2024 Japanese Film Festival
Featured Film " Tuna Girl"
You will enjoy great Japanese movies at Phoenix Art Museum on October 19th.
About Japanese Film Festival Arizona
All Japanese Film Program 2024
Tuna Girl
『TUNAガール』Tuna Girl:
(01:30:00)Dir. Mana Yasuda | 2020 | 01:30:00 | drama | Japan
A clumsy but cheerful fisheries student struggles to find her place at a research institute renowned for its tuna cultivation.
Mrs. Noisy
『ミセス・ノイズイ』Mrs. Noisy: (01:47:44)Dir. Chihiro Amano | 2023 | 01:47:44 | drama | Japan
A once-successful novelist Maki is having a writer's block. She moves into
a new apartment with her family, but her frustration peaks when the
persistent noise coming from her neighbor gets to her. A small neighbors
quarrel quickly becomes a social media meme
『ミセス・ノイズイ』Mrs. Noisy: (01:47:44)Dir. Chihiro Amano | 2023 | 01:47:44 | drama | Japan
A once-successful novelist Maki is having a writer's block. She moves into
a new apartment with her family, but her frustration peaks when the
persistent noise coming from her neighbor gets to her. A small neighbors
quarrel quickly becomes a social media meme and snowballs into a major
internet frenzy. Maki decides to write about it, but with the unexpected
consequences of art imitating life. Inspired by a true event, it is a modern
tale of public ridicule, social boundaries, and a reminder that you're often
exposed to only one side of the story.
Parents' Day
『明日授業参観いくから』Parent’s Day: (00:23:00)Dir. Mana Yasuda| | 00:23:00 | drama | Japan
In Japan, parents’ days are held several times a year for parents to observe classes at school.
In this experimental and moving short film, the exact same conversation about parents’ day is repeated in five different households.
For Noriko Sakaguchi, her job a
『明日授業参観いくから』Parent’s Day: (00:23:00)Dir. Mana Yasuda| | 00:23:00 | drama | Japan
In Japan, parents’ days are held several times a year for parents to observe classes at school.
In this experimental and moving short film, the exact same conversation about parents’ day is repeated in five different households.
For Noriko Sakaguchi, her job as an English teacher at a junior high school is her life. She always arrives at work early in the morning. She is bad at turning down work, and often works late. She lives a stable life, despite the loneliness of being single.
There are a variety of students in her class.
Hikaru, whose parents both work, is a model student.
Akina is a cheerful girl despite losing her mother.
Kazuma is well-off but unmotivated.
Yukari takes on the household chores because her mother is sloppy.
Ryota is frightened of his violent father.
Tomorrow is parents’ day.
The same conversation unfolds in each household, but each family is different…
Shu Ha Ri
︎『守破離』Shu Ha Ri
(Arizona Premier):Dir. Tatsuya Ino | 2023 | 12:36 | documentary | Japan, USA
Anime: Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko
『漁港の肉子ちゃん』Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko: Blue Ray (From Japan Foundation NY Office)Dir. Ayumu Watanabe | 2021 | 01:27:00 | anime, drama | Japan
Third Wheel
『晴れて成仏』Third Wheel:Dir. Kevin Haefelin | 2023 | 4:50 | comedy, drama, period, fantastic | Switzerland
Edo Period. Following his abrupt death, Gohei, a master carpenter,
returns as a ghost to make peace with his wife, Sachi but finds out he
is invisible. He must rely on Sakichi, his once-neglected apprentice
gifted with psychic abilities.
The floating World
The Floating World:Dir. Hiroshi Yokota | 2023 | 15:17 | documentary | Japan
When a university student struggling with an environmental
studies assignment searches for inspiration for an assignment at
an art gallery, she is magically transported into a painting and
lands in 19th-century Japan. In Edo, today’s Tokyo, she witnesses
a range of eve
The Floating World:Dir. Hiroshi Yokota | 2023 | 15:17 | documentary | Japan
When a university student struggling with an environmental
studies assignment searches for inspiration for an assignment at
an art gallery, she is magically transported into a painting and
lands in 19th-century Japan. In Edo, today’s Tokyo, she witnesses
a range of everyday sustainable practices––using ashes in the
dyeing process, fertilizing fields with night soil, repurposing used
kimonos into towels and rags––that helped the country overcome
environmental collapse.
Rules of Living
Rules of Living
『ルール・オブ・リビング』
Rules of Living: (01:51:00) Dir. Greg Dale | 2023 | 01:53:00 |
comedy drama | Japan
Talks and Q&A
Perfect World/ Dir Yusuke Fukada
"Perfect World" Arizona Premier
Director Yuske Fukada's talk and Q&A.
October 18th at 8:15 PM
at Taliesin West Cabaret Theater (SOLD OUT)
October 19th at 5:50 PM
at Phoenix Art Museum Whiteman Theater
Yuske Fukada, born in Kyoto, Japan, is a filmmaker committed to exploring identity and marginalized stories across live action, documentary, and animation. His early shorts The Last Dragon Lady and After Maiko emphasize his focus on outsiders, while Perfect World delves into the theme of 'selection of life' through innovative visual techniques. For his upcoming Netflix sci-fi animated series, Tokyo Override, Fukada utilized a groundbreaking worldbuilding methodology to craft a richly detailed future, uniting global talent from Japan, the U.S., Thailand, and beyond, set for worldwide release in 2024. Fukada studied in Denmark and France, holds an MFA from the University of Southern California, and a PhD from Kyoto University, where he researched Guzen (chance/fate/accident) in digital filmmaking—concepts that continue to shape his creative vision. He pushes storytelling boundaries through international, multicultural projects, foregrounding conceptual and technological innovation.