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JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL 2021

After two years, the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) returns to cinemas from 25 November to 5 December with a lineup of 33 films to satiate the most discerning cinephiles!

This year’s program celebrates resilience in the face of adversity and tells stories of those who dare to dream beyond limitations. It includes international film festival favourites such as Junta Yamaguchi’s feature debut Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes and Under the Open Sky by Miwa Nishikawa.

Fans of SFF and JFF's Blood of Wolves (2018) will be excited to hear that the highly anticipated cutthroat sequel Last of the Wolves by Kazuya Shiraishi will be presented at JFF for one screening only, alongside rare 35mm and 16mm film prints from the late avant-garde auteur Shūji Terayama.

Tickets are on sale now!

 

LAST OF THE WOLVES   The Blood of Wolves saga continues with the ferocious sequel Last of the Wolves. After detective Shōgo Ōgami's death, Hioka is left to keep the yakuza in check, and bloodshed has been avoided. But the peace is threatened when Uebayashi is released from prison.   LEARN MORE   SUMODO ~ THE SUCCESSORS OF SAMURAI ~   This moving and insightful documentary offers a glimpse into the workings of what it means to be a professional sumo wrestler in modern Japan. These ‘gentlemen of strength’ undergo years of grueling training in order to earn their place amongst the best. LEARN MORE

THROW AWAY YOUR BOOKS, RALLY IN THE STREETS   Noise rock and psychedelic vignettes frame the tumultuous society that is home to Hideaki, an angsty teen dealing with his dysfunctional family. The story is interrupted by shorter narratives introducing strangers, who are all a part of a social explosion. LEARN MORE   HOLD ME BACK   Mitsuko, an office clerk, is living up the single life. She’s never alone, though—she goes through life with the help of her ‘advisor’, or inner voice named ‘A’. But everything changes when Mitsuko finds herself attracted to the awkward and younger Tada-kun.   LEARN MORE

TRUE MOTHERS   Director Naomi Kawase returns with the emotionally-charged drama True Mothers. Satoko and Kiyokazu seem to have it all, but they yearn for a child and struggle to conceive. They are presented with one last ray of hope, when they find out they can adopt.     LEARN MORE   THE CORNERED MOUSE DREAMS OF CHEESE   Ever since his university days, Kyо̄ichi can’t help but be swept up by the beautiful women that pursue him. Now a working adult, he’s a serial adulterer and as indecisive as ever... that is, until former classmate Wataru suddenly reappears in his life. LEARN MORE

THE FABLE: THE KILLER THAT DOESN’T KILL   Fable is a deadly ex-assassin, who leaves behind his past to live an ‘ordinary life’ under the pseudonym Akira Satо̄. But it’s not long before the mythical hitman is drawn back to the underworld, when his past comes back to haunt him.   LEARN MORE   WHEEL OF FORTUNE & FANTASY   Charming and unpredictable, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is a trio of short stories with no apparent connection, describing intimate slices of life filtered through the eyes of complex female protagonists.   LEARN MORE