Japanese film and culture will take the spotlight at the 11th annual edition of the Eigasai Film Festival, which will run through this weekend at central Prague cinema Kino Lucerna.
The fest will kick off this Thursday, February 22, with a screening of director Shûichi Okita’s The Mohican Comes Home, a comedy about a punk rocker who returns to his family home on a small island, at 19:00.
But one of the highlights at this year’s EIga Sai fest will be a special section dedicated to legendary director Akira Kurosawa, whose movies went on to influence countless filmmakers around the globe.
Four Kurosawa classics will hit the big screen over the weekend at Kino Lucerna: the 1950 masterpiece Rashomon, often cited as one of the greatest movies ever made, 1945’s war movie The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail, 1963’s ransom thriller High and Low (a personal favorite), and the 1970 slum drama Dodes’ka-den, which will close out the festival on Monday, February 26.
Also screening during the festival under the banner of contemporary Japanese comedy will be Kenji Uchida 2012 crime comedy Key of Life, Junji Sakamoto’s surreal sci-fi comedy The Projects, Nobuhiro Yamashita’s 2015 comedy-drama Misono Universe (a.k.a. La La La At Rock Bottom).
Throughout Saturday, a Japanese arts & crafts workshops will be held throughout the day at Lucerna’s Marble Hall, and on Sunday, a special Wadaiko (Japanese drum) workshop will be held inside Kino Lucerna’s main hall free of charge (register at office@eigasai.cz).
All films will be presented in Japanese with Czech and English subtitles.
Tickets to films at this year’s Eiga Sai festival run a mere 90 CZK apiece, and can be purchased at the cinema box office or online through Kino Lucerna’s official website. Festival passes to all screenings can be purchased for 400 CZK.
More information about this year’s Eigasai festival can be found at the official festival website and Facebook page.
