Nippon Connection 2022

Photo: Nippon Connection Press

Let´continue the topic Japan for the month of may in Frankfurt! After two online editions, the 22nd Nippon Connection Film Festival from May 24th to 29th, 2022 will once again bring the most exciting things from the current Japanese film and cultural scene to the Main metropolis. With around 100 short and long films, the festival presents the entire spectrum of Japanese cinema - from new discoveries to works by established filmmakers, animes and documentaries. These include one world premiere, 24 international, eleven European and 30 German premieres. The main topic "Stories Of Youth - Coming Of Age In Japan", funded by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt Rhein Main, deals this year with the living environment and the challenges of young people in Japan. The supporting program with over 60 workshops, concerts, lectures, panel discussions and performances is more extensive than ever before and also promises an eventful festival week outside of the cinemas. There is also a wide range of Japanese food and drinks on the festival grounds if you are hungry in between.

About the festival

The Japanese film festival Nippon Connection is organized by the 70-strong, mostly volunteer team of the non-profit association Nippon Connection e.V. It is under the patronage of Angela Dorn (Hessian Minister for Science and Art), Peter Feldmann (Mayor of Frankfurt am Main) and the Consulate General of Japan in Frankfurt am Main. Since it was founded in 2000, the festival has developed into the world's largest platform for Japanese film and the most visited film festival in Hessen.

The events take place at twelve locations in Frankfurt am Main. Festival centers are the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm and NAXOS. Other venues are the Mal Seh'n Kino, the cinema of the DFF - German Film Institute & Film Museum and the International Theater Frankfurt. The Eldorado Arthouse cinema, the Saalbau Bornheim, the Museum of Applied Arts, the Ruby Louise Hotel and the Lindley Lindenberg will be there for the first time.

The full program and tickets will be available on NipponConnection.com from May 7, 2022. For the safety of guests, the audience and the team, masks (medical or FFP2 masks) are compulsory in all indoor areas. As a special bonus, some of the films will be shown from May 30 to June 6, 2022 under the title Nippon Connection On Demand on the festival’s own platform Watch.NipponConnection.com. The streaming program will be released on May 29, 2022.

Photos: Nippon Connection Press

Nippon Cinema: New works from Japan's most important filmmakers

The latest works by established directors from Japan are represented in the Nippon Cinema section. In his first directorial work, They Say Nothing Stays The Same, well-known actor Joe Odagiri stages a deeply melancholic tale of stagnation and change in Japan at the end of the 19th century. Director Shinichiro Ueda won the hearts of genre fans with his surprise hit "One Cut of the Dead" (2017) and now he's back with Popran. The fast-paced comedy shows a man looking for his best piece. Cult director Takashi Miike presents the finale of his "Mole Song" trilogy: The Mole Song: Final ignites a colorful non-stop firework of visual gags, loud action, musical interludes and unmistakable madness.

Oscar winner Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy is a charming anthology about three women who take matters into their own hands and won the Silver Bear for Best Director at last year's Berlinale. With The Sunday Runoff, Yuichiro Sakashita has created a turbulent political comedy. As a substitute candidate, the daughter of a parliamentarian unexpectedly develops her very own political strategy. Small, Slow But Steady is an empathetic character and milieu study by Sho Miyake about a youg, deaf professional boxer who was already celebrated at this year's Berlinale. The audience prize Nippon Cinema Award, donated by Bankhaus Metzler and endowed with 2,000 euros, is awarded to all films nominated in the Nippon Cinema section.

Nippon Animation: Musicals, fantastic visual worlds and outstanding animation art

The Nippon Animation section offers visually stunning stories. A special highlight is the anime musical Belle. Taking the classic Beauty and the Beast to a virtual world, Mamoru Hosoda once again proves himself to be one of today's most important anime directors. Yasuhiro Yoshiura's sci-fi high school musical comedy Sing A Bit Of Harmony is about artificial intelligence. Shion, an AI-talented robot, arrives as a new high school classmate and turns the life of an outsider, Satomi, upside down. Masaaki Yuasa, best known for the eccentric masterpiece "Mind Game" and the Netflix series "Devilman Crybaby", returns to the cinema with Inu-Oh: the story of two misfits who find fame in feudal Japan through music and dance virtuoso animations and an outstanding soundtrack. Dozens Of Norths is the first feature-length film by Oscar-nominated animator Koji Yamamura. In it, he uses expressionistic images to process the trauma that the triple catastrophe of March 2011 left behind in Japanese society.

Nippon Honor Award

The Nippon Honor Award will be presented at the festival for the sixth time. It honors personalities who have made a special contribution to Japanese cinema. This year's winner is renowned actor Masatoshi Nagase. Several films with Nagase will be shown as German premieres at the festival. In addition to question and answer sessions after the film screenings, Masatoshi Nagase will also look back on his career in a detailed discussion. The award ceremony will take place on May 29, 2022 at 7:45 p.m. in the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm.

Photo: Nippon Connection Press