Yearly Calendar 2007
National Film Center Calendar (April, 2007 – March, 2008)
Cinema 1
63rd FIAF Congress Tokyo 2007
April 7 - 12
No public screenings for the duration of Congress.
Retrospective in Memory of Shohei Imamura and Kazuo Kuroki
April 17 - May 9 / May 17 - June 10
Shohei Imamura and Kazuo Kuroki started their careers as movie directors in the late 1950s. Both directors bypassed traditional moviemaking formats to make innovative and artistic movies. Regrettably both directors died in 2006. This program traces the energetic careers of these two creative and willfully independent cineastes.
Yuzo Kawashima Retrospective
June 12 - July 22
50 years ago Yuzo Kawashima's masterpiece, Bakumatsu taiyoden (1957), was released. The film with its timeless appeal has a special place in Japanese film history. This program provides an opportunity for audiences to have an overall look at approximately 40 works made by the director. The collection includes witty comedies, incisive satires and profound melodramas all of which reveal a deep understanding of human nature, chronicling Kawashima's life which ended abruptly with his tragic early death.
In Memory of Film Figures We Lost in 2004 - 2006
July 27 - September 26
This program is in homage to cineastes who passed away in the years 2004 - 2006. Featured and honored in the program are Yoshitaro Nomura, Teruo Ishii, Tatsuya Mihashi, Takahiro Tamura, Tetsuro Tanba, Kozo Okazaki, Kurataro Takamura and Akira Ifukube. The movies that these film figures worked on will be shown in this program to acknowledge the achievements that they made.
Uzbekistan Film Festival 2007
September 27 - October 7
Uzbekistan had a reputation for its films when it was still part of the USSR. The international success of Abdulladzhan, or dedicated to Steven Spielberg (1992) proved that the Uzbek film industry was still viable even after its independence. The country's reputation as one of the centers of the Middle Asian film industry is well deserved. This program is co-organized with Forum of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan Foundation to present 10 Uzbek films including recent works.
Japan-India Friendship Year 2007: Indian Film Festival
October 9 - November 16
India has the largest film industry in the world in terms of the annual number of films produced. At the base of its prolificacy is the rich multiracial/multilingual culture. This program presents historic masterpieces along side recent works that have not yet been screened in Japan. This event celebrates "Japan-India Friendship Year 2007".
The 8th Tokyo FILMeX: Satsuo Yamamoto Retrospective
November 17 - 25
This is the latest in our successful series of annual retrospective programs. In the past we have had retrospectives of Hiroshi Shimizu (2003), Tomu Uchida (2004), Nobuo Nakagawa (2005) and Kihachi Okamoto (2006). This year NFC is co-organizing a Satsuo Yamamoto(1910 - 83) retrospective with Tokyo FILMeX. The program reflects the director's talent for making socially conscious dramas as well as numerous entertainment movies. The films shown are subtitled in English.
European Film Classics
December 4 - 27
Selected from the European masterpieces in NFC's film collection, this program shows about 20 movies. Silent works shall be screened with a musical accompaniment.
Masahiro Makino Retrospective at his Centenary
January 5 - March 30
It is the 100th anniversary of Masahiro Makino's birthday (1908 - 1993) on February 29, 2008. As the son of Shozo Makino, "the Father of Japanese cinema", he directed more than 270 films in his career. Masahiro Makino became known as the grand master of the Japanese entertainment cinema. This program presents about a hundred films directed by this incontestably great cineaste as we follow his dynamic and productive career.
Cinema 2
EU Film Days 2007
May 10 - 27
EU Film Days presents a collection of recent films produced in the member states of EU. The selected films reflect the socio-cultural diversity of Europe. This is the 5th EU Film Days program. The EU Member States Embassies and the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan have co-organized these programs with the NFC. (Some films in the program will be screened at Cinema 1.)
Polish Short Film Selection: Masterpieces of the Łódź Film School
September 18 - 30
In co-operation with The National Film School in Łódź, the world-famed Polish film school, NFC presents this program to showcase the past and the present of Polish films. The Łódź film school cultivated the unique talents of film directors such as Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieslowski etc. In this program early short works of these masters are shown along with short films made by students in recent years.
Swedish Documentary Now
October 27 - November 4
KYOBASHI-ZA
Under the title of "KYOBASHI-ZA", Cinema 2 presents films from the NFC collection several times a year. For the program schedule, please see our website and fliers.
Gallery
Japanese Film Actresses
- from the NFC Still Photo Collection -
April 24 - June 17 / June 19 - August 19 / August 21 - October 21(Closed: July 23 - 26)
This exhibition displays still photographs and bromides of Japanese film actresses from the NFC collection. The program is divided in 3 parts, each part celebrating a different era.
Chaplin Meets Japan
October 30 - December 27(Closed: November 26 - December 3)
Toraichi Kono(1885 - 1971) was secretary to Charles Chaplin(1889 - 1977) from 1916 to 1934. To commemorate the 30th year of Chaplin's death, the relationship between the king of comedy and Japan, and the history of the reception of his films in Japan will be reviewed through the articles left by Kono, those were discovered in recent years.
The Makino Picture Story
January 8 - March 30
Makino Picture(1921 - 31), led by Shozo Makino(1878 - 1929), "the Father of Japanese film", was the cradle of future stars and directors, who would form the main stream of Japanese film culture, and his first son, Masahiro Makino(1908 - 93) stands out as the heir of his artistry. This exhibition surveys the history of the company through still photographs, magazines, articles and archival footage as a fascinating introduction to the company's activities.
The Japanese Film Heritage
- From the Non-Film Collection of the National Film Center -
Permanent Exhibition
This exhibition presents selected pieces from our collection of cinema-related materials including rare articles left by renowned cineastes and filmmaking devices from early days of cinema, as well as examples of important achievements in film preservation activities to provide a historical overview on the film preservation movement in Japan.
