11th Annual Sacramento Japanese Film Festival

The Sacramento Japanese Film Festival began as a one day festival, Japanese Movies at the Crest, in 2005, and has since expanded into screening seven films over three days. The film festival is sponsored by the Sacramento Japanese United Methodist Church. Come out this year to see what’s in store.

Schedule:
Friday, July 17 (Opening Night):
-7:30pm: Like Father Like Son: A successful architect, Ryota, loves his family. He learns his son was switched at birth with another newborn. A working class couple have been raising his son for six years. The two families switch children and start from scratch with their biological offspring.

Saturday, July 19:
-11:30am: I Was Born But…: One of the great silent Japanese masterpieces. Two young boys see their father, a lowly office clerk, suck up to his boss. Dad explains his boss owns the company and must be treated with respect. The boys rebel and ask if they must bow down to the boss’s son who is their age.
-1:20pm: The Tale of The Princess Kaguya: An old bamboo cutter and his wife find a miniature baby girl in a bamboo stalk. Little Bamboo is happy with her peasant playmates, but she is on Earth to fulfill her destiny as Princess Kaguya. Studio Ghibli’s hand-drawn anime movie was ten years in the making.
-4pm: Hafu: The Mixed-Race Experience in Japan: One in 49 babies born in Japan have one parent who isn’t Japanese. Young adults and one child of mixed racial ancestry share their experiences on living in Japan.
-7:15pm: Unforgiven: The Japanese spin on Clint Eastwood’s film. Ken Watanabe is Jobei, a widowed samurai with two small children. A friend, Kingo, arrives with the news about a bounty offered for two men; and Jobei takes on the challenge. The Ainu, Japan’s native people, are counterpart to Native Americans, and the scenes of Northern Hokkaido are spectacular.

Sunday, July 19:
-1:30pm: Pecoross’ Mother and Her Days: A dramatic comedy about Yuichi, a divorced salary man and his mother, Mitsue. Yuichi’s joy in life is drawing manga and making music. His bald head is like a Pecoross onion. Mitsue’s dementia began 10 years ago and Yuichi must now consider placing her in a care home.
-4pm: Under the Blood-Red Sun: Two best friends Tomi Nakaji and Billy Davis are playing baseball in Honolulu on December 7, 1941 when they are interrupted by low planes flying overhead with the red sun, emblem of Japan, on the side of a planes. The boys’ friendship grows stronger. A compelling coming of age film based on actual events.