News

Takeshi Kushida's debut, “Woman of the Photographs” was one of the best films of 2020. Three years later, the director returns with “My Mother's Eyes” , a film that also deals with the concept of ‘seeing', but on a whole different level.

My Mother's Eyes is screening at Skip City International D-Cinema Festival

Hitomi and her daughter Eri are cellists. The two seem to have a rather loving relationship, to the point of codependency on occasion. As the latter, however, seems to become more rebellious, a certain level of tension arises between them. One fateful night, after a magnificent duet at Eri's school concert, they are involved in a major car accident (?), from which they emerge badly injured. Hitomi loses her eyesight and Eri is paralyzed from the neck down. In her desperation, Hitomi stumbles upon a new, still experimental contact lens device invented by Dr. Tomio Miike, which will restore her vision,...

Welcome back to Let’s Scare Bryan to Death, where this month I’m talking to Carolyn Mauricette, who you probably know from a wide range of outlets. She’s the founder of View From the Dark, a site devoted to reviews and essays from people of color in genre film, she’s the Programmer for Canada’s Blood in the Snow film festival, and she’s contributed to The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films and The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films. And if that weren’t keeping her busy enough, she recently kicked off a new podcast called Reely Melanated with previous Lsbtd guest Ashlee Blackwell.

When I asked Mauricette to nominate a movie for this month’s installment, she let me know she was in the mood for something absurd. Little did I know just how absurd, as I’d never heard of her selection, Hair Extensions...

I’ve only seen two other Sion Sono’s films before I watched “Strange Circus.” “I’m Sion Sono”(1985) is the earliest film from him that I’ve known. I was amazed and floored by the sheer energy of the film. Sono goofs around with his friend and practically shouts throughout “I’m Sion Sono”; what a way to introduce yourself to the world of cinema! The other one I’ve seen is “Tag” (2015) featuring Reina Triendl (fans of the reality television show “Terrace House” might be surprised by her performance in this film). That’s the first time that I’m aware that Sion Sono isn’t merely content of being weird or provocative. He is also interested in the nature of narrative and how that relates to our self-identity and sexuality. And he also has an astute eye on Japanese psyche, especially their particular way of fetishizing young girls’ bodies.

Sono picked up prizes at the Berlinale for Love Exposure in 2009 and Strange Circus in 2006.

A new comedy-drama from Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono is being introduced to buyers at the Efm, centred on a genius director.

The Red Post On Escher Street is being sold here by Amg Entertainment and follows a director named Tadashi Kobayashi, who holds auditions for his next project. Several performers fail to win roles but manage to participate as extras and end up going “out of control”.

Sono, who picked up prizes at the Berlinale for Love Exposure in 2009 and Strange Circus in 2006, also wrote...

Part science-fiction, part teenage romance, “Andromedia” sure has some surprises for its audience. Takashi Miike’s most successful work up to that point, grants most of it box office success to the J-Pop bands featured in the cast. In 1998, Shochiku hired the director to promote a couple of popular teen bands via a movie.

The main plot is tied to Mai, who is killed in a car accident. Her father, a genius programmer, recreates her in a computer program named “AI”. Therefore he transfers all of her memories into that artificial character and gives her the shape of Mai. Unfortunately, the father’s brother-in-law wants to get his hands on the technology for profit and steals the program. Mai’s father is killed in the robbery. In the further course of the movie, Mai’s friends try to gain control of the program and free AI from the bad guys,...

Kimyô na sâkasu (Strange Circus)

Written by Shion Sono

Directed by Shion Sono

Japan, 2005

Twists and turns have been a point of contention for many a cinephile for some time now. There are countless blog posts about how much of a hack M. Night Shyamalan is simply because of his usage of twists in his films. The truth of the matter is that there’s no problem whatsoever with a twist within the narrative of a film as long as it is handled well. In Kimyô na sâkasu there isn’t just a twist, there are a series of twists that culminate in one mamma jamma of a twist ending. Again, judgment of a twist comes down to how it is executed and how it affects the story. Kimyô na sâkasu is a film where every one of its twists is merited and makes for a far more interesting viewing experience.

Kimyô na sâkasu (Strange Circus)

Written by Shion Sono

Directed by Shion Sono

Japan, 2005

Twists and turns have been a point of contention for many a cinephile for some time now. There are countless blog posts about how much of a hack M. Night Shyamalan is simply because of his usage of twists in his films. The truth of the matter is that there’s no problem whatsoever with a twist within the narrative of a film as long as it is handled well. In Kimyô na sâkasu there isn’t just a twist, there are a series of twists that culminate in one mamma jamma of a twist ending. Again, judgment of a twist comes down to how it is executed and how it affects the story. Kimyô na sâkasu is a film where every one of its twists is merited and makes for a far more interesting viewing experience.

BERLIN -- The political, the eclectic and the simply weird will be on display in the official lineup for the Berlin International Film Festival's Forum sidebar. Highlights of the 2006 Forum, announced Friday, include My Country, My Country, Laura Poitras' the documentary about the Iraqi parliamentary elections; psychological thriller Strange Circus, from Japanese director Sono Sion; and the informatively titled docu 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep, from British helmer Ben Hopkins. This year's lineup includes features from 29 countries, spanning South Africa (Khalo Matabane's documentary Conversations on a Sunday Afternoon), Ukraine (Happy People, from Aleksandr Shapiro), Korea (So Yong-kim's In Between Days and Shin Dong-il's Host & Guest) and Brazil (Kiko Goifman's Acts of Men). Films by German directors featured in the 2006 Forum include Ulrich Koehler's surreal Windows on Monday and two films that deal with the complicated relationship between Germany and Turkey: Thomas Arslan's From Far Away and Aysun Bademsoy's On the Outskirts. Meanwhile, up-and-coming talent and cutting-edge German filmmaking are the key features of this year's Perspectives on German Cinema, the Berlin sidebar that focuses on young German directors.