Toronto Japanese Film Festival | Toronto Japanese Film Festival

メアリと魔女の花

Mary and the Witch's Flower

From director Hiromasa Yonebayashi - animator of Studio Ghibli masterpieces Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Ponyo, and director of When Marnie Was There and The Secret World of Arrietty - comes a dazzling new family adventure about Mary, a young girl stuck in the country with her Great-Aunt.

One day she follows a mysterious cat into the forest, where she discovers an old broomstick and a strange, magic flower which sends her flying above the clouds to faraway Endor College.

There her fantastical action-packed adventures begin! A magical and charming film for the whole family.

Voiced by Hana Sugisaki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Hikari Mitsushima and Fumiyo Kohinata.

Sunday October 14 at 2pm / 103 min
In Japanese with English subtitles

幻の光

MABOROSHI

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s (Nobody Knows, Like Father, Like Son, Still Walking) first film is considered by many to be one the of the finest films in Japanese cinema.

Wife and new mother, Yukimo is regularly troubled by a nightmare about the death of her grandmother. When tragedy strikes her husband, the stress forces her into hermit-like solitude until a kindly widower attempts to draw her from her shell.

Kore-eda’s Shoplifters won the 2018 Palme d’Or at Cannes so we thought it time to reintroduce the master’s first and perhaps finest work. A subtly moving masterpiece starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano and Takashi Naitô.

Thursday October 25 at 7pm / 110 min
In Japanese with English subtitles

カメラを止めるな！

ONE CUT OF THE DEAD
(Special Screening with Reel Asian )

Director Shinichiro Ueda’s tiny indie production opened in two small cinemas but by positive word of mouth alone shot to the top of the box-office.

A low-budget zombie movie – shot in one take – turns real when actual zombies attack the crew. But then the film abruptly transforms into something entirely different: Japan’s smartest comedy of the year, a father-daughter story, a sharp film industry satire and a movie about the value of perseverance. Winner of film festival awards around the world.

Starring Harumi Shuhama, Kazuaki Nagaya, Mao and Takayuki Hamatsu

Thursday November 15 at 7pm / 96 min
In Japanese with English subtitles

眩 ~北斎の娘~

KURARA
-The Dazzling Life of Hokusai’s Daughter-

NHK’s handsome dramatization of the life of O-Ei, the daughter of Hokusai, one of Japan’s most renowned 19th-century ukiyo-e artists.

O-Ei, herself a brilliant painter, married but soon returned home to become her father’s assistant. She was by Hokusai’s side as he completed his iconic “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” series. When Hokusai grew too old to wield a brush, O-Ei painted for him and devoted her life to art, founding her own style of painting while helping her father.

Starring Aoi Miyazaki, Ryukei Matsuda, Hiroki Miyake and Kimiko Yo

Thursday December 6 @ 7pm / 73min
In Japanese with English subtitles