21st Eiga Sai 2018 kicks off with acclaimed youth drama
The longest running Japanese Film Festival in the world continues its annual screenings of well-curated Japanese movies.
This year’s edition of Eiga Sai offers diverse genres including comedy, drama, action and award-winning anime.
It will be featuring the Philippine premiere of Chihayafuru Part 3, graced by its esteemed director Nori Koizumi, plus special screenings and talks in collaboration with the Japan Foundation projects: EYES for Embracing Diversity; Oriza Hirata’s Manila Notes; and the Spirit of Budo: The History of Japan’s Martial Arts.
EIGASAI 2018 officially kicks off with the encore screenings of the live-action film adaptation of Yuki Suetsugu’s manga series Chihayafuru.
Part 1 and Part 2 will be open to the Public on July 4 while the Philippine premiere screening of CHIHAYAFURU Part 3 is invitational.
The Opening Night Gala will be at the Greenbelt 5 Gallery on July 4, graced by this year’s opening film director Nori Koizumi, who is also scheduled to give Director’s Talks on July 6 at the Ateneo de Manila University and July 7 at Greenbelt 1, Cinema 2.
Together with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), the Japan Foundation continued support towards independent filmmakers brings another Japanese independent film to Manila: Of Love and Law.
This documentary film is about a couple who operates Japan’s first openly gay firm and won the Best Film Award at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival’s Independent Japanese Cinema category.
Director Hikaru Toda will be present at its Philippine premiere on August 4 at CCP during the Cinemalaya.
There will also be a special screening and panel discussion on issues surrounding LGBTQ, minorities, and the importance of inclusion on August 5 at Cinematheque Centre Manila. Another unique film screening and talk are organized in conjunction with Japanese playwright-director Oriza Hirata’s Manila Notes – the Philippine version of the award-winning play Tokyo Notes that premiered in 1994 in Japan ’s capital city.
This Philippine-Japan collaborative theater project will be Tanghalang Pilipino’s third play for its 32nd season, which opens on November 30, 2018.
EIGASAI invites Oriza Hirata to give a one-time special talk during the EIGASAI at CCP Dream Theater on August 17 along with the screening of When the Curtain Rises, an adaptation of his novel about a high school drama club in a provincial town and Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai to be screened at the UP Film Institute – Cine Adarna.
Completing the line-up are nine more films with English subtitles that were carefully selected by the Japan Foundation Asia Center and the Japan Foundation, Manila – offering viewers the chance to experience their favorite genre while discovering something new:
Let’s Go, JETS! From Small Town Girls to U.S. Champions?!
Rudolf the Black Cat
Survival Family
Honnouji Hotel
Memoirs of a Murderer (22)
Tora-san of Goto
Tori Girl
ReLIFE
Daytime Shooting Star
The 21st Eiga Sai runs from July 4 to August 26,2018 in the following select screening venues.
Greenbelt 1 Cinema 2, Makati City (July 4-8)
Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City (July 4-6)
CCP Complex, Pasay City (August 4, 5 during Cinemalaya and August 17)
Cinematheque Centre Manila, Ermita, Manila (August 5)
UP Film Institute – Cine Adarna, UP Diliman, Quezon City (August 15-18)
SM City Davao Cinema, Davao City (July 12-15)
SM City Naga Cinema, Naga City (July 27-29)
SM City Bacolod Cinema, Bacolod City (August 9-12)
Ayala Center Cebu Cinema, Cebu City (August 23-26)
Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis, except screenings at Greenbelt 1 Cinema 2 (PHP 100 per screening).
Tickets are available online or https://www.sureseats.com/quick-cinema at the cinema ticket booth starting June 27.
