France & Japan
Streaming Online June 9 - 16
Please NOTE: Once you RSVP, you will receive details on how to view this program during the screening period.
A discussion will follow each program to compare and contrast the films and the topics with special discussants:
Sarah Diligenti, Executive Director at the Alliance Française Washington DC (AFDC)
Ian Ostoya, Grant Coordinator at The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles & Filmmaker
Moderated by Alice Katindig, Film Coordinator & Programmer at the JICC, Embassy of Japan
All films are subtitled in English, unless otherwise noted.
ゆめみのえ (Dreams into Drawing)
Japan, 2019, 10 min.
Yamamura Animation
This empathetic reflection on sentient beings is inspired by Ueda Akinari’s short story A Carp That Appeared in My Dream, and Japanese painter Kuwagata Keisai’s Ways to Sketch.
Fugetsu-Do
Japan/USA, 2020, 12 min.
Director: Kaia Rose/Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation
“We had to live the American Dream twice.” Fugetsu-Do is more than a little candy store; since 1903 it has been an anchor for the Japanese-American community in Little Tokyo and its history is emblematic of the immigrant experience in America.
Negative Space
Japan/France, 2017, 5 min.
MIYU Productions
A French stop motion animated short film by Max Porter (USA) and Ru Kuwahata (Japan). Based on a 150-word poem by Ron Koertge, Negative Space is a short animated film that depicts a father-and-son relationship through the art of packing a suitcase.
Comme un air
France, 2005, 9 min.
Director: Yohann Gloaguen
An unusual race between a courier and a song.
Une journée ordinaire (An Ordinary Day)
France, 2021, 19 min.
Director: Despina Athanassiadis
In an isolated and shabby social housing district of Lille, Riki, Tanga, Elie and Maria, four retired immigrants, live peaceful and happy but not so ordinary days... Left to their own devices, they seek ways to deceive loneliness and break the rules...
