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YOUKOSO!
Welcome to the Japanese film festival Nippon Connection!
The Japanese film industry is booming and enjoying artistic and commercial success at home and abroad. When Nippon Connection first turned on the film projectors seven years ago, films from Japan were still considered exotic rarities in Germany. Times have changed considerably. Nippon Connection is happy to continue contributing to the discovery of the exciting vitality and breadth of film from Japan. And with around 700 feature films produced in 2007 alone, there are still many gems waiting to be shown.
Nippon Connection 2007 promises to be especially exciting, with over 170 films from the whole range of film production, the larger then ever by-program of events, workshops, lectures and performances. We will present mostly German, European and international premieres, many of them introduced personally bu the directors, actors and producers.
The program is divided into the following categories:
NIPPON CINEMA offers an overview of the best of the current cinematic output of Japan. The NIPPON CINEMA AWARD is determined by audience vote, and is endowed with 2,000 Euros sponsored by Bankhaus Metzler.
NIPPON DIGITAL presents a fascinating and innovative kaleidoscope of films using the creative possibilities of digital production, with animation, documentary films, feature films and experimental film. Over the years, this section has become one of the international insider tips as an assortment of stunning films daring to venture into uncharted artistic territory.
Bei NIPPON RETRO is our annually changing retrospective. This year's edition "Shooting the Sun" will focus on Japanese experimental film since 1960. This collection of mesmerizing and incredibly difficult to see cinematic masterworks is brought to you in cooperation with the cinema at the German Film Museum.
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NIPPON CULTURE is a program including everything from tea ceremonies to Japanese break dancers to karaoke. This year will especially focus on theater. One of the highlights will be the performances of the famous puppeteer extraordinaire Joe TAIRA. Together with the Landungsbrücken Frankfurt and The @rt we also present the play »Wie der Wind im Ei« by award-winning author Yoko TAWADA and a Music-Reading-Performance with Yoko TAWADE and the pianist Aki TAKASE. Lectures by international experts on film from Japan, parties, Japanese food, dancing robots and a Japanese video game center invite you to enjoy the festival around the clock.
This year we are proud to present the first European installment of the KINEMA CLUB CONFERENCE FOR THE STUDY OF FILM AND MOVING IMAGES FROM JAPAN. This conference series has been in existence since 1999, and is one of the most important academic events for the study of film from Japan in the world. It is brought to Frankfurt in cooperation with the Institute for Theater-, Film- and Media Study of the university of Frankfurt and Prof. Markus Nornes (University of Michigan).
NIPPON CONNECTION FILM FESTIVAL ON TOUR is the attempt to secure as large an audience as possible for the treasures we have collected for the festival. The tour will feature a selection of the Nippon Connection program and be shown at venues all over Europe and North and South America. Planned venues are Berlin, Leipzig, Barcelona. Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Rio de Janiero.
Nippon Connection is the largest festival for film from Japan in the world, and it is one of the few festivals in Germany organized on a volunteer basis. We would like to thank all our cooperation partners, sponsors and supporters that have made it possible for us to offer you such a large program.
We hope you enjoy yourself at Nippon Connection! |
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