HÀ NỘI — Movie buffs in HCM City have been enjoying different genres of Japanese films at a festival that is running till November 18.

The Japanese Film Festival is featuring 11 movies including thrillers, romance, comedies, fantasy, documentaries and animation.

Nearly half of the movies have been produced this year, including director Katsuyuki Motohiro’s Laughing Under the Clouds. The 98-minute action and suspense is a historic story about the end of the Samurai era (Edo) in Japan. The movie will be screened on November 8 & 11 at CineStar Theatre.

The film festival will then head to Đà Nẵng, Huế and Hà Nội.

Director Wui Shin Chong’s drama Yakiniku Dragon about a story that took place in 1970, the year of Osaka’s Expo ‘70 during the great economic boom in Japan, will open the film festival in Đà Nẵng and Huế. It will be the first time the festival has reached the central city.

In Đà Nẵng and Huế, five movies will be shown including the documentary Tora-San Goto. These movies were screened last year in Hà Nội and HCM City.

Tora-San Goto (Tora-san of Goto Island) was filmed over a period of 22 years. This intimate portrait follows the Inuzuka family living in the Goto Islands off Nagasaki.

Tora is the household patriarch, running a noodle-making business with the help of his wife and seven children. As time passes the household experiences childbirth, separation and reunion. The film provides a remarkably in-depth look at the unique bonds that prevail over generations. The documentary won the Magnolia Award for Best Documentary at the 22nd Shanghai International Television Festival.

In Đà Nẵng the festival will be held from November 16 to 25 and the movies will be screened every weekend in Huế until December 23.

Family drama Close Knit, a story of a transgender woman with a heart of gold will open the film festival in Hà Nội on November 30. The movie tells the story of Rinko Kiritani who takes on a maternal role when schoolgirl Tomo’s biological mother abandons her in Naoko Ogigami.

Made in 2017 by director Ogigami Naoko, the movie has won many international awards including the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival; the Audience Award at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy and the Tromsø International Film Festival.

"Close Knit has been selected to open the festival in Hà Nội and HCM City because it’s theme is new in Việt Nam," said Phan Thị Huyền Trang, a representative from the organisers. "There are a large number of Japanese students in big cities like Hà Nội and HCM City and I think that the audiences in the two cities are more open to watching films about transgender issues."

All the movies will be shown with English and Vietnamese subtitles. For more information please visit https://vn.japanesefilmfest.org/screening-schedule. — VNS