Yearly Calendar 2014
National Film Center Calendar (April, 2014 -March, 2015)
Cinema 1
The Birth and Development of Japanese Color Film
April 8 – May 25, 2014
After World War II, Japanese film industry took the initial steps toward colorization by improving or adopting various film stocks and color processes. This program will make a retrospective review of such early efforts through showing a huge variety of films. Please use this opportunity to rediscover the richness of color expression in motion pictures.
EU Film Days 2014
May 30 – June 22, 2014
Co-organizers: The Delegation of the European Union to Japan and the embassies and the cultural institutes of the EU member states in Japan.
EU Film Days is a series showcasing films from the member states of the European Union (EU). Now in its 12th edition (7th to be held at NFC), EU Film Days brings together a wide variety of films from over 20 member states, exhibiting the wide range of filmmaking talent in Europe and introducing the diversity of European society and culture to audiences in Japan.
Yasuzo Masumura Retrospective
June 24 – September 7, 2014
The late Yasuzo Masumura (1924 – 86), who joined Daiei Studios in 1947 and then went to Italy to study Neorealism, empitomizes the postwar new generation film directors who debuted with a critical point of view toward the traditional Japanese films. This program will be a large retrospective of his films.
The 36th Pia Film Festival
September 13 – 25, 2014 (tentative)
Co-organizers: PFF Partners and Unijapan.
The 36th Pia Film Festival (and 5th at NFC) will hold the regular programs such as “PFF Award Competition,” the biggest competition for non-theatrical films in the world, and “PFF Scholarship Film” which showcases the newest film directed by the PFF Award winner and produced by PFF.
Cinema: Lost and Found 2014
September 27 – October 12, 2014
This is the 9th installment of “Cinema: Lost and Found,” the series that showcases valuable films newly collected and restored by NFC. Please use this opportunity to realize the achievements of the national film archive.
Film Treasures from The Museum of Modern Art
October 24 – November 9, 2014
Co-organizers: Japan Community Cinema Center (F Cinema Project), Tokyo International Film Festival, Motion Picture Association (MPA) and Japan and International Motion Picture Copyright Association.
Since its founding in 1935, the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA) has been a leading force in the international film archive/cinematheque movement up to today. This program will showcase highly-selected vintage prints from the collection of MoMA’s Department of Film.
Silent Film Renaissance 2014 from Vienna: Treasures of Filmarchiv Austria
November 11 – 16, 2014
Co-organizer: Austrian Embassy
This program will showcase a number of film classics collected and restored by the Filmarchiv Austria. Films will be presented with live piano accompaniment by Austrian pianist Gerhard Gruber who will jointly perform with Japanese benshi.
Yasuki Chiba Retrospective
November 18 – December 27, 2014
The late Yasuki Chiba (1910 – 85) started filmmaking in silent era, went through various large and small film studios, and kept on making a number of genre films until the decline period of studio system in the late 1960s. This program will be a large retrospective of his films.
Cross-section of Japan’s Cinematic Past [Part 5]
The Toei Jidaigeki
January 6 – February 15, 2015
This program will make a retrospective review of Jidaigeki entertainment films produced by Toei, which was founded in 1951 when the restriction on the quantity of Jidaigeki film under occupation was abolished. The Toei Jidaigeki, which had Kengeki (cloak-and-sword) stars such as Chiezo Kataoka or Utaemon Ichikawa, brought forth many quality films or hit movies and made a big contribution to Toei’s unprecedented golden period.
Masters of Contemporary Asian Cinema:
From the Collection of the Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archive
February 17 – March 15, 2015
Co-organizer: Fukuoka City Public Library
This is a program that showcases a unique film collection of the Fukuoka City Public Library, being noted for its aggressive collection/preservation activities of Asian cinema. Audiences will be introduced to an overview of richness and diverse appeal of Asian cinema through retrospective showings of each country’s prominent film director.
Directed by Kazuyuki Izutsu — His Own Selection
March 17 – 29, 2015
This is the 3rd installment of the series that showcases the prominent Japanese film directors' films of their own selection. The lineup mainly consists of films of the 1980s and after. This program will quest for the origins of contemporary Japanese cinema.
Cinema 2
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
The Works of Hicozoh Akamatsu and Movie Title Design in Japan
April 15 – August 10, 2014
The manner in which main title is displayed on screen at the start of a film gives us one of the pleasures of seeing movies. Hicozoh Akamatsu (b. 1948), the foremost figure among title designers of our time, has provided his excellent works for more than 400 Japanese films. This exhibition will present Akamatsu’s achievements and also survey a history of title design in Japan, which has embellished films with various types of letterings since silent era.
Le monde en-chanté de Jacques Demy
August 28 – December 14, 2014
Co-organizer: La Cinémathèque Française
The late Jacques Demy (1931 – 1990) is a French film director, who enthralled international movie fans with a number of quality films such as The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) or The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). This exhibition will survey his life and films through an abundance of documents and photos. This is a travelling exhibition of the original one which was held in Paris, 2013. Lady Oscar (1979), a co-production with Japan, will be focused as well.
Film History in Posters Part 2: Musical Films
January 6 – March 29, 2015
Co-organizer: The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
The musical film is a film genre which came into bloom thanks to cinema’s acquisition of sound and made up one of the most graceful potions of Hollywood movies. Centering around the original posters of the postwar films from the collection of Makoto Wada, famous illustrator, this exhibition will trace the descent of the musical film, which gorgeously colored movie history.
Permanent Exhibition
Nihon Eiga: The History of Japanese Film
From the NFC Non-film Collection
Japanese cinema has already had a history of over one century with two golden ages. Targeted towards diverse generations of viewers ranging from elementary school students to adults, this exhibition will survey the history through posters, still photographs, devices and equipments for filmmaking, and the personal items that belonged to noted film personalities, among others from the NFC Collection. *Captions in both Japanese and English
