A feast of Japanese cinema at this month's Japanisches Filmfest Hamburg

by Chris MaGee

Wow! There seems to be an explosion of Japanese film fests in the last little while! Of course there was Nippon Connection last month, but then there's also been or will be the Los Angeles Japanese Film Festival, plus strong representations of Japanese cinema at the Barcelona Asian Film Festival, The Terracotta Asian Film Festival, Udine, New York Asian, etc, etc, etc. Now online friend and fellow Japanese film enthusiast Cathy Munroe Hotes over at Nishikata Film Review has twigged me to yet another Japanese Film Festival coming up, the Japanisches Filmfest Hamburg running from May 27th to 31st at the 3001, Metropolis, and B-Movie Kino (that's "Cinema" for all you non-German speakers out there). And what a line-up! Keisuke Yoshida's "Cafe Isobe"(above) , Sion Sono's "Love Exposure", Kengo Kaji's "samurai Princess", Kanji Nakajima's "The Clone Returns to the Homeland, Kazumi Kurigami's "Gelatin Silver Lover" and more, so much more!

If you live in or around Hamburg, or if you're lucky enough to be an independently wealthy international jet-setter then head to the the Japanisches Filmfest Hamburg's official website here to get an eyeful of what you can expect later this month.