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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260307T110000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260307T130000
DTSTAMP:20261006T030840
CREATED:20260212T221854Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260616T141423Z
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SUMMARY:Another World (KOTATSU screening)
DESCRIPTION:Another World \n半世界 \nSaturday\, March 7\, 11:00AM (ET) \nDoors open 10:30AM | Film Screening | In-Person | Innis Town Hall \nDirected by SAKAMOTO Junji • 2019 • Drama • 120 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles • Trailer \nInternationally recognized director SAKAMOTO Junji teams up with INAGAKI Goro to deliver an original story about three old school friends who are about to turn 40 years old. One of them returns home after a long silence and it brings the other two a moment to contemplate the days ahead in their lives. Through the perspective of men who are facing their 40s\, a point in life too late to be ambitious but too soon to give up\, Sakamoto depicts a human drama of new hope\, bonds between friends and family\, and struggle of how to live the rest of your life when you reach the half-way point. \n“A wistful\, intimate affair about friendship and fateful choices” (Screen Daily)\, Another World premiered at the 2018 Tokyo International Film Festival where it received Audience Award. It was later named one of Kinema Junpo’s Best Ten Japanese Films of the Year and received 4  Kinema Junpo Awards.  \nThis screening is a part of our annual winter film showcase\, KOTATSU 2026: Japanese Cinema at Innis Town Hall. \n  \nFree admission. Registration Required. \nRegister here \n\nDirector Profile: \n \nSAKAMOTO Junji (阪本 順治) is a Japanese filmmaker whose prolific career includes over thirty films. He started his career as an assistant director while studying\, working with filmmakers like ISHII Gakuryu\, among others. He made his directorial debut in 1989 with Knockout\, earning the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award\, and followed it up with another boxing film\, Tekken\, in 1990. Sakamoto became known for action films focusing on the conflicts between male characters\, such as Tokarefu (1994) and New Battles Without Honor and Humanity (2000)\, but has also made films centered on female characters such as Face (2000)\, for which he won the award for Best Director at the 24th Japan Academy Prize.  \nRecently\, his film Okiku and the World had its world premiere at the 2023 International Film Festival Rotterdam and won Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year. In 2023\, Sakamoto was honoured by New York Asian Film Festival with a Lifetime Achievement Award. \n\n  \nCommunity Partner: \n 
URL:https://tr.jpf.go.jp/event/another-world-kotatsu/
LOCATION:Innis Town Hall\, 2 Sussex Ave.\, Toronto\, Ontario\, M5S 1J5
CATEGORIES:Film,Film Screening
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260307T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260307T164500
DTSTAMP:20261006T030840
CREATED:20260212T221956Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260616T141443Z
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SUMMARY:A Story of Yonosuke (KOTATSU screening)
DESCRIPTION:A Story of Yonosuke \n横道世之介 \nSaturday\, March 7\, 2:00PM (ET) \nDoors open 1:30PM | Film Screening | In-Person | Innis Town Hall \nDirected by OKITA Shuichi • 2012 • Drama • 160 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles • Trailer \nA coming-of-age drama based on a serialized newspaper novel by YOSHIDA Shuichi (author of Kokuho)\, it nostalgically depicts the interactions between a good-natured young man and his friends\, while interweaving the past and present. \nIn 1987\, a young man named Yonosuke (played by KORA Kengo\, who won Best Actor at the Blue Ribbon Awards for his performance) who is unable to decline the requests of others leaves his hometown of Nagasaki to start university life in Tokyo. One day as he is juggling classes and extracurricular activities\, he goes to a driving school and meets Shoko (YOSHITAKA Yuriko)\, the daughter of a company president\, who takes a liking to him. \n  \nThis screening is a part of our annual winter film showcase\, KOTATSU 2026: Japanese Cinema at Innis Town Hall. \nFree admission. Registration Required. \nRegister here \n\nDirector Profile: \n \nOKITA Shuichi (沖田 修一) is one of Japan’s most distinctive contemporary filmmakers\, known for his humanistic storytelling\, understated humor\, and deep compassion for his characters. His films often focus on ordinary people navigating moments of quiet change\, blending comedy and melancholy with remarkable emotional precision. \nOkita gained recognition with The Woodsman and the Rain (2011)\, a warmhearted comedy about an unlikely friendship between a retired lumberjack and a young film director\, which won the Jury Prize at the 2011 Tokyo International Film Festival. He followed this success with A Story of Yonosuke (2013)\, winning Best Director at the 2014 Japan Film Professional Awards\, which further cemented his reputation. \nOther notable works include Mori\, The Artist’s Habitat (2018)\, a meditative portrait of artist MORI Morikazu (shown at our KOTATSU 2020)\, One Summer Story (2020)\, Ora\, Ora Be Goin’ Alone (2020)\, and The Fish Tale (2022). Across his body of work\, Okita demonstrates a rare ability to find meaning in the everyday\, portraying lives not defined by dramatic turning points\, but by the gentle accumulation of moments. \n\n  \nCommunity Partner: \n 
URL:https://tr.jpf.go.jp/event/yonosuke-kotatsu/
LOCATION:Innis Town Hall\, 2 Sussex Ave.\, Toronto\, Ontario\, M5S 1J5
CATEGORIES:Film,Film Screening
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260307T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20260307T205000
DTSTAMP:20261006T030840
CREATED:20260212T222033Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260616T141537Z
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SUMMARY:And Your Bird Can Sing (KOTATSU screening)
DESCRIPTION:And Your Bird Can Sing\n \nきみの鳥はうたえる \nSaturday\, March 7\, 7:00PM (ET) \nDoors open 6:30PM | Film Screening | In-Person | Innis Town Hall \nDirected by MIYAKE Sho • 2018 • Romance\, Drama • 106 minutes • Presented in Japanese with English subtitles • Trailer \nBased on SATO Yasushi’s novel of the same title\, the film depicts a love triangle and captures the magic and melancholy of a summer. The main character\, « Me » (played by EMOTO Tasuku\, who won Best Actor at the Kinema Junpo Awards for his performance)\, works in a bookshop in Hakodate\, Hokkaido\, and shares a flat with a friend named Shizuo (SOMETANI Shota). Sachiko (ISHIBASHI Shizuka) is « Me »’ s colleague from the bookshop\, and the two starts a relationship. When Shizuo meets Sachiko\, he too starts to like her… Depicted like a breeze in the heat of Summer\, the relationship between these three young Japanese is built on a delicate balance of love and friendship.  \n  \nThis screening is a part of our annual winter film showcase\, KOTATSU 2026: Japanese Cinema at Innis Town Hall. \n  \nFree admission. Registration Required. \nRegister here \n\nDirector Profile: \n \nBorn in 1984 in Sapporo\, Hokkaido\, MIYAKE Sho (三宅 唱) is a Japanese filmmaker whose work has garnered significant international recognition\, particularly at major European film festivals. He completed the elementary fiction course at the Film School of Tokyo and began making feature films after graduating from university. \nHis breakthrough feature Playback (2012) was selected for the International Competition at the Locarno Film Festival. And Your Bird Can Sing (2018) screened in the Forum section of the Berlin International Film Festival\, where it received strong critical acclaim both internationally and in Japan\, and was named one of Kinema Junpo’s Best Ten Japanese Films of the Year. \nMiyake’s next two feature films — Small\, Slow but Steady (2022) and All the Long Nights (2024) — both premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and won Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year. Most recently\, Two Seasons\, Two Strangers (2025) won the top prize in the International Competition at the Locarno Film Festival\, further cementing Miyake’s reputation as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Japanese cinema. \n\nCommunity Partners: \n \n 
URL:https://tr.jpf.go.jp/event/and-your-bird-can-sing-kotatsu/
LOCATION:Innis Town Hall\, 2 Sussex Ave.\, Toronto\, Ontario\, M5S 1J5
CATEGORIES:Film,Film Screening
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