Melbourne fans of Japanese cinema, listen up: the Cinémathèque program at ACMI on Wednesday nights is starting a program of films by popular Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda films this week, entitled Dreams of Everyday Life: The Quixotic Cinema of Hirokazu Kore-eda. It runs from July 5 to July 19, and includes the following films:
JULY 5
7:00pm – Maborosi (1995)
9:00pm – I Wish (2011)
JULY 12
7:00pm – After Life (1998)
9:10pm – Still Walking (2008)
JULY 19
7:00pm – Nobody Knows (2004)
9:35pm – Without Memory (1996)
There is a great run-down of the whole program (including synopses and trailers) at Melbourne Cinémathèque’s site.
I must confess that, to may shame, I haven’t managed to see any of these personally, but friends who are more up-to-date on contemporary Japanese cinema have really, really stressed that I should. If you want a more direct recommendation, this beautiful short video essay by film writer Kogonada for Sight & Sound should convince you — The world according to Koreeda: