12 Free Independent Japanese Movies & docos (with English Subtitles) to Stream @ Japanese Film Festival+

1480

Go to Deal

INFIDEL on 03/08/2023 - 16:31 jff.jpf.go.jp (2162 clicks)
Last edited 26/10/2023 - 19:21 by 1 other user

JFF+ Independent Cinema is streaming independent films.
This free online program features titles recommended by the managers of Japanese mini theatres and international film experts.

Similar to previous Deal

Movies
わたしの見ている世界が全て / LONELY GLORY 2022
きみの鳥はうたえる / And Your Bird Can Sing 2018
テクノブラザーズ / Techno Brothers 2023
花筐 / HANAGATAMI 2017
ばちらぬん / Bachiranun 2021
ミューズは溺れない / A Muse Never Drowns 2021
光を追いかけて / Follow the Light 2021
左様なら今晩は / A Girl in My Room 2022
おーい！どんちゃん / Hey! Our dear Don-chan 2022

Documentaries
鬼に訊け 宮大工 西岡常一の遺言 / An Artisan’s Legacy, Tsunekazu Nishioka 2012
典座 /TENZO 2012
盆唄 / BON-UTA, A Song from Home 2019

Related Stores

The Japanese Film Festival Australia

• 

  morediscount on 03/08/2023 - 16:34

  +2

  as long as its not censored

  • 

    INFIDEL on 03/08/2023 - 16:40

    +6

    Sat at front of cinema at JFF screening of B&W Japanese film The Fruits of Passion 1974 R18+ with woman I'd just met.

    Definitely wasn't censored!! A scene of Fellatio on the big screen just in front of us was… interesting.
    Something to 'discuss' after the movie.

    These movies are more tame. Drama, romcom, music, etc.
    The docos deal with Japan after the 2011 earthquake, faith & traditional life in Japan

  • 

    Bold Eagle on 03/08/2023 - 18:09

    Why would 'Independent' films be censored?

    • 

      INFIDEL on 03/08/2023 - 19:37

      +4

      Some wonderful JFF films shown free in cinemas have been graphic, uncensored, R18+, dealing with prostitution, rape, incest.

      Think morediscount was likely thinking about online contend they view😜

• 

  nGu on 03/08/2023 - 17:40

  +3

  large watermark on the LHS of screen can be hidden with an adblock extension

• 

  veetor on 03/08/2023 - 17:45

  +4

  I recommend Hanagatami. It's bizarre.

  • 

    Lord Fart Bucket on 03/08/2023 - 17:57

    PG12. Contains sexual scenes, drinking, and smoking scenes.

    PG12 for sex?

    • 

      Blitzfx on 03/08/2023 - 18:06

      +2

      Contains sexual scenes

      They were holding each other's hands

      • 

        HardQuiz on 03/08/2023 - 23:19

        Same gender?

      • 

        INFIDEL on 29/10/2023 - 15:42

        Clothed Male & Female on top of tiny bunk bed (room shared with another guy), he asks her for condom… She had initiated the interaction. That's about it.

        Reminds me of many nights in shared dorm rooms on my travels😉

    • 

      Wally on 03/08/2023 - 18:09

      13yrs was the Age of Consent in Japan until they raised it in June

      https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/16/japan-raises-a…

      • 

        bcYield on 03/08/2023 - 23:54

        wait someone who was able to give consent 2 years ago now can't …

        • 

          Mixhael on 04/08/2023 - 13:25

          +2

          @bcYield: In practical terms, no. While national law set the minimum at 13, every populated prefecture had higher age of consent laws effectively setting the age at 16 or above. For example, the Tokyo prefecture has an even higher age requirement of 18.

    • 

      INFIDEL on 03/08/2023 - 18:44

      +5

      "sexual scenes" is very different to sex scenes! It's not porn! Hence the PG12.

      It's cultural. In Japan, like some other Asian countries, couples holding hands or kissing is rarely seen. Especially outside major cities. It can be disturbing for many Japanese.

      Married couples I know there sleep in separate beds. Sex is not discussed & publicly available porn is highly censored.
      Homosexuality is not accepted, or is only whispered about as an aboration. It's a culture with naked same sex bathing. And conformity. Blatantly gay Westerners at a bath house there can be very disturbing.

      I was stunned when an attractive Japanese woman in her early 20s, told me she "really likes" me… That's about as extreme a display of affection as is expressed.
      I thought she was just enjoying chatting, introducing me to her friends, organising design work for me in her village, hanging out… But she thought that meant much more. In her mind I was husband material! (Not my first marriage proposition while travelling in Japan.)
      Cultural differences can be confusing!

  • 

    INFIDEL on 29/10/2023 - 18:49

    It's bizarre.

    How?
    Its a long stream of aimless, fluid relationships & employment issues, borne out of the circumstances the characters find themselves hopelessly trapped within.
    (I've had more 'bizarre' relationships than this😜)
    More real & dysfunctional, than bizarre.

    Many similar stories could be told of peoples lives of hopelessness here. I've seen it, once providing free food, employment, & accommodation for those in need.

    You know it won't end well for any of them.

    Left me feeling sad.
    The absence of a sense of community (that I found in most quieter areas of Japan), is what I found saddest in this movie's focus on hopeless survival.
    Even shoplifting is an issue of loneliness for elderly in Hokkaido, where this is set & filmed. (Stealing so they are arrested & have someone talk to them😢)

    Found other movies here more bizarre - very different (compared to Aussie culture), & inspiring.
    Offering insights into different communities & ways of local story / movie telling.
    Better than this bleak movie.

    Only thing I loved in this movie, was seeing Hakodate & it's trams again. Loved it's old wooden trams.

    ---

    I spend time giving out clothes, proving food, & chatting with homeless on most trips to Japan. Unlike homeless I've met here, there is a sense of hope, but also shame. That a Foreigner is interested in them, listening to their life stories - seems to restore their self respect.

• 

  jv on 03/08/2023 - 17:48

  -8

  Independent Japanese Movies

  Teals ?

  • 

    serpserpserp on 03/08/2023 - 18:02

    -2

    Nar more like ex-national party in the country.

• 

  Dentshop on 03/08/2023 - 21:57

  +4

  Seriously, watch and enjoy these movies. Japanese cinema is amazing at times. Japanese film makers are incredibly honest about their society and are very adept at both sympathizing and condemning characters within their works. Often the beauty of their landscapes accentuate the photography and can satisfy the viewer by itself.

  • 

    Meconium on 04/08/2023 - 11:35

    +3

    Very true, and worth adding that Japanese cinema is one of the most accessible for older movies - they were churning out super cool and stylish films in the mid-60s that are much more watchable today than many Hollywood films of the same era. There's something very relatable and approachable, and who can deny the merit of the Japanese aesthetic? Looking forward to checking these movies out, thanks OP.

• 

  bcYield on 04/08/2023 - 00:05

  Weekend movies sorted

• 

  INFIDEL on 04/08/2023 - 20:05

  +2

  SBS has some good older Japanese movies.

  Slowly watching* "Our Little Sister" (2015, Drama, 94% Rotten Tomatoes)
  *I don't want it to end!

  Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, based on Akimi Yoshida's manga series "Umimachi Diary".

  3 sisters live in their late grandmother's old house in Kamakura. They invite their half sister to live with them. Their interactions are the main focus.

  The interesting old house & garden is central to the story. An actual old house near Kamakura was used for most scenes, instead of sets. That gives an amazing reality to this movie.
  Before filming, the 4 'sisters' cleaned the house, weeded the garden, cooked meals and ate together.
  They also fixed the shoji screen …which was incorporated in the movie.

  As is important in Japan, the seasons are noticed & celebrated. eg Plums are picked from the garden to produce plum wine, which is stored away each year. It accompanies Grandmother's plum wine.

  Some exquisite scenes, like the children cycling under the Sakura (cherry blossoms).

  Brings back memories for me of staying with families in tiny villages, in similar houses while hitchhiking in rural Japan.

• 

  INFIDEL on 27/10/2023 - 11:53

  Hope people are enjoying the very different movies. I am😄

  🚨Steaming finishes this Tuesday 31/10 @ 6pm (assume AEDT). Not midnight AEDT set by Ozbargain system.

• 

  INFIDEL on 29/10/2023 - 18:51

  Storytelling is very important in Japanese culture. My own storytelling (in Traditional Japanese style Rakugo), was praised (for respect & understanding) when shown on Japanese TV.
  (Japanese are surprised a Foreigner would attempt anything from their own culture, so praise us for trying.) Was recorded at my first lesson, with a lot to learn. Surprised when people recognised me in the street. Didn't know I had been on TV.

  Mini Theatres featured in the introduction to the movies, show an important & resilient nature in local communities.

  When the community shrank, it made commercial theatres unviable. So mainly volunteers set up mini theatres. Those became important centres for sharing in the community. They also promote local movie making, shown in this selection of movies.

  (Similar to the role of the mobile bath houses brought into communities after disasters, by the Japanese Defence Forces.)

  On my many explorations of Japan from islands North of Hokkaido to those in Okinawa, Japanese frequently tell me, "You'll never be Japanese". It takes years for Japanese to learn each custom & be accepted by the community.

  Am happy being an outsider looking in!
  It gives a very different perspective to that of a local.
  These films certainly allow that👍

• 

  INFIDEL on 31/10/2023 - 19:05

  Rental period expired @7pm AEDT.