The 17th Osaka Asian Film Festival (OAFF) launched with the Japanese premiere screening of ZHANG Lu (張律)'s Drama “Yanagawa” (漫長的告白) at Umeda Burg 7 on March 10, 2022.
The evening launched with a video message from KAMIKURA Tsuneyuki (上倉庸敬), Chairperson of the Osaka Executive Committee for the Promotion of Moving Image Culture in which he gave the opening greetings. Then, before the screening of the opening film “Yanagawa”, audiences were shown a video message from ZHANG Lu, the director.
In his introductory message, ZHANG Lu said, “Hello everyone at the Osaka Asian Film Festival. I am the director, ZHANG Lu. I am very honored to have my film “Yanagawa” selected as the opening film of the Osaka Asian Film Festival. I would like to express my gratitude to all the Japanese staff who worked on this film. I would especially like to thank actors IKEMATSU Sosuke (池松壮亮) and NAKANO Ryoko (中野良子) for their brilliant performances. There is an old Chinese saying, “Onlookers can read the game better than the players themselves.” It sounds very convincing. But this saying doesn't hold true in love. When it comes to love, both the players and onlookers just get lost. In other words, in love, everyone gets into a big maze. But I hope that when you see this film, even if only for a moment, you will feel the beauty, warmth, and joy of love. Thank you all very much.”
ZHANG Lu is the highly-respected indie film director whose works have played at major festivals like Busan and Berlinale. He appeared at OAFF in person in 2019 when his film “Ode to the Goose” played in the New Action Asia section. “Yanagawa” is ZHANG's first Chinese-language film in 11 years since “Dooman River,” after a career mainly based in Korea. It had its world premiere screening at Busan and was the opening films for the Pingyao International Film Festival. The film also marks the second time that he has filmed in Japan, following “Fukuoka” (2019). It will be released theatrically in Japan in 2022.
The Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022 is taking place until March 20 in Osaka, getting screened in cinemas across the city and also online as a selection from past editions of OAFF are available to stream.
