EVENT: NEW FILMS FROM JAPAN
DATES: March 11-17, 2022
VENUE: IFC Center
Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (ACA) will present the third ACA Cinema Project series: New Films from Japan organized as part of a “Japan Film Overseas Expansion Enhancement Project”, in collaboration with the IFC Center and Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO) with theatrical engagements of Yujiro Harumoto’s A Balance and Keisuke Yoshida’s BLUE, Mar. 11-17, 2022 (IFC Center, New York).
Title: A Balance
Director: Yujiro Harumoto
2020/152 min./ Japan
[STORY] Documentary director Yuko (Kumi Takiuchi) doesn’t doubt the reality of the world she sees through her camera’s lens, but when her father commits a grave error of judgment, she is forced to switch sides and abandon her role as an observer to become a participant in a morally challenging story. The boundaries between work and family, reality and ideals, beliefs and truths become blurred, and the world Yuko knew begins to veer in unexpected directions. As a filmmaker who has prided herself on maintaining a healthy distance while faithfully documenting what she sees and hears, what irreversible choices will Yuko ultimately make?
© “A BALANCE” FILM PARTNERS
Title: Blue
Director: Keisuke Yoshida
2021/107 min./ Japan
[STORY] Inspired by his real-life decades long boxing background, writer-director Keisuke Yoshida depicts the uncertainty behind an athlete’s often-unrewarded dedication, tears and sweat. Competition rises between Urita (Kenichi Matsuyama) who loves boxing more than anyone and his younger rival, Ogawa (Masahiro Higashide), whose outstanding talent and style have brought him to the verge of becoming Japan’s national champion. Urita’s first love Chika (Fumino Kimura) is now engaged to Ogawa further straining interpersonal relationships caught between ideals and reality. A highlight of the film is the interactions between the three, who are appearing on-screen together for the first time since Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow.
©2021 “BLUE” Film Partners