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Go Hirasawa and Roland Domenig have curated a film series entitled Shinjuku Ecstasy: Independent Films from the Art Theatre Guild of Japan for the Japan Society in New York starting next Wednesday. It's sort of a crash course on Japanese New Wave classics.

So if some of you are in the neighbourhood don't miss this great opportunity to see Oshima et. al. on the big screen!

More information and a couple of nice stills on the Japan Society homepage

Schedule

Wed., Feb. 18
7:30 pm Throw Away Your Books, Let's Go into the Street

Fri., Feb. 20
7:30 pm Funeral Parade of Roses
Followed by SHINJUKU PARTY !

Sat., Feb. 21
3 pm Death by Hanging
5:30 pm Silence Has No Wings

Sun., Feb. 22
3 pm Eros plus Massacre

Tues., Feb.24
7:30 pm The Inferno of First Love

Wed., Feb. 25
7:30 pm Double Suicide

Fri., Feb. 27
7:30 pm This Transient Life

Sat., Feb. 28
3 pm A Man Vanishes
5:45 pm Crazy Love

Sun., Mar. 1
3 pm Pitfall
5:15 pm Ecstasy of the Angels

It's pretty funny that this retrospective is lined up against a "Best of Tora-san" series. I can't think of two more contrasting points in Japanese cinema. People should definitely make an effort to see Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets, which seems like a film that would be that much more amazing in a theater. Witnessing it in all its wide-angle glory on the big screen has to be quite the experience.

Does the Japan Foundation have some sort of distribution company for DVD? If not, then they desperately need one. Their print of Naruse's Untamed looked wonderful when I saw it this past summer.

Wasn't sure where to put this (should there be an ATG thread?)

The Art Theatre Guild of Japan: Spaces for Intercultural and Intermedial Cinema - A two-day symposium on 30th & 31st July 2011 at the Gordon Square Cinema, Birkbeck College, University of London

As the article mentions, this is connected with an upcoming ATG retrospective at BFI Southbank and a Theatre Scorpio retrospective at Close-Up Film Centre.

I'd be interested to know if anyone plans to submit something to this. It seems fairly open and inclusive.

Does the Japan Foundation have some sort of distribution company for DVD?

As far as I understand, their screenings don't imply any rights to distribute the films theatrically or on video. Those would have to be negotiated with the rights holders, be they ATG, the individual filmmakers, or other studios and concerns.

ATG retro in London:

The Art Theatre Guild of Japan: Season Introduction
1 Aug 18:30

Death by Hanging
1 Aug 20:30
13 Aug 15:20

Double Suicide
20 Aug 20:20
29 Aug 18:00

Ecstasy of the Angels
5 Aug 18:20
9 Aug 20:45

Funeral Parade of Roses
14 Aug 20:40 NFT2
18 Aug 18:00 NFT2

Human Bullet
7 Aug 20:30
17 Aug 17:50

The Inferno of First Love
6 Aug 18:00
12 Aug 20:40

Lost Lovers
5 Aug 20:30
16 Aug 17:50

A Man Vanishes
18 Aug 20:20
26 Aug 18:00

Pandemonium
21 Aug 20:15
31 Aug 18:00

Pastoral Hide and Seek
24 Aug 20:40
28 Aug 16:00

Pitfall
2 Aug 20:30
10 Aug 20:40

Silence Has No Wings
4 Aug 18:00
8 Aug 20:45

This Transient Life
3 Aug 17:50
13 Aug 20:00

Close-Up Film Centre presents:
Theatre Scorpio Season: Japanese Independent and Experimental Cinema of the 1960s
at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club

For full programme: http://www.closeupfilmcentre.com/film-p ... 60s-2.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tuesday 12th July - 8pm
Studies in Movement: Experiments by Three Filmmakers

An Eater (Nobuhiko Obayashi & Kazutomo Fujino) (1963 | 23 mins | 16mm)
Complex (Nobuhiko Obayashi) (1964 | 15 mins | 16mm)
Wan (Nihon University Film Studies Club) (1961 | 25 mins | 16mm)
Yunbogi's Diary (Nagisa Oshima) (1965 | 30 mins | 16mm)
Introduction by Julian Ross (University of Leeds/Mixed Cinema Network)

Tuesday 19th July - 8pm
Motoharu Jonouchi: Avant-Garde Visions of 1960s Protest Movements

Pupu (Nihon University Film Studies Club) (1960 | 22 mins | 16mm)
Document 6.15 (Motoharu Jonouchi) (1961 | 19 mins | 16mm)
Wols (Motoharu Jonouchi) (1965 | 19 mins | 16mm)
Tatsumi Hijikata (Motoharu Jonouchi) (1967 | 1 min | 16mm)
Mass Collective Bargaining at Nihon University (Motoharu Jonouchi) (1968 | 22 mins | Silent | 16mm)
Introduction by Julian Ross (University of Leeds/Mixed Cinema Network)
Discussion with Shane O’Sullivan (E2 Films; Director of ‘Children of the Revolution’ (2011))

Tuesday 26th July - 8pm
Galaxy (Masao Adachi) (1967 | 75 mins | Digital) (New English Subtitles)
Introduction by Go Hirasawa (Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo)

Thursday 28th July - 8pm
An Evening with Katsu Kanai: Smiling Milky Way

Desert Archipelago (Katsu Kanai) (1969 | 56 mins | Digital)
Good-Bye (Katsu Kanai) (1971 | 52 mins | Digital)
Introduction and Q&A with filmmaker Katsu Kanai

Tickets:
£9 for non-members; £5 for Close-Up members.

Season Ticket:
£25 for non-members; £15 for Close-Up members.

Visitor Information:
BETHNAL GREEN WORKING MEN’S CLUB
44-46 Pollard Row | London E2 6NB

CLOSE-UP FILM CENTRE
139 Brick Lane | London E1 6SB
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7739 3634
http://www.closeupfilmcentre.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Facebook: Close-Up | Twitter: @closeupfilms