Family Matters –
The Japanese Family Between Tradition And Modernity

Our program focus FAMILY MATTERS examines the questions of what distinguishes family concepts in Japan from those in other countries, and why the theme of family is both traditional and controversial in Japanese cinema. A selection of current cinematic positions reveals how social transformation in Japan undermines once unshakable images of the family and how filmmakers translate these changes into narratives and images. How will Japanese cinema position itself in relation to a changing family culture in the future? As a social catalyst, what part does the cinema play in breaking with traditional ways of life?

In addition to the film program, we would like to learn from our speakers Chantal Bertalanffy and Claudia Bertolé what role the family plays in contemporary Japanese films, and why the blended family in Hirokazu KOREEDA’s SHOPLIFTERS (Golden Palm and Oscar nomination 2018) provoked such heated reactions in Japan.

The program focus FAMILY MATTERS – THE JAPANESE FAMILY BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY is supported by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain.
 

Film Program

A Girl Missing by Koji FUKADA 

Ainu Mosir by Takeshi FUKUNAGA 

Ainu Neno An Ainu by Laura Liverani, Neo SORA

Aristocrats by Yukiko SODE 

Daughters by Hajime TSUDA 

Family Of Strangers by Hideyuki HIRAYAMA 

his by Rikiya IMAIZUMI 

Kontora by Anshul CHAUHAN 

Me And The Cult Leader by Atsushi SAKAHARA 

Nosari: Impermanent Eternity by Tatsuya YAMAMOTO 

One Night by Kazuya SHIRAISHI 

The Promised Land by Takahisa ZEZE 

Sea Of Revival by Kazuya SHIRAISHI 

Seven Days War by Yuta MURANO 

Special Actors by Shinichiro UEDA 

The Stormy Family by Masahide ICHII 

The Town Of Headcounts by Shinji ARAKI 

Under The Open Sky by Miwa NISHIKAWA 

Voices In The Wind by Nobuhiro SUWA 

Wonderful Paradise by Masashi YAMAMOTO 

yes, yes, yes by Akihiko YANO 

Lectures

Family In Contemporary Japanese Cinema
A lecture by Chantal Bertalanffy

Social Pressure, Private Emotion – Families In Hirokazu KOREEDA’s Films
A lecture by Claudia Bertolé