24/04/2015 - In what is turning into a bit of a golden year for Italian sales in Japan, the 15th edition of the Italian Film Festival is set to kick off on 29 April in the Japanese capital

Just around the corner is the 15^th edition of the Italian Film Festival in Tokyo (29 April – 5 May), organised as in previous years by Istituto Luce Cinecittà  in partnership with Japanese publishing giant Asahi Shimbun, the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo. The festival offers a wide window on Italian film in one of the most influential markets in the world, with a good audience turnout and operators that are becoming increasingly open to Italian production forms.

We’ll be seeing a diverse, eclectic and original Italy from Japan in 16 films, starting with the “Special screenings” dedicated to Carlo Mazzacurati, including the collaboration of Banana Yoshimoto on the screenplay of Last Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and films which have already been distributed in Japan: The Wonders [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alice Rohrwacher
interview: Tiziana Soudani
film profile] (Twin Co.) and Fasten Your Seatbelts [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ferzan Ozpetek
film profile] (Zazie Films). Negotiations are also underway for the sale of Ermanno Olmi’s Greenery Will Bloom Again [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Rai Com.

Accompanying the films to Tokyo is a rich host of artists: Isabella Ragonese for the opening film Leopardi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mario Martone
film profile] and La sedia della felicità [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Riccardo Milani and Paola Cortellesi for their film Scusate se esisto [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile], director Lamberto Sanfelice and his leading lady Sara Serraiocco for Chlorine [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sara Serraiocco
film profile], Francesco Munzi, fresh from the critical success of the American release of Black Souls [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Francesco Munzi
film profile], Giulio Manfredonia and Maria Rosaria Russo for La nostra terra [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Ferzan Ozpetek for Fasten Your Seatbelts, Edoardo Winspeare and Celeste Casciaro for In grazia di Dio [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Alessandro Sperduti, one of the stars of Greenery Will Bloom Again, Jacopo Olmi Antinori for I nostri ragazzi [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivano De Matteo
film profile]. Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli and Rinko Kikuchi, its Japanese star, will present Last summer.

There will also be an Italian world sales delegation at the festival, made up of representatives from Fandango, Intramovies, and Rai Com. Along with the two already mentioned above, other films have been bought by Japanese distributors in the last year, setting a record for sales in the country: among others, the following have been bought: Viaggio sola [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Alcine Terran), Stop The Pounding Heart [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Alphaville), Still Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Uberto Pasolini
film profile] (Bitters End), Fathers and Daughters (Gaga), The Mafia Only Kills in Summer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierfrancesco Diliberto
film profile] (Only Hearts), Che strano chiamarsi Federico! [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] (Pandora), Viva la libertà [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Roberto Andò
film profile] (Respect), and The Salt of the Earth [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Transformer). Nanni Moretti’s new film, Mia madre [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Nanni Moretti
film profile], has also been pre-bought by Kino Films.

All screenings will be held at the Yurakutcho Asahi Hall di Ginza. As is customary, a selection of the films shown at the festival will be screened in Osaka during the weekend following the Festival (9 and 10 May).

(Translated from Italian)