The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme

Tom Grieve, Contributing Writer

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The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme

9 February-10 March 2021

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The Japan Foundation is making its touring film programme free this year, with a streaming selection of titles available for you to watch from home without charge. Running from 9th February to 10th March, the UK’s largest festival dedicated to Japanese cinema is hoping to bring movie lovers together with a curated set of 18 films loosely based around themes of existence and belonging.

From comedies, to crime pictures, period dramas and films centring LGBT issues, the idea is that there should be something for everybody, with British film fans provided with a glimpse into the variety on offer in a Japanese multiplex.

Of note is Mrs Noisy, Amano Chihiro’s comedic inspired-by-true-events tale of a neighbourly dispute that escalates into a viral sensation. Kōji Fukada’s (Harmonium) A Girl Missing is a tense drama with much to say about Japanese societal convention. Meanwhile, the mammoth Labyrinth of Cinema is an experimental, kaleidoscopic journey through the violent history of Japanese film — it is also the final work by Japanese master director Nobuhiko Obayashi (House.)

Where to go near The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme

Cumbria
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SOURCE
at Gilpin Hotel

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Blackburn
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Northcote Hotel

Northcote’s luxury hotel perfectly matches its Michelin-star restaurant, nestled in the Ribble Valley hills on the edge of the Forest of Bowland.

Medlock Square
Manchester
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Medlock Square

Medlock Square is a new £300m entertainment complex betwixt the Etihad Stadium and Co-op Live, with Zadie’s, Little Beast, a hotel, market hall and more.

Zadie's
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Grafton Arms
Manchester
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Proloco
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Honest Crust’s Richard Carver and Rainy Heart’s Dan Hope join forces at Proloco, a music-led Ancoats restaurant serving 18-inch pizzas and seasonal plates.

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Northcote’s Michelin-starred restaurant is the jewel in the crown of the Ribble Valley. We get a first look at the new autumnal menu.

Cumbria
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Pentonbridge Inn

Pentonbridge Inn is a Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms in north Cumbria. Eight courses of bunkum-free fine dining from head chef Chris Archer.

Manchester
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Dahlia Stereo

Dahlia Stereo is a Latin American-inspired open-fire kitchen and bar off the Northern Quarter’s Stevenson Square, with a pitch perfect soundsystem.

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