Film Festival Eiga Sai is All About Family This 2014

  

Japan has always been close to the hearts of the Filipinos. In fact, their culture is so well-loved by our country that we have incorporated bits of their culture into ours. We’re fans of anime, cherry blossoms and sushi, and Japan is just as fascinated with us, too. As such, the Philippines-Japan Friendship Month was formed in 1996.

This year, we once again celebrate it as The Japan Foundation Manila (JFM) and Shangri-la Plaza in cooperation of the Embassy of Japan and the Film Development Council of the Philippines presents the 16^th Eiga Sai, or the Japanese Film Festival, from July 3 to 13 at the Shang Cineplex, which will showcase a stream of inspiring films that centers on this year’s theme: the family.

Eiga Sai’s lineup is composed of features, true-to-life stories, animation, narratives and documentaries that show Japan and its people’s rich culture, heritage and traditions, especially after the Great East Japan Earthquake that happened in March 2011.

They were determined to push through with family as this year’s theme because they strongly believe that during times of difficulties, we realize the great value of the basic unit of the society. During the press launch of Eiga Sai last June 24, JFM’s Assistant Director Yukie Mitomi said they hope that in watching the films, the Filipino audience will learn from Japan’s experience in reconstructing their country and strengthening their family ties, including the extended family, neighbors and the community. That strength will lead to a strong sense of oneness of the nation, a world of harmony.

The 16 films in this year’s festival include some of the internationally-recognized movies like the official selection of the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival Homeland, which is a tale about a man who returned home after twenty years and slowly rediscover his whole family’s connection with one another. Another one is Like Father, Like Son, winner of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize, which revolves around the story of babies swapped at birth.

 

Film Festival Eiga Sai is All About Family This 2014

 

Other films comprise of: Fly, Dakota, Fly, a historical drama based on a true incident that occurred after World War II; Reunion, a story of a man engaged in the funeral business who volunteered his services at the temporary morgue in a high school gymnasium after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami; Hearts Together, a docu about Grammy Award Winning keyboardist Bob James and Japanese pop singer Seiko Matsuda’s charity concert; A Story of Yonosuke, which is based on a novel by Yoshida Shuichi; The Kirishima Thing, an adaptation of the best-selling novel of Asai Ryo; Momoiro sora o, a feature on a high school girl’s journey through adolescence; Hospitalité, portrays an ordinary family’s transformation when a wealthy man came into their household who provided them financially; Tug of War! is about a female promoting sports in her hometown; Robo-G, an employee’s venture on passing off a human as a bipedal robot; Until the Break of Dawn, the tale of an emissary that reunites the living from the dead; Tamako in Moratorium, presenting a person’s steps to moving on with life; Casting Blossoms in the Sky, the uncovering of the people of Nagaoka, a city that overcame numerous wars and disasters; Symphony in August, an autobiography of Singer-songwriter Kawashima Ai; Things Left Behind, a documentary about the attention grabbing exhibit Hiroshima; and finally, Wolf Children, an animation about a mother’s two children from a wolf man.