For those who miss Japan after two years of thwarted travel plans, The Japan Foundation, House Samyan, and SF Corporation are bringing Japan in moving pictures to us with the Japanese Film Festival 2022 (JFF2022). Supported by the Embassy of Japan in Thailand and the Japanese Association in Thailand, the film festival begins in Bangkok at House Samyan on February 4 and will screen nine contemporary Japanese flicks representing a range of genres until the 13th. It will then take a short hiatus and continue in Chiang Mai at SFX Cinema with seven films—four overlapping with the Bangkok lineup and three films exclusive to the Chiang Mai leg of the festival. Concurrently, there will also be online screenings, offered for free to those who prefer to partake from home. 

The festival's highlight film is Under the Open Sky, adapted from the 30-year-old novel Mibuncho by Ryuzo Saki. Under the Open Sky follows former yakuza Mikami, played by Koji Yakusho, who is released from prison after serving a 13-year sentence. Having to reintegrate into society, Mikami attempts to find his long-lost mother by applying to be on a TV show. 

Under the Open Sky received Official Selection at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in 2020. It also won Best International Feature Audience Choice Award and the Silver Hugo for Best Performance in an International Feature Film (Yakusho) at the Chicago International Film Festival in the same year. 

Full screening schedule of the JFF20222 at House Samyan, Bangkok here:

Tickets for the JFF2022 at House Samyan, Bangkok from February 4-13 are priced 160 baht for general audience, 140 baht for house members, and 120 baht for students. Tickets can be purchased already at the box office at House Samyan or at housesamyan.com. For online screenings, click here.

For more information on the festival or the films, visit jfbkk.or.th.