Nippon Connection and Netflix Japan present: HIBANA

After years of breaking international ground for a host of remarkable works of Japanese film, Nippon Connection is proud to be a part of history by hosting the global premier of one of the first-ever original Netflix series to be produced in Japan, a new international frontier for online television production. The result of … Continue reading Nippon Connection and Netflix Japan present: HIBANA

Guest in Focus: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

One of the special guests present at Nippon Connection this year is the renowned director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, this year’s recipient of the Nippon Honor Award. Born in 1955 in Kobe, Kurosawa’s career in film stretches back into the 1980’s, when he got his start making direct-to-video works and “pink films,” before studying in the US … Continue reading Guest in Focus: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

3/11 and Nippon Connection: A Different Look at the Catastrophe

3/11 has had lingering aftereffects across all aspects of Japanese culture and society. That's why there is a focus on documentary and fictional films that deal with the catastrophe of Fukushima. Here is a quick summary of all film premiers and events featured by Nippon Connection this year that focus on some aspect of the … Continue reading 3/11 and Nippon Connection: A Different Look at the Catastrophe

The year slips on the calendar: Takashi Makino’s 2012

Watching Derek Jarman’s Blue (1993) is like seeing everything and nothing at the same time. The cinema screen is entirely covered in a projection of blue, the particular tone of which was inspired by Yves Klein’s monochrome painting IKB 79 (1959) as well as the blue filter Jarman felt covered his own failing eyesight, symptomatic … Continue reading The year slips on the calendar: Takashi Makino’s 2012

What’s to love about Studio Ghibli’s Films

The recently-announced production hiatus by Studio Ghibli will certainly lend a somewhat sad air to this year’s showing at Nippon Kids of the most recent (and, for now, final) feature-length production by the Japanese animation giant, When Marnie Was There (Erinnerungen An Marnie). In honor of this special event, here is a look back at the films from the Ghibli filmography with the best and most powerful lessons for kids. By Noah Franc