MANILA, Philippines — After 27 years of featuring over 300 movies, the Japanese Film Festival gears up to presents its 2024 edition centered on nostalgia as lovers of anime and Japanese culture find warmth in the theater.
14 films will be screening for free at the 2024 Japanese Film Festival, which will take place in Manila, Cebu, Baguio, Iloilo and Davao.
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The first screenings will be in Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong from February 1 to 11, followed by SM Seaside City Cebu from February 16 to 25, then the SM City branches in Baguio, Iloilo and Davao will have their screenings from February 23 to March 3.
Additionally, The Japan Foundation Manila (JFM) — organizers of the Japanese Film Festival since 1997 — will carry screenings in UPFI Film Center from February 22 to March 2.
The opening film of this year's Japanese Film Festival is the 2022 anime sports movie "The First Slam Dunk," which premiered in Philippines cinemas last year.
Closing the festival is the 1999 anime film "Voltes V: The Liberation," the movie composed of the anime's final episodes that did not air in the Philippines as it ended prematurely following a ban during Martial Law.
The movie prior and serving almost as a companion is GMA's "Voltes V: Legacy - The Cinematic Experience" by Mark Reyes V, composed of the first 15 episodes of the 2023 Filipino show "Voltes V: Legacy," which the director said in a media press conference will soon be released in Japan with a Japanese dub.
One film that JFM deputy director Yojiro Tanaka believes Filipinos will be drawn to is 2022's "Angry Son," a film about a Filipino-Japanese teenager dealing with both his identity and sexuality.
Both the film's director Kashou Iizuka and leading man Kazuki Horike will be present for a talk after the movie's February 3 screening at Shangri-La Plaza.
Also included in the festival this year is 1953 film "Tokyo Story," which was digitally remastered in commemoration of the late director Yasujiro Ozu's 120nd birthday.
Other anime films screening are two "Detective Conan" movies, including the first-ever one from 1997 "Case Closed: The Time Bombed Skyscraper," and 2023's "Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom."
The rest of the lineup are "We Made A Beautiful Bouquet," "And Yet, You Are So Sweet," "A Man," "Not Quite Dead Yet," "Father of the Milky Way Railroad" and "Monday: See You 'This' Week!"
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