Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Awakening Japan

Naomi Kawase

The recent Cannes Film Festival win by Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase has at least one newspaper calling for increased emphasis on Japanese culture on film.

We’d support that.

The Japan Times online article went as far as saying, “Sending a steady supply of high-quality films overseas to festivals and commercial theaters alike will prove a wise move in the long run.”
The article laments the fact that arthouse films from Japan have a bigger following outside the country than inside the Land of the Rising Sun. I’m sure U.S. filmmakers feel the same.

Anyway, I wouldn't exactly call the Japanese film industry dead.

Perhaps it’s appropriate that Kawase’s film is called Mogari no Mori (The Mourning Forest). Maybe attention from this great honor will encourage Japan and Japanese artists to rise to the occasion and offer the world more great films.