Free Films: Summer Throwback
Free, Limited Capacity
February 6, 20 & March 6,20
The Japan Foundation, Sydney’s free film screenings are back fortnightly throughout February and March.
Join us for the month of February as we enjoy the last few weeks of summer with a throwback to some of 2008’s best family dramas Osaka Hamlet and Still Walking. As we ease into autumn in March, we’ll bid the sunshine goodbye with more films that will brighten your week: Mamoru Hosoda’s Summer Wars and the super kawaii Mameshiba.
Osaka Hamlet (大阪ハムレット)
Dir Fujiro Mitsuishi / 2008 / 108 mins / Cast Keiko Matsuzaka, Ittoku Kishibe, Naoyuki Morita, Kanpei Hazama / Japanese with English subtitles/ PG, contains mild violence and coarse language
February 6, 6:30pm-8:20pm
Set over the summer, Osaka Hamlet tells the story of the Kubo family and their life in Osaka. Fusako Kubo is a hospital attendant by day, and a club hostess at night. She finds herself suddenly widowed and left with three sons—Hasanori, a skinny-but-spunky sixth-grader, Yukio, a punk wannabe teenager fascinated with ‘Hamlet’, and Masashi, a high-schooler who falls for an older woman.
One day, a mysterious man appears, claiming to be their late father’s young brother, and moves in with the family. How do the three boys cope?
Still Walking (あるいてもあるいても)
Dir Hirokazu Kore-eda / 2008 / 114 mins / Cast Hiroshi Abe, Kirin Kiki, Yui Natsukawa / Japanese with English subtitles / G
February 20, 6:30pm-8:25pm
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Still Walking is a touching and gentle drama about a family whose grown-up children reunite to visit their elderly parents on one long summer day. The rare family reunion has been organised to commemorate the tragic death of the eldest son, who drowned in an accident fifteen years before. As the family attempt to reconnect, each person realises that they have all changed subtly. Within their comfortable family home and in between their mother’s comforting homemade feast, they feel that they are as bound by love as they are torn apart by resentments and secrets.
Summer Wars (サマーウォーズ)
Dir Mamoru Hosoda / 2011 / 114 mins / Cast Mitsuki Tanimura, Nanami Sakuraba, Ryunosuke Kamiki / Japanese with English subtitles / PG, contains mild themes and animated violence
March 6, 6:30pm-8:28pm
Summer Wars is the story of an ordinary family going to extraordinary lengths to avert the impending cyber apocalypse! Kenji is your typical teenage misfit. He’s good at math, bad with girls, and spends most of his time hanging out in the all-powerful, online community known as OZ. His second life is the only life he has — until the girl of his dreams, Natsuki, hijacks him for a starring role as a fake fiancé at her family reunion. Things only get stranger from there. They receive a late-night email containing a cryptic mathematic riddle threatens to undo the virtual world of OZ and destroy the real world.
As Armageddon looms on the horizon, Kenji and his new “family” set aside their differences and band together to save the worlds they inhabit in this “near-perfect blend of social satire and science fiction”.
Mameshiba (幼獣マメシバ)
Dir Toru Kamei / 2009 / 106 mins / Cast Jiro Sato, Yumi Adachi, Tetsu Watanabe / Japanese with English subtitles / Unclassified G, suitable for all ages
March 20, 6:30pm-8:16pm
Jiro, played by actor Jiro Sato, is a 32-year-old shut-in who is unemployed, never leaves his parents’ house and is afraid of socialising with other people. After his father’s death, Jiro’s mother runs away from home, leaving behind clues for him and a 6-month-old mameshiba dog named Ichiro. Jiro grudgingly ventures out into the world in search of his mother together with his new fluffy sidekick.
Presented by
EVENT DETAILS
All films start at 6:30pm (doors open at 6pm)
Feb 6 (Tuesday)
Osaka Hamlet (PG)
6:30pm-8:20pm
Feb 20 (Tuesday)
Still Walking (G)
6:30pm-8:25pm
Mar 6 (Tuesday)
Summer Wars (PG)
6:30pm-8:28pm
Mar 20 (Tuesday)
Mameshiba (Uncl G)
6:30pm-8:16pm
Screening will be held in a seminar room type event space. Bean bags and chairs are available as seating.
Please feel free to bring bottled non-alcoholic drinks and snacks (no hot food please).
ADMISSION
Free, limited capacity. Walk-in only, bookings not necessary.
VENUE
The Japan Foundation, Sydney
Level 4, Central Park
28 Broadway, Chippendale NSW 2008
ENQUIRIES
Do you have queries about the film? Planning to attend but coming from far away? Please contact reception at (02) 8239 0055 or