Diversity at film festival
RUNNING simultaneously in Cape Town and in Johannesburg, the 25th Japanese Film Festival takes place at the Ster-kinekor Cinema Nouveaus in the cities this weekend. The screenings aim to show the diversity in Japanese cinema.
You can expect to see It’s A Beautiful Life in an agricultural town where a few elderly women must grow their business. All over the world, there are farms, factories and other places of work where the people who do the hardest work are paid the least.
So if there was a way for women who have been tilling the land for decades, why would they not take it? Not all the movies at the Japanese Film Festival are about elders or work.
There is also the scary The Complex, which shows us what happens when a woman finds out that she lives in a complex where people are always dying. No one seems to believe her when she says she’s hearing sounds from her recently deceased neighbour’s apartment. No one except for a very young boy and an older man. Can the three of them keep each other alive?
There is also an animated film called Genius Party Beyond. It is brought to you by the same animators behind cult classic shows like Samurai
is a series of shorts that specifically look at life in Japan.
is a film that is not exactly what it sounds like. Yes, there is some outwitting and outlasting to be done but it Maboneng Precinct has emerged as a collaborative business and lifestyle hub that attracts millennial curiosity and emboldens a cultural renaissance that advocates for a sense of urban togetherness. Submerge yourself in what I call a “meat lovers dream” in a rustic restaurant space, Che Argentine Grill, the brainchild of friends Platinum-selling British singer and songwriter, Calum Scott is in South Africa this weekend for his Only Human world tour. Scott made his name when he was a finalist on the ninth season of Britain’s Got Talent in 2015. He used his fame and toured the UK and released an album. focuses on the divisions in a family that are caused by technology.
You’ve probably been through it. That stage of the day when you are sitting down for a meal with a parent and you can’t take your eyes off your phone long enough to have a conversation. Or if a parent is struggling with something on their smartphone or on the computer and you have to come in and save the day. The generational gaps caused by technology can be wide.
But what happens when a power outage makes the tech obsolete? This family must figure out if they can survive without the crutches they have become so accustomed to having. This film is very different from the others.