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CineWA at The Projector kicks off a celebration of Japanese films

SINGAPORE — On Sunday (July 17), the cineWa series of Japanese films, screening at The Projector, will kick off with Sion Sono’s illicit murder mystery, Guilty Of Romance.

A scene from Megane. Photo: 2007 “Megane” Company, Nikkatsu Corp

A scene from Megane. Photo: 2007 “Megane” Company, Nikkatsu Corp

SINGAPORE — On Sunday (July 17), the cineWa series of Japanese films, screening at The Projector, will kick off with Sion Sono’s illicit murder mystery, Guilty Of Romance.

cineWa — Sundays With Japanese Cinema will run for seven Sundays, showcasing a different film each week as a prelude to the Japanese Film Festival Singapore, which will be held in September. It is an effort to support Japanese cinema here, explained The Projector’s film curator Gavin Low.

“The Japanese Film Festival is one of the major highlights in the film festival calendar in Singapore and should continue to see further interest this year as it provides a counter programme to the majority of the films from Europe and the United States seen in Singapore,” he said.

It’s also part of The Projector’s ultimate aim of broadening the scope of films screened in Singapore, Low added. From April to June this year, for instance, they had a French season titled Sundays with French Cinema, featuring films that did not fit into the usual programming structure of being released in cinemas.

They have also been involved in the annual German Film Festival, and led the way in bringing new film festivals such as the Swedish Film Festival, which held its first edition in Singapore this year at The Projector.

“I hope to support Japanese cinema in similar ways in the lead-up to the Japanese Film Festival,” Low said. “The titles being screened at cineWa are a mixture of crowd favourites, critically-acclaimed award winners and previously released films that may have been forgotten.”

What is it about Japanese cinema that whets the appetite of local audiences? “Japanese films tell an Asian story that is appealing to Singaporeans and Asians alike,” Low opined. For instance, “Japan shares many similar values with Asians in general and with Singaporeans”.

Beyond relatability, the distinctiveness of Japanese cinema is a result of two factors, said Low. Firstly, it has “a commercially large domestic market, which has allowed it to sell first to its people before looking overseas, thereby keeping stories Japanese and resulting in elements like the Japanese aesthetic and style remaining intact”.

Secondly, it has enjoyed a long, uninterrupted history of film-making since the beginning of world cinema in the early 19th century, even throughout the second World War. “This history is mirrored only by the United States and France today,” Low said.

“Coming from one of the oldest film producing countries in the world, Japanese film directors continue to inspire audiences with their creative approach to storytelling in the film medium, which is unique even within the Asian film industry.”

Weighing in on what makes Japanese films unique, Ben Slater, senior lecturer at the School of Art, Design & Media in Nanyang Technological University, said: “Japanese cinema can be seen as highly refined whatever (genre) is being pursued, whether it’s a commercial manga adaptation, a low-key humanistic drama, a well-crafted horror or gangster flick, or something insanely eccentric, like some of the weirder efforts of Sion Sono or Miike Takashi. There’s an attention to detail and a level of technical skill that’s remarkably consistent.”

On top of that, he added, “I think overseas audiences find the peculiarities of Japanese culture and society fascinating, and have always fetishised it, and that’s reflected in the way people become interested in ‘Japanese Cinema’ as if it were a genre unto itself, which, of course it isn’t — it’s actually really diverse.”

Find out the extent of its diversity for yourself — that’s your next seven Sunday afternoons sorted.

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