Events - 26 Jan 13

TIFF Cinematheque presents Tokyo Drifters: 100 Years of Nikkatsu to showcase 12 films from the golden age of Nikkatsu studio. Founded in 1912, the company had been forced to close down its production arm during World War II due to the government’s forced “rationalization” of the film industry. During the postwar production boom, however, Nikkatsu re-emerged as a force to be reckoned with. In 1954, Nikkatsu completed construction of a massive soundstage facility and lured young, promising talent away from such stodgily hierarchical rivals as Shochiku by guaranteeing these up-and-comers quick advancement from assistant to full director status. It was thus that such vibrant talents as Yuzo Kawashima, Seijun Suzuki, Koreyoshi Kurahara, and future Japanese New Wave icon Shohei Imamura were given an early chance to strut their stuff.

Films:

• Massacre Gun (Minagoroshi no kenju); Dir. Yasuharu Haseb
• Intimidation (Aru kyohaku); Dir. Koreyoshi Kurahara
• Retaliation (Shima wa moratta); Dir. Yasuharu Hasebe
• Rusty Knife (Sabita naifu); Dir. Toshio Masuda
• The Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate (Bakumatsu taiyoden); Dir. Yuzo Kawashima
• The Woman from the Sea (Kaitei kara kita onna); Dir. Koreyoshi Kurahara
• Tokyo Drifter (Tokyo nagaremono); Dir. Seijun Suzuki
• Branded to Kill (Koroshi no rakuin); Dir. Seijun Suzuki
• A Colt Is My Passport (Koruto wa ore no pasupooto); Dir. Takashi Nomura
• Suzaki Paradise: Red Light District (Suzaki paradaisu: Aka shingo); Dir. Yuzo Kawashima
• Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (Nora-neko rokku: Sekkusu hanta); Dir. Yasuharu Hasebe
• The Warped Ones (Kyonetsu no kisetsu); Dir. Koreyoshi Kurahara

For screening dates/times or to buy tickets, visit their website.

The third annual Toronto Design Offsite Festival will show the best in Canadian design at events across the city, from unexpected prototypes to immersive installations including works by Asian artists Grace Eunmi Lee, Xiaojing Yan, An Te Liu, Luke Liu Kuo-Chang and others.

January 21-27, 2013

To learn more click here.

TIFF Cinematheque presents a retrospective of 31 works in Japanese Divas: The Great Actresses of Japanese Cinema’s Golden Age at TIFF Bell Lightbox from January 24 – March 31.  Part of Spotlight on Japan, a city-wide festival celebrating classic and contemporary Japanese culture, TIFF Cinematheque is pulling out all the stops with this in-depth, wide-ranging look at the best of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema.

Films include:

• Ugetsu
• Rashomon
• The Life of Oharu
• The Makioka Sisters
• Tokyo Story
• Floating Clouds
• Woman in the Dunes
• Sansho the Bailiff
• The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka
• Yearning
• Dragnet Girl
• A Wife Confesses
• Early Summer
• Late Spring
• Twenty-Four Eyes
• Sisters of the Gion
• Ten Dark Women
• Carmen Comes Home
• The Face of Another
• Seisaku’s Wife
• Street of Shame
• Miss Oyu
• Repast
• Throne of Blood
• Equinox Flower
• When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
• Flowing
• Odd Obsession
• Late Autumn
• Mother

For more details on synopsis, screening dates and times, click on the film titles above.

Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts and Culture presents Nina Lee Aquino’s world premiere of Every Letter Counts!

Score some tickets for the screening from January 26 –February 24, 2013.

Please visit their website for screening time and pricing details.

One of the keywords that you will often hear when talking about Japanese culture is Bushi, or Samurai. In recent years, Japanese mass media have begun to use the phrase Samurai Japan to describe their national baseball or soccer teams. Many people outside of Japan may be familiar with the Hollywood movie “The Last Samurai”.

Does our contemporary image of Samurai correctly reflect what it was like in Japan during the Edo period (17 -19^th centuries)?

To answer these questions and explore the real samurai, we have invited Dr. Hiroshi Kurushima, Professor at the National Museum of Japanese History in Chiba, Japan. This lecture offers an opportunity to think about the reality of Bushi and Samurai by examining some prominent Japanese art works from that era.

Location: The Japan Foundation, Toronto
Address: 131 Bloor St. W., 2nd Floor of the Colonnade Building
Admission: free
RSVP Required: www.jftor.org/whatson/rsvp.php
Language: Japanese with English translation

Dr. Hiroshi Kurushima is a Professor at the National Museum of Japanese History in Chiba, Japan. He graduated from the PhD program of Japanese History at Tokyo University and assumed his current position at the Museum in 2003. Dr. Kurushima specializes in late Edo-period Japanese history.