The 2024 edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF) in Romania pays homage to Japanese cinema through Focus Japan, an eclectic program that brings together films of reference in cinema history, the top acclaimed recent productions, as well as workshops and special programs.

"The eight selected films come together in a kaleidoscope of as many genres and styles, with ultra award-winning and resounding titles, but also a playful indie flick, an anime sensation, a boundless documentary, and a fresh title from this year's Cannes Film Festival," said Crăița Nanu, section curator.

The lineup includes Remembering Every Night (dir. Yui Kiyohara), which comes from the 2022 Berlinale and talks about time and its passing through three women who cross paths in one of the largest residential districts near Tokyo. Meanwhile, director Kei Ishikawa plays with psychological thriller conventions in A Man (2022), while Plan 75 (dir. Hayakawa Chie, 2022) presents a dystopian reality in which the government encourages people over 75 to use free euthanasia services.

Focus Japan also includes River (dir. Junta Yamaguchi, 2023), director Hiroshi Okuyama's second film My Sunshine, The Contestant (dir. Clair Titley, 2023), and Perfect Days (2023) - the latest title from legendary Wim Wenders. 

Moreover, as no program dedicated to Japanese cinema could not be complete without an animated film, First Slam Dunk (dir. Takehiko Inoue, 2022) also joined the lineup.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi completes the Japanese cinematic landscape at TIFF with three titles in the 3x3 section: Evil Does Not Exist (2023), winner of the Grand Jury Prize in Venice; Drive My Car (2021), an emotional adaptation after Murakami that earned its director the Oscar for Best Foreign Film; and The Passion (2008), the director's second film, with which he graduated from Tokyo University.

Focus Japan will also feature films from classic Japanese cinema, in restored versions, by masters such as Shōhei Imamura, Yasujirō Ozu, Kinuyo Tanaka, and Kenji Mizoguchi. The program is completed by a cine-concert of A Page of Madness (dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926). Irina-Margareta Nistor and the band CelloFun will bring the silent experimental thriller to life on June 18 at Cinema Dacia Mănăștur.

Focus Japan will be completed by a series of experiences supported by the Center for Romanian Japanese Studies: a MANGA workshop presented by illustrator Anca Toma Noctis Art, an Origami workshop by artist Alexandra Baranyi, and an IKEBANA workshop by Andreea Georgescu. Demmers will demonstrate the Tea Ceremony. 

NEZUMI by Nemira, the first MANGA imprint in the Romanian language, will present a MANGA behind-the-scenes panel, and the Humanitas Fiction Publishing House proposes, as part of Focus Japan, a reprint of Strangers by Taichi Yamada, the basis of the film All of Us Strangers, which will be screened within the festival. 

A wide selection of traditional Japanese products can be found at Humanitas (Takumi) Bookstores in Cluj, and a selection of Manga and contemporary products can be found in Cărturești Bookstores.

TIFF 2024 will take place in Cluj-Napoca on June 14-24.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: the organizers)