by Chris MaGee
Jason Gray has word at his blog that Naomi Kawase is attempting to start up film festival in her hometown of Nara. The proposed Nara International Film Festival would have its inaugural year in 2010 just in time to coincide with the 1300th anniversary of Nara becoming the capital of Japan (prior to Kyoto Nara served as the capital of Japan for a brief 74 years from 710-784).
The” Mogari no Mori (The Mourning Forest)” director is chairing the festival planning committee and has applied for nearly half a million dollars in funding through the Japanese government’s Regional Business Stimulation Initiative fund.
Kawase has big plans for the new fest saying that she wants to create an international event that is, “on par with the big three film festivals, Berlin, Venice and Cannes.” What? No Toronto?
We wish Kawase-san the best of luck. Nara is a wonderful city and I’m certain that she will create a truly groundbreaking festival.
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2 comments:
As amazing as it is, TIFF is often left out of "world's most important" lists because it doesn't have an official competition. That's just the way it is...
Looking forward to hitting it for the first time in a few years this Sept.
I guess folks have a point there, Jason.
On a totally unrelated topic... I never realized how much Naomi Kawase looks like Bjork! Were they seperated at birth?
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