Oct 19 - Oct 23 The 12th Japanese Film Festival in Yerevan, Ejmiatsin and Gyumri　《Changes have been made in the schedule》

 The Embassy of Japan in Armenia, in cooperation with the Japan Foundation, "HIKARI" Armenian-Japanese Scientific, Educational and Cultural Center and the Municipality of Ejmiatsin, will organize the 12th Japanese Film Festival from October 19 to October 23.
 This year, Japanese films will be screened in the cities of Yerevan, Gyumri and Ejmiatsin, and all the films will be shown in Japanese with English or Russian subtitles. The entry is free to all the screenings.
We invite you all to join us and enjoy the beauty of Japanese cinema.
 

Screening  Schedule

【Yerevan City】
　　Oct 19(Thu)  Moscow Cinema
　　　　　18:30-18:50 Opening ceremony
　　　　　18:50-20:51 「A Tale of Samurai Cooking」（121min）  Russian Subtitles
 
　　Oct 20 (Fri)  Russian-Armenian(Slavonic) University
　　　　　14:30-    「 Have a Song on Your Lips」(132min)　English Subtitles

　　Oct 20 (Fri) Moscow Cinema
　　　　　18:30-20:39　「Maestro!」（129min）　English Subtitles
 
　　Oct 21（Sat）Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University
　　　　　13:00-14:37  「 A Band Rabbit and a Boy」（97min）　English Subtitles

     Oct 23（Mon）Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University
　　　　　14:30-16:23  「 Abraxas」（113min）　English Subtitles

【Ejmiatsin City】
　　Oct 20 (Fri) Municipality of Ejmiatsin
　　　　　16:00-16:10 　 Opening ceremony
　　　　　16:10-18:11  「 A Tale of Samurai Cooking」（121min）　Russian Subtitles
 
【Gyumri City】
　　Oct 22（Sun）Hoktember Cinema
　　　　　13:00-13:10   Opening ceremony
             13:10-14:58  「 THERMAE ROMAE」（108min）　Russian Subtitles
　　　　　15:10-16:56  「 MAMESHIBA」（106min）　Russian Subtitles

Synopsis

A Tale of Samurai Cooking
（Oct19 18:50- Moscow cinema,Yerevan, Oct20 16:10- Municipality of Ejmiatsin） 

Director：Yuzo Asahara, 2013, 121min
 
Funaki Dennai laid the foundations for Kaga clan cuisine in the Edo Period as a "kitchen samurai" who prepared food for the nobility. This heartwarming drama depicts the internal affairs of the Kaga clan from the perspective of a woman who marries Funaki's son. It features meals made according to the Funaki family's recipe collection "Ryori Mugonsho" and recreates the workings of samurai family kitchens at the time. Maid Haru is a talented cook but stubborn, which leads her to divorce her husband after a year. However, she is asked by Kaga clan "kitchen samurai" Dennai to marry his son and heir Yasunobu, and works to remedy his lack of culinary skills.
 
【Film Festivals, Awards】
2013 San Sebastian International Film Festival, Culinary Zinema Section
2013 Hawaii International Film Festival, Spotlight on Japan Section
2013 Tokyo International Film Festival, Special Screenings
2014 Berlin International Film Festival, Culinary Cinema Section

Have a Song on Your Lips
（Oct20 14:30- Russian-Armenian University,Yerevan） 

Director：Takahiro Miki, 2015, 132min
 
Film adaptation of the novel by Nakata Eiichi, who drew inspiration from a TV documentary. Directed by Miki Takahiro of Girl in the Sunny Place.
 The Goto Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. Kashiwagi Yuri (Aragaki Yui), a beautiful pianist from Tokyo, is a substitute teacher on assignment as advisor to a middle school chorus. The brashly dedicated chorus head Nazuna (Tsunematsu Yuri) and withdrawn Satoru (Shimoda Shota) each have their own unspeakable secret. On the day of the long-anticipated national competition, an incident occurs.... A true miracle transpires when everyone's emotions become a single "song."
 
【Film Festivals, Awards】
2015 Hong Kong International Film Festival

Maestro!
（Oct20 18:30- Moscow cinema,Yerevan） 

Director：Shotaro Kobayashi, 2015, 129min
　
Can the ‘leftovers’ of a failed orchestra and a mysterious unknown conductor bring the music back to life? A secret lies behind this ‘reform’ concert. The Central Symphony Orchestra, a once-prominent group that went broke six months ago, is to reunite, but its rehearsal space is an abandoned factory, and the players are the ‘leftovers’ who have not found positions anywhere else. When they start playing, the sound is anything but professional. The mysterious conductor Tendo, it appears, has brought them together. No one knows who he is, and he conducts with carpenter’s tools rather than a baton. His abrasive style alienates the players, but slowly his approach draws them deeper into their music. The young concertmaster Kosaka, however, learns of Tendo’s past, and his resistance to the conductor’s leadership grows stronger and stronger. It is not until the day of the concert that Tendo’s secret is revealed...

 

 

A Band Rabbit and a Boy
（Oct21 13:00- Russian-Armenian University,Yerevan） 

Director：Takuji Suzuki, 2013, 97min
 
Katsuhisa Okuda is a shy middle school student, who likes to go home as soon as lessons finish every day. One day, he follows a mysterious rabbit, which leads him to the school brass band, a club with the longest practice hours at school, and he somehow joins the club. After some hesitation and worry, he gradually gets stuck into the joy of music.  Then the day of the concert arrives.
All the music is actually played by the cast and was recorded live during the shooting!
 
【Film Festivals, Awards】
2013 Tokyo International Film Festival, Japanese Cinema Splash
 

 

Abraxas
（Oct23 14:30- Russian-Armenian University, Yerevan） 

Director：Naoki Kato, 2010, 113min
 
A human drama based on the novel of the same name by Genyu Sokyu, Akutagawa Prize-winning author and Buddhist monk. This film marks the directorial debut of Kato Naoki, alumni of the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts, where such greats as Kitano Takeshi teach. The film was officially invited to be shown at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
Jonen (Suneohair) is a monk with problems: He is depressed and unable to live without his medication. A former musician, his love for music is rekindled and he tries to organize a local live concert... but some of the temple's patrons don't like what they see.

 

 

THERMAE ROMAE
（Oct22 13:10- Hoktember Cinema, Gyumri） 

Director：Hideki Takeuchi, 2012, 108min
 
An adaptation of Yamazaki Mari's popular manga, which has won both the 2010 Manga Taisho (Cartoon Grand Prize) and the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for Best Short Work. Abe Hiroshi and the rest of its cast of talented actors with sharply sculpted faces throw themselves into their roles as citizens of ancient Rome. Another striking aspect is its large open set built
at Cinecitta, Italy's largest film studio.
Lucius (Abe), an architect of spa baths for the Roman Empire, inadvertently travels through time and finds himself in a modern Japanese bathhouse. He takes elements of Japanese culture that he learns there back with him to Rome and is hugely successful, which leads the Emperor to command him to build a massive spa.
 
【Film Festivals, Awards】
  2012 Udine Far East Film Festival
  2012 Toronto International Film Festival, Gala Presentation
  2012 Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, Panorama
  2012 Hawaii International Film Festival, Spotlight on Japan
  2012 Japanese Film Festival (Sydney), Opening
  2012 Japanese Film Festival (Melbourne), Opening

MAMESHIBA
（Oct22 15:10- Hoktember Cinema, Gyumri） 

Director：Toru Kamei, 2009, 106min
 
A film adaptation of the TV series which depicts the journey of a middleaged man with a two-month old puppy in search of his mother who has run away from home. The film has a rich lineup of established actors from TV dramas, films and stage performances under their belts, including Sato Jiro who stars in this film.
One day Jiro (Sato Jiro), a 35-year old unemployed male who has never stepped out of his town, runs into Ichiro, a Mameshiba puppy with a red scarf around its neck. Ichiro turns out to be a puppy Jiro's runaway mother had sent for her family to come looking for her.