The Japanese Film Festival Returns For Its Hybrid Edition Featuring 27 Films2 min read

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Singapore Film Society (SFS), in collaboration with the Japan Creative Centre, Embassy of Japan in Singapore and The Japan Foundation are thrilled to announce that the 2020 edition of the annual Japanese Film Festival (JFF) will be held from 10 December to 20 December
2020.

The Festival celebrates Japanese cinema with a diverse selection of titles under the theme ‘The Closest You Can Get to Japan in 2020’. The quirky tagline was not the original theme when JFF was initially set to launch in February earlier this year, but was naturally suitable for the postponed festival’s re-launch. The festival hopes to bring Japanese culture, food and
stories closer to our Singapore audiences, many of whom tend to travel to Japan during this holiday period.

With slight tweaks in the programme line-up to adapt to this year’s chaos, JFF 2020 consists of 28 titles curated in 4 sections, some of which will also be available for viewing online:

Panorama
8 latest Japanese titles showing at Shaw Theatres Lido

Indie
11 titles from the Japanese independent film scene, with selected titles screened both physically and virtually

Shorts
Selection of 7 shorts from the Tokyo Short Shorts Festival curated in 2 Short Film Programs

The Projector Showcase
2 Kurosawa Noir titles at The Projector

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Opening JFF2020 is quirky family drama Bento Harassment, with director Renpei Tsukamoto joining the audience for an online Q&A session on 12 December, and kick-starting a line-up of more Q&As with directors
than previous editions of JFF.

In total, six directors will be joining online for Q&A sessions with the public, including Kyohei Fujimura and Chihiro Amano.

Adding to the lineup of programmes is a Sound Design Masterclass with veteran Singapore-based Japanese Sound Designer Kazz Sato.

Leading up from 2019’s successful collaboration with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (SSFF & ASIA), Japan Film Festival has again curated 2 Short Film Programs with a total of 7 carefully selected shorts.

Started in 1999 by actor Tetsuya Bessho, who was inspired after attending the Sundance Film Festival, the festival aims to introduce Japanese audiences to short films, a format that many Japanese people were unfamiliar with back then. Now, SSFF is a well-known qualifying festival for the Academy Awards.

Ticket sales will commence 26 November:
Panorama, Indie & Shorts – Shaw Theatres Lido website
The Projector Showcase – The Projector ticketing website
Online Q&As and Masterclass – Singapore Film Society Peatix Page

Members of SFS’ new membership tiers, SFS Friends & Fam, and Friends of JCC get $2 off ticket prices for all titles. Admission to the online Q&As and Kazz Sato Masterclass are free.

For full information on the festival, visit its website here.