the many different – and unreliable – eyewitnesses to the crime. Everything that needs to be said about this movie has already been said. It’s great. This is essential viewing.

2. SUMODO ~ The Successors of Samurai ~

Director Eiji Sakata’s documentary introduces the world of sumo wrestling to audiences by intimately following two wrestlers over the course of six months as they train, live, and fight to reach the pinnacle of the sport.

3. THE GOD OF RAMEN

A documentary about a famed ramen chef? Yes please! Less of a “food documentary” than a biographical one, director Takashi Innami’s film is a look at the person behind the legendary ramen shop Taishoken.

4. MIO’S COOKBOOK

Japanese period dramas are a genre unto themselves and director Haruki Kadokawa’s film about a young chef, and her search for her estranged best friend, promises to deliver just that.

5. THE CHEF OF SOUTH POLAR

Director Shuici Okita’s bittersweet comedy follows Nishimura, as he is assigned to be the head chef of a Japanese research station based in the Antarctic. And then they run out of ramen!

And That’s Not All!

Sixteen other titles are available to stream during JFF ONLINE 2022, so check out the full list of films here, and make sure to sign up so you can watch all the titles on offer for free.

The Japan Foundation’s JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE 2022 runs from February 14 to February 28. Let us know if you will be signing up and what films you’re excited to watch.  You can email us on podcast@goggler.my, or reach out to us via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. You can also WhatsApp us on The Goggler Hotline, on +60125245208.

Read our review of Rashomon here.

We also recently reviewed Talking the Pictures as part of the Japan Foundation’s GSC Japanese Film Festival recently.

The post JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE 2022 appeared first on Goggler.