The Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur presents the 11th edition of the Japanese Film Festival to be held at selected Golden Screen Cinemas venues across Malaysia.

Residents of the Klang Valley will be the first in line to catch the best in Japanese motion pictures when the event opens at GSC Mid Valley, GSC Pavilion KL and GSC One Utama on 11 September. JFF 2014 will also be extended to George Town, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

Cinephiles can expect a variety of titles to whet every appetite, from light-hearted mainstream fare to movies that have made the rounds in film festivals the likes of Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and New York.

Heart-warming dramas and rib-tickling comedies dominate the 13-strong list, which includes five new releases making their Malaysian premiere.

Yuki Tanada’s exploration of grief and loss in “Mourning Recipe” boasts an award-winning cast with a Japan Academy Prize and Venice Film Festival Marco Mastroianni Award to their names. Meanwhile, Mikako Ichikawa – who received the prestigious Silver St. George in 2002 – plays a kooky woman who leases out her feline companions to lonely people in “Rent-a-Cat”.

Period action-farce “Samurai Hustle” – about a hapless clan leader forced to make an impossible journey to save his village – was the top local film at the Japanese box office for three consecutive weeks and raked in a cool ¥900 million (RM28.3 million) in ticket sales.

Visitors to JFF 2014 will also find definite crowd-pleasers in Hirokazu Koreeda’s Cannes Jury Prize-winning “Like Father, Like Son” and Hayao Miyazaki’s swansong biopic “The Wind Rises”.

All films are presented in Japanese with English subtitles.

Visit the GSC website for showtimes and online booking.

* Tickets for JFF ’14 will be sold at RM7 except for “Initial D Legend 1: Awakening” and “Saint Seiya: Legend Of Sanctuary” which will be sold at prevailing ticket pricing.
** Tickets can be purchased two (2) days in advance through GSC box office, GSC e-Payment at gsc.com.my or GSC Mobile App (iOS and Android).

Full programme

	Like Father, Like Son d. KOREEDA Hirokazu/2013/121minRyota Nonomiya is a successful businessman driven by money. When he learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth, he must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own.Watch the trailer here.
	The Wind Rises d. MIYAZAKI Hayao/2013/126minA fictionalised biography of Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the Mitsubishi A5M and its successor, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Both were converted for use as fighter planes by the Empire of Japan during WWII.Watch the trailer here.
	New Initial D the Movie Legend 1: Awakening (prevailing ticket price) d. HIDAKA Masamitsu/2014/60minHigh school student Takumi Fujiwara is a gas station attendant by day and a delivery boy for his father’s tofu shop by night. But little does he know his precise driving skills and his father’s modified Toyota Sprinter AE86 Trueno will soon pit him against Gunma prefecture’s best racing groups.Watch the trailer here.
	Saint Seiya: Legend Of Sanctuary (prevailing ticket price) d. SATOU Keiichi/2014/93minFive young warriors known as Saints wage war against the Sanctuary in an effort to protect Saori Kido, a reincarnation of the goddess Athena.Watch the trailer here.
	Rent-a-Cat d. OGIGAMI Naoko/2012/110minAn odd woman named Sayoko rents cats to the lonesome. Renters include an old woman who lost her husband and her cat, a middle-aged man who moved away from his family for work, a receptionist who questions her existence and a man who has a connection with Sayoko.Watch the trailer here.
	Tug of War! d. MIZUTA Nobuo/2012/111minChiaki Nishikawa works at the public relations department for the city of Oita. In the past, the city has won the tug-of-war world championship thrice. Chiaki is also an enthusiast for the tug-of-war game. To promote Oita, the mayor instructs Chiaki to form a female tug-of-war team.Watch the trailer here.
	Tokyo Oasis d. MATSUMOTO Kana & KAYO Nakamura/2011/83minLosing her grip on reality, an actress abruptly leaves the filming of her latest project and encounters three kindred spirits. Together, they discover a new lease on life.Watch the trailer here.
	Leaving on the 15th Spring d. YOSHIDA Yasuhiro/2013/114minYuna is a 15-year-old who lives with her father in a secluded island where students are forced to leave upon graduating from junior high in order to continue their education. Though she is excited about the prospect of life away from her small community, she feels unease over leaving her father all alone.Watch the trailer here.
	Fly, Dakota, Fly! d. ABURATANI Seiji/2013/109minShortly after the end of WWII, a plane carrying British soldiers and dignitaries is stranded in Sado Island. Despite their initial hostility, the villagers decide to help their former enemies return home.Watch the trailer here.
	Mourning Recipe d. TANADA Yuki/2013/129minA man’s life is turned upside down after the death of his wife. Two weeks later, a woman visits him and gives him a recipe for happiness left by his late wife. Meanwhile, his daughter Yuriko comes to visit him in lieu of her impending divorce. Together, they are able to overcome their personal wounds and move on with their lives.Watch the trailer here.
	Samurai Hustle d. MOTOKI Katsunori/2013/119minMasaatsu Naito is the head of a small and poor clan in Northern Japan who is ordered by the Shogun to travel an incredible distance in an impossibly short time or risk having his land taken away.Watch the trailer here.
	The Snow White Murder Case d. NAKAMURA Yoshihiro/2014/126minA mystery about the destructive power of gossip when a young woman who works at a cosmetic company is suspected of murdering her beautiful colleague.Watchthe trailer here.
	The Round Table d. YUKISADA Isao/2014/113minKokko leads a charmed life surrounded by people who love her. However, the eight-year-old is far from happy with the situation. An unplanned pregnancy in the family offers her a chance to escape from a humdrum existence.Watch the trailer here.

Showtimes

“Initial D Legend 1: Awakening” and “Saint Seiya Movie: Legend of Sanctuary” will be screened at the listed venues throughout the film festival. Kindly refer to GSC Box Office or log on to www.gsc.com.my for KL and Penang screening details.

To download printer-friendly screening schedules for each location, open the files below, right-click the document and select “Save As…”.

1. Klang Valley
2. Penang
3. Kuching
4. Kota Kinabalu

<tdstyle=” border: 1px solid black; padding: 10px”>P13<tdstyle=” border: 1px solid black; padding: 10px”>07.30pmLIKE FATHER, LIKE SON121 MinsU