The Japanese Film Festival (JFF) 2014, now in its 18th year, featured 59 contemporary titles and 8 classics. Held over 93 days, it attracted a total attendance of 33,000, a 32% increase year on year.
The Festival travelled to 16 cities, 17 venues with 67 films screened over 312 sessions.
JFF is excited ro announce the inaugural 2014 Audience Choice Award goes to Rurouni Kenshin – The Legend Ends, a samurai action film directed by Keishi Otomo. Adapted from a popular Japanese comic series by Nobuhiro Watsuki, it follows the story of former legendary assassin who vows never to kill again.
Determined from a total of 8,500 individual surveys received in Sydney and Melbourne, the top 10 films are:
1. Rurouni Kenshin – The Legend Ends
2. Rurouni Kenshin – Kyoto Inferno
3. The Eternal Zero
4. Rurouni Kenshin
5. Wood Job!
6. A Tale of Samurai Cooking
7. The Chart of Love
8. Thermae Romae II
9. Giovanni’s Island
10. TAMAKO love story
“Congratulations to the director Keishi Otomo, the cast and crew, Warner Entertainment Japan Inc. and Madman for winning the 2014 Audience Choice Award. Not only did the final chapter of Rurouni Kenshin win the audience’s vote, but the trilogy also claimed three places among the top four films,” says Festival Director Masafumi Konomi.
Director Keishi Otomo says, “I'm thrilled to accept the first ever JFF Audience Choice Award for Rurouni Kenshin—The Legend Ends!! Thank you so much to our Australian audience on behalf of the entire cast and crew, and I hope you'll have me back in the future.”
After a two and a half month tour to 9 principal cities in 2 countries, the Festival wrapped up on Sunday 7 December. It returned to Brisbane, Perth and Canberra for its second year, and expanded to Adelaide and across to Auckland for the first time in JFF history. The Festival adopted new venues in Fremantle, Parramatta and Sydney, toured regional cities and came to a close in Melbourne earlier this month.
Says Konomi, “To our delight this year’s growth surpassed our expectations with the number of Brisbane attendees doubling compared to 2013. New cities Adelaide and Auckland also gave us warm welcomes, which is very encouraging and indicates potential growth in future years to come. Thank you for your support in bringing another successful year to a close. We look forwarding to returning with an even more exciting program in 2015.”
Festival Highlights in Review
The Festival broke new records this year, welcoming seven high profile guests from Japan and hosting its first world premiere.
Sydney
Lady Maiko’s director Masayuki Suo and actress Mone Kamishiraishi walked down the red carpet at Sydney’s Event Cinemas George Street. They charmed audiences at the Q&A session, moderated by independent film critic, Russell Edwards.
Melbourne
Fans geared up as their favourite characters to see Keishi Otomo, director of the Rurouni Kenshin trilogy, at the marathon screened at Hoyts Melbourne Central. Director Kazushi Watanabe and actor Yuki Himura attended the world premiere of Samurai of the Dead and were greeted by zombies among the audience. Current Chair of the Australian Film Critics Association and film critic Richard Haridy facilitated the Q&A sessions for both titles.
Film buffs met director Kiyoshi Sasabe and producer/actor Seishiro Nishida for a Q&A at the screening of family drama Three Sisters with film critic and radio presenter Peter Krausz as emcee. Sasabe and Krauz returned to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image for another session for Sasabe’s other film in the Festival, Tokyo Refugees, about homelessness in Japan.
The JFF is set to return in October – December 2015.