Embassy of Japan
Press Release 5 October 2015
Japanese Film Festival 2015
Tuesday 13 to Saturday 17 October
Wellington
The Embassy of Japan, in cooperation with Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision and Paramount Cinemas, is very pleased to present the Japanese Film Festival 2015.
This year, the ever-popular Japanese Film Festival will feature six films across a variety of genres from drama, to
comedy. They provide the viewer with an exciting opportunity to deepen their familiarity with Japanese culture and
society. A number of the directors have achieved significant fame and recognition outside of Japan as well. The first
screening will be ‘Wood Job!’ a 2014 film by renowned director Shinobu Yaguchi (Water Boys, Swing Girls), and on Saturday we will be showing ‘The Wind Rises’, the final send-off film for Studio Ghibli founder and director, Hayao Miyazaki (Howls Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke). This year will also feature a Wellington premier of ‘Lady Maiko’ (a maiko is the Japanese term for an apprentice geisha) a cheerful comedy directed by award winning Masayuki Suo (Shall We Dance?).
Movie titles, dates and times are as follows:
Tuesday 13 - Friday 16 Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
• Wood Job! - Tuesday 13, 6pm
• Thermae Romae – Wednesday 14, 6pm
• The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness – Thursday 15, 6pm
• Lady Maiko – Friday 16, 6pm
Saturday 17 Paramount Cinemas
• The Wind Rises - 1pm
• Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno - 3:45pm
All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Admission is free to all sessions and tickets will be issued at Ngā
Taonga Sound & Vision and Paramount Cinemas from one hour before each screening on a first-come, first-served basis (Maximum two per
person. More details about the festival can be found at: http://www.nz.emb-japan.go.jp, and in the attached flyer.