If you missed the Bon Odori 2015 last weekend, fret not! You can still indulge in Japanese art, starting from this week all the way into next month, without having to dress up in a yukata or go all the way to Shah Alam. This time around, the ‘art’ in question is in the form of movies, at Golden Screen Cinemas’ (GSC) Japanese Film Festival (JFF) 2015!

Now in its 12th year, the annual GSC Japanese Film Festival aims to share Japan’s diverse movie cultures – from period dramas to modern life to animation – with Malaysian audiences. A lineup of 13 movie titles will be shown in selected Golden Screen Cinemas nationwide from 10 September 2015 to 4 October 2015, in both West and East Malaysia. Check out the schedule below, and visit the Japan Foundation or GSC website for more details.

GSC Japanese Film Festival 2015 schedule

List of movies for GSC Japanese Film Festival 2015

  • Kakekomi
  • Our Little Sister
  • Unsung Hero
  • Our Family
  • Bolt From The Blue
  • Blindly In Love
  • Tamako in Moratorium
  • My Little Nightmare
  • Tokyo Losers
  • Petal Dance
  • The Adventures of Tyrano Boy
  • Initial D the Movie Legend 2: Racer
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I – Blue-Eyed Casval

Tickets for each movie is priced at RM 7.50 (incl. 6% GST), except for “Initial D the Movie Legend 2: Racer” and “The Adventures of Tyrano Boy” which will be sold at current ticket pricing. Tickets can be bought up to 2 days in advance from the GSC website (www.gsc.com.my) or participating GSC outlets.

JFF 2015

Estate123’s JFF 2015 Picks

kakekomi_1000px_1

Kakekomi 駆込み女と駆出し男 (2015)
Tokei-ji temple is known as a place where women flee to seek divorce. Shinjiro, a novice doctor and aspiring writer, becomes increasingly drawn into the women’s lives as he realises how much their stories vary – that separation can come out of love as well as hate.
This movie is the highlight of GSC’s Japanese Film Festival 2015, with director Masato Harada attending the opening ceremony of JFF to present his film. The Japan feudal era movie was an explosive hit in Japan, earning ¥158 million (US$1.3 million) on its opening weekend and still packing audiences in Japanese cinemas four months after its release.

ourlittlesister_1000px_1Our Little Sister 海街DIARY (2015)
Three sisters – Sachi, Yoshino and Chika – live together in a large house in the city of Kamakura. When their father – absent from the family home for the last 15 years – dies, they travel to the countryside for his funeral, and meet their shy teenage half-sister. Bonding quickly with the orphaned Suzu, they invite her to live with them. Suzu eagerly agrees, and a new life of joyful discovery begins for the four siblings.
What can we say? If you have siblings (doesn’t matter if they’re your brothers or sisters), this movie will definitely teach you a thing or two about love and family.

boltfromtheblue_1000px_1Bolt From The Blue 青天の霹靂 (2014)
Despite talent and persistence, Haruo’s attempts to make it as a stage magician remain fruitless. He is down on luck in other ways as well: broke and tending bars for a living, he returns from work one day to find his boarding house has been flooded in a downpour. It seems like life cannot get much worse until he receives a phone call telling him that his estranged father has been found dead, setting off a chain of events that literally throw Haruo back to the past, to a date not long before he is about to be born. Part comedy, part tearjerker, this heartwarming drama is about love, family, talent, ambition and the implications of the choices that we make.
Remember the movie Back To The Future? Well, we imagine it to be something like that, except with much more depth and a much more interesting storyline. Also, anything that can claim to make us laugh and cry is definitely something worth watching.

tokyolosers_1000px_1Tokyo Losers 上京ものがたり(2013)
This movie is based on the true story of famous manga artist Rieko Saibara. Believing that she has a special talent for drawing, a young woman from the countryside named Natsumi arrives in Tokyo to pursue her dreams of being published. However, she finds herself the worst student at art school, constantly broke, stuck at a dead-end job, and living with a good-for-nothing boyfriend.
This is a movie for anybody who has ever dreamed of pursuing their passion and finding out that the road to success isn’t quite as they imagined it. The best part? It’s based on a true story, and we all know only the good ones get made into movies.

tyranoboy_1000px_3The Adventures of Tyrano Boyあなたをずっとあいしてる(2015)
After losing his mother Sera and father Zesta, a young Tyrannosaurus Rex named Toron embarks on a journey to become strong. Along the way, he learns the true meaning of strength, courage and love in his encounters with other dinosaurs.
Families with children, listen up! This cute animated movie is the perfect solution to your weekend plans. We won’t judge you if you’re bringing a kid along just as an excuse to watch this adorable dinosaur animation…. because we’d totally do the same.

mobilesuitgundam_1000px_1Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I – Blue-Eyed Casval 青い瞳のキャスバル (2015)
The first in a four-part OVA series depicting the time from the death of political leader Zeon Zum Deikun to the One Year War. The film traces the journey of his son, Casval, after the assassination and his escape to Earth, and focuses on the various people who shaped him into the man he eventually becomes.
The Gundam anime series is already pretty awesome to begin with, but to watch them battle it out on the big screen? Now that’s something worth watching. I can already hear the whoops of joy coming from Gundam fans.

You can buy tickets for JFF movies from the GSC website or at participating GSC outlets. If you have downloaded the Maxis Rewards app, you can even get a free ticket! 😀

Disclaimer: All pictures were taken from the Japan Foundation Japanese Film Festival 2015 website.