KYOTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

They are a group of thugs who are known as 893 Gurentai, and they live a stylish and lavish life under a democratic system where they do all kinds of petty crimes such as white-collar crime, extortion, bribes, and petty tricks, with no boss or boss's share, so that the proceeds are equally distributed among everyone in the group.
A war generation yakuza gangster who has just been released from prison joins this group of post World War II thugs who live a lavish lifestyle for a job to steal 10 million yen from a gangster! Based on an original screenplay written by the up-and-coming Sadao Nakajima, this masterpiece is a stylish and sympathetic portrayal of the energetic lives of these hoodlums, free from the stereotypes of hierarchical relationships between bosses and henchmen and the conventional narrative of moral obligation and humane feelings.
The realistic depiction of the lives of these gangsters, presented with a documentary touch using many hand-held cameras throughout the streets of Kyoto, where the film takes place, resonated with people who were unable to find fulfillment in the heated world of the time, and became a career-making work for director Sadao Nakajima.

Hayami, a test driver who was fired from his job due to an eye disease, plans to steal jewelry with his friend Miyoko.
A few days later, after successfully stealing the jewelry, the two escape separately to evade police pursuit.
The operation seemed to have succeeded, but things changed when bank robbers Tanimura and Kirino, who were being chased by the police, get on the bus on which Hayami was on.
An epic car battle between a fleeing bus and pursuing police cars has begun, involving a fledgling actress, a housewife, a hostess, an elementary school student, a chindonya drumming solicitor, and a jewel thief! The bus drives madly, smashing through the emergency lines, and the passengers are filled with tension and fear. The escalating terror of the people caught up in the insanity leads to more and more crimes!

Starting with the Sakuradamon Incident, the omnibus-style recreation of the assassination of Toshimichi Okubo, the February 26 Incident, and other assassination incidents brings the world of the time back to life.
The film also focuses heavily on the League of Blood Incident, in which former Minister of Finance Junnosuke Inoue and Director-General of Mitsui Holding Company Takuma Dan were assassinated, and describes in detail the background of the assassin, Sho Onuma (Tadashi Onuma in the film), and the process leading up to the assassinations.
An unprecedented all-star cast depicts one hundred years of assassinations spanning the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras. The assassin Tadashi Onuma is played by Shinichi Chiba, who realistically portrays the assassin's emotions. Chiezo Kataoka plays Nissho Inoue, a priest of the Nichiren sect who guides Onuma, giving the story a sense of gravity.
In addition, a star-studded cast of actors including Tomisaburo Wakayama, Bunta Sugawara, Ken Takakura, and Koji Tsuruta all appear in the film.

The masterpiece feature film Appassionata (Jo No Mai) depicts the tumultuous life of Shoen Uemura, a painter who took the world by storm with her paintings of beautiful women from the Meiji Era to the early Showa Era, and was the first woman to be awarded the Order of Culture. Veteran director Sadao Nakajima has completely adapted the 17th Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for Literature-winning novel by female writer Tomiko Miyao into a literary epic.
Set in the Meiji Era (1868-1912) in Kyoto, an ancient capital that respected old customs, the film features Shosui Shimamura (Tsuya), an unmarried mother and strong female painter, and depicts her love and hate with her mother Sei, as well as her life as a Japanese painter who achieved great success while being involved with three men, her master, her former teacher, and an art school student. The heroine Shosui (Tsuya) is played by Yuko Natori, who plays a leading role for the first time in this film.

Director Sadao Nakajima has built up his film career in Kyoto spanning over half a century. As a filmmaker, Nakajima examines the chanbara (samurai fighting films) produced in Kyoto from their core. Nakajima talks to a wide range of film experts, including fighters, actors, film scholars, and critics about the fascination of chanbara films that cannot be seen by simply following the story including the background to the creation of period dramas and the Japanese view of life and death in chanbara films. The documentary part highlights Japan's pride in its art and culture, and the original chanbara fighting scenes featuring actors Shogo Kimura, Chihiro Yamamoto, performers from the Toei Tsurugikai troupe and others under the guidance of director Nakajima, along with the making of the scenes. The film follows how the chanbara fighting scenes are created, and ends with a completed scene.

This is a poignant and entertaining film about a samurai from the end of the Edo Era (1603-1867) who travels back in time to a modern-day period film studio and plays the role of someone who is cut down.
Despite being an independent film, it was produced with the cooperation of Toei Kyoto Studio.

Many people say that it surpasses commercial films not only in visual quality but also in entertainment value!
You cannot stop laughing and crying at the sight of a man suddenly thrown into an unknown situation and continuing to struggle!

What will happen in one of the most tense period dramas ever?

"Nyantabi Railway – The Movie" is a movie version that chronicles the daily life of Neko Ekicho (Cat Stationmaster) "Love," known nationwide for working as a cat at Aizu Ashinomaki Onsen Station. Created by cat lovers, for cat lovers, this work is filled with love for cats. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter, all aboard!!
The main characters are "Love," the stationmaster who "works" at Aizu Railway's Aizu Ashinomaki Onsen Station, along with his younger brother "Peach" and younger sister "Sakura." When they come to understand the thoughts and feelings of the previous cat stationmaster "Bus," who went to heaven during the plum blossoms season, a story of the bonds between the working cats that surpasses human imagination begins.

Set against the backdrop of the majestic nature of the changing seasons in Fukushima Prefecture's Aizu region, this film documents the daily lives of the working cats over three years. The filming was shot entirely by the renowned photographer Kenta Igarashi, known for his work with "Jumping Cats." He effectively combines live-action footage from a cat's perspective with animation to depict the drama of the "miracle station" where miracles happen.

Alice Guy (1873-1968) was the world's first female filmmaker, who in 1896 made the world's first fiction film, La Fée aux Choux (The Fairy of the Cabbages).
However, she is little known compared to her contemporaries the Lumière Brothers, Edison, and Méliès.
Many people may have heard of her through the screening of Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché (official selection at the 71st Cannes Film Festival and winner of the Best Documentary Award at the 15th Vancouver International Women in Film Festival) last September at the Demachiza and other venues.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Alice Guy's birth. Five films made by Alice during her time in the U.S. will be screened with commentary by Raiko Sakamoto and piano performance by Haruka Amamiya.

The Pathé-Baby was born in 1922 and came to Japan in 1923. It has been 100 years since the first amateur films were made.
There are still images that captured the era in home movies in addition to those in dramatic films. We have gathered valuable footage from these images and will view them with live accompaniment.

This is a masterful short film considered to have established the worldwide popularity of the legendary comedy king of film history, Harold Lloyd, who was born 130 years ago as of this year! In this work, the extremely talented pianist Michiyo Matsushita, who learned jazz at Berklee and is accompanied by the highly experienced silent film narrator Akiko Sasaki, elegantly elevates the film across generations. Furthermore, Toshiya Arano from the Comedy Film Research Society intertwines valuable archival footage, providing insights into the conditions of the film industry conditions at the time, the genesis of Lloyd's comedy, and his private achievements.

This is a historical masterpiece produced and presented by the legendary figure in film history, the "Stone-Faced Comedy King" Keaton himself, through his own production. It became a massive hit worldwide! It's a must-see, filled with highlights, transitioning from "Mystery in the Open Sea" to "Thrilling Adventures," offering a fantasy experience for adults. Eri Kozaki, who made her debut in silent film piano accompaniment during her studies at the Paris National Higher Music Institute in 2007, performed at the strade del cinema2008 film festival in Italy. This time, with full enthusiasm, she revives the spirit of Keaton's comedy with a new approach!

When movies did not yet have sound, Japanese movie theaters enjoyed silent films accompanied by narration by a benshi narrator along with a live musical performance. The movies were called katsudo shashin, which means moving pictures, and benshi narrators and shows with katsudo shashin and benshi narrators were called katsuben.

However, it is the Reiwa Era now. Today, at a time when it is commonplace to hear voices in movies, the spotlight once again falls on benshi narrators who can talk about silent films in a clearer and easier-to-understand manner.

Ichiro Kataoka, a leading benshi narrator in this field, will lead a workshop in which children, the future leaders of the Japanese film industry, will learn the fun of katsuben and experience firsthand what it is like to be a benshi narrator.

Maybe this workshop will lead to the birth of a future benshi narrator of katsudo shashin moving pictures!

Actress and director Nagiko Tsuji and Yoshimoto comedian Emi Horikawa will be the instructors, and film producer Shunsuke Koga will serve as the "School Principal" of the workshop involving teaching children the joy of acting.

No acting experience is required. Nagiko Tsuji and Emi Horikawa will help children maximize their feelings.
The workshop includes watching an assigned video, practicing acting in pairs, and then presenting their performance in front of a camera crew.
They can also watch their performance on the screen right away afterwards.

Nagiko Tsuji and Emi Horikawa will critique the children's performances and encourage their desire to act. At the end of the workshop, Principal Shunsuke Koga will give praise to the children, who have a bright future ahead of them.
We hope that many children will grow up to be film actors starting from this workshop!

We will be screening animated works that are similar to works of art, including a new omnibus animation of eight works by G9+1, an animation creation group consisting of nine veteran artists who have been active in the field of animation since the dawn of Japanese animation, and one mid-career artist (Toshikatsu Wada), as well as Kihachiro Kawamoto's Winter Days (Fuyu no Hi), which inspired the creation of G9+1, and an animation based on a folk tale written by an Iranian poet in the 12th century.

This work is an animated production in which the town of Shimokawa in Hokkaido and Yoshimoto Kogyo collaborate under the SDGs comprehensive partnership agreement to widely promote the appeal of Shimokawa's specialty product, fruit tomatoes. In this animation, popular comedians from Yoshimoto take on the roles of tomato characters and perform comedy routines.

The cast includes NON STYLE's Ishida and Masao Yoshii as Haruka Eight, Igo Shogi's Fumita and GAG's Hiroyuki as Haruka Nine, Kaeru-tei's Iwakura and Elf's Arakawa as Koyu Tomato, and Suehirogarizu's Mishima and Nanamagari's Hatsuse as North★Sweet.

Category Description

・Anime works which can only be seen here include a new work by G9+1, possibly the "world's oldest" creative animation group of veteran Japanese animation artists and an entertainment anime that creates a kind of new laughter through the fusion of "comedians x anime," with an original script written by comedians and adapted into an anime.

The motif of this work is Okinawa's traditional Eisa dance. The setting is Tsurumi Ward in Yokohama City. Nakadori Shopping Street hosts a Michi Junee festival every summer.

The scenery there is very energetic and sometimes nostalgic, making you feel as if you were in Okinawa. Through Eisa, this work conveys the bonds between people, empathy, and gratitude towards their ancestors, embodying the spirit of Okinawa.

With the support of Okinawa City, the home of Eisa, they continue to carry on the tradition. Everyone from the Sonda Youth Association in Okinawa City also appears in the work, and an authentic and powerful Eisa performance is one of the highlights.

This film aims to convey the charm of Eisa to a wide audience and promote the attractions of both Okinawa City and Tsurumi Ward in Yokohama City.

We are now marking the 12th year since the major disaster, the Great East Japan Earthquake, that occurred in Japan.

The online community "KIZUNA-NO Community," operated by QON Inc., extracted numerous life episodes related to various human "bonds" submitted by people, totaling over 14,000 episodes, which resonated with many participants, and then adapted them into a screenplay.

Set in the six Tohoku prefectures, the production of five short movies with a focus on "bonds" followed a stance of regionally-driven filmmaking.

Connecting these five short movies into a single piece, the result is the film "THE BOND STORIES."

In memory of the late director Sompote Saengduenchai, we will screen "Phra Rod Merre" with Japanese subtites. Director Sompote produced many special effects (tokusatsu) films in Thailand after studying special effects techniques under director Eiji Tsuburaya during his two years of film study in Japan in the early 1960s. The story is based on a folk tale called "twelve sisters" that is widely known in mainland Southeast Asia. The film achieved major success in Thailand when it was released in 1981. Dr. Hiramatsu, who conducts research on Japanese and Thai comparative literature and culture from the perspectives of Buddhism and gender, will give a commentary for a deeper understanding of the film.

Kyoto Machinaka Film Festival 2023
Dates: Dec. 1st (Fri) to Dec. 3rd (Sun), and Dec. 7th (Thu) to Dec. 10th (Sun), 2023
Venues: The Museum of Kyoto Film Theater, The Museum of Kyoto Annex Hall, Hulic Hall Kyoto, and others
https://kyomachinaka.jp/

Rooted in the place where fresh water and seawater mix, mangroves thrive, giving birth to live baby shoots without distinct genders, even in the midst of the changing world. Through the daily lives of the people and nature in Higashimura, and one deaf woman, it depicts the idea that staying unchanged in such a place can be wonderful.

Starring newcomer Minatsu Tamaki, with Ayumi Oya from the sign language theater group Aramanda and other members delivering passionate performances. Supported by Mayumi Ueda in 'The Actress' directed by Toshiyuki Teruya and Hidetoshi Kanzaki in 'Miracle City Koza' directed by Kazuhiro Taira.

The main theme song is 'DAWN' by the young Okinawan band HoRookies.

This year marks the 120th anniversary of the birth and the 60th anniversary of the passing of director Yasujiro Ozu. In our venue, following the event on July 16th, we will host a lecture by Professor Akiko Miyamoto of Doshisha Women's University, a researcher of Yasujiro Ozu, on October 15th. To make the most of this special occasion, we will also screen Ozu's 12th film, "Tokkan Kozo" (A Straightforward Boy), after the lecture. This version includes a recording with the performance by Professor Jim Dorring of Randolph-Macon College in the United States, which was added to the Pathe Baby version found at our venue in September 2016. This year, an even longer 16mm version was discovered, causing quite a stir. Watching the boss of kidnappers and his henchmen being toyed with by the mischievous children they abducted is always entertaining, no matter how many times you see it. The actor who played the leading child role, Tomio Aoki, went on to use "A Straightforward Boy (Tokkan Kozo)" as his stage name and continued to be active in the industry.