Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film

1:30 Pm - Look Back

East Coast Premiere. Based On An Award-Winning Manga By Tatsuki Fujimoto, Creator Of The Popular Chainsaw Man, Look Back Is The Tale Of Two School Children United By The Power Of Comics. The Film Follows Their Friendships, Rivalries, Passions And Regrets, All Revolving Around Their Desire To Draw. Looking Back, They Ask If They Would Make The Same Decisions Again—Even If Painful—To Become Who They Are.

3:00 Pm - Whale Bones

North American Premiere. After A Sudden Breakup, Office Worker Mamiya (Motoki Ochiai) Tries A Dating App To Distract Himself From His Woes. He Meets Up With A Mysterious Young Woman (Japanese Singer Ano) Who Disappears—In Traumatic Fashion—Before Their Date Is Over. Obsessed With Finding Her, Mamiya Follows The Clues Left By "Aska," Her Alternate Identity In An Augmented Reality Social Media App Through Which She Recorded Site-Specific Video Messages All Over Tokyo. Written And Directed By Takamasa Oe—Who Co-Wrote The Oscar-Winning Drive My Car With Ryusuke Hamaguchi—Whale Bones Is An Ethereal Noir-Tinged Mystery That Investigates The Loneliness And Desperation Of Our Internet-Mediated Modern Life.

5:30 Pm - August In The Water

Imported 35mm Print – Featuring Director Gakuryu Ishii In-Person. An Unlikely Occurrence Of Cosmic Phenomena—Outbursts Of Supernovae, Celestial Misalignments And Twin Meteorites With Ancient Glyphs—Coincides With The Arrival Of Transfer Student Izumi (Rena Komine). A High Dive Prodigy, The Mysterious Girl Becomes Entangled With The Pensive Mao (Shinsuke Aoki), But A Diving Accident Leaves Her Changed. Beset By Strange Events—Drought, A Blistering Heat Wave And A Disease That Turns People To Stone—Mao Joins The Convalescing Izumi, Now Awakened To A Heightened Consciousness, To Search For The Source Of This Cosmic Disequilibrium. An Evocative Daydream Infused With The Enigma Of Existence, Ishii’s Mid-1990s Masterwork Is A Primordial Rite Of Passage, Awash In Cloudburst And Myth.

Print Courtesy Of The National Film Archive Of Japan.

9:00 Pm - Shin Godzilla: Orthochromatic

International Premiere. Hideaki Anno And Shinji Higuchi’s 21st Century Masterpiece Is Reborn With This Stunning Black-And-White Version, Released In Japan Last Year In The Leadup To Godzilla’s 70th Anniversary. A Major Critical And Commercial Success That Earned Seven Japan Academy Prize Awards, Shin Godzilla (2016) Pays Tribute To The Monster Movie Franchise’s Origins While Reinventing The Iconic Kaiju Within The Context Of Japan’s Political Present. Proposed By Anno And Overseen By Higuchi, Orthochromatic Adds New Dimensions To The Film’s Visual Impact By Rendering It In Orthochromatic ("Ortho" For Short) Black-And-White, A Type Of Monochrome Characterized By Starker Contrasts And More Pronounced Blacks. The Results Are Awe-Inspiring And Presents Shin Godzilla As Never Seen Before.

Admission Information And Pricing

Opening Night, Centerpiece And Lifetime Achievement: $25 Nonmembers/ $18 Members / $23 Seniors And Students
Screenings With Qandas: $24 Nonmembers/ $17 Member / $22 Seniors And Students
All Other Screenings: $20 Nonmembers / $14 Members / $18 Seniors And Students
Short Films: $12 Nonmembers / $5 Members / $10 Seniors And Students
All-Access Pass: $315 (Member-Exclusive – Sold Out!)