Chicago, IL – (February 16, 2023) Asian Pop-Up Cinema today announced a lineup of films showcasing Japanese cinema opening weekend March 18-19 for its 16th Season running March 18- April 16. While many films released theatrically have not been themed COVID-19, opening weekend explores Japanese life, loneliness, and people's desire for connection during and after the pandemic, Japanese Americans living here during WWII, and new indie films recently released in Japan.
Since its inception, Asian Pop-Up Cinema has hosted an impressive lineup of film directors, producers, and major talent. This season brings Japanese guests to Chicago for the first time since the pandemic. They will present their latest work, share their stories, and showcase their society and how it has adapted to change in recent years.
The 16th Season of Asian Pop-Up Cinema opens at AMC Evanston 12 with Variety and The Japan Times film critic and APUC's Advisory Board Member, Mark Schilling hosting the weekend films providing cultural discussions starting with Kei Ishikawa's multilayered, masterful drama, A MAN. The film looks at the reason why more than 79,000 people went missing in Japan in 2021 and how one character decides to switch his identity and vanish.
English-speaking Female writer/director Mayu Nakamura and lead actress Nahana (The Machine Girl, The Grudge 2) will be on hand to accept a Career Achievement Award for her multi-faceted role in SHE IS ME, I AM HER also screening on March 18. The film is inspired by an injustice in Japan that took place after a woman lost her job due to COVID.
Japanese American mother and daughter duo, Evelyn Nakano Glenn, and Director Antonia Grace Glenn (The Ito Sisters: An American Story) will attend to present BEFORE THEY TAKE US AWAY on March 19; previously untold stories of Japanese Americans who self-evacuated from the West Coast in the wake of Executive Order 9066 during World War II.
Mark Schilling's short story CONVENIENCE STORY was recently released in Japan as an indie/drama and “influenced by David Lynch in its Twin Peaks-esque setting” (Windows on Worlds). Mark will be presenting his Midwest Premiere, and have a post-film discussion between writers, himself and Michael Foster, screenwriter of From Chicago to Osaka, on March 19.
In partnership with Alliance Française de Chicago, Asian Pop-Up Cinema will present the U.S. Premiere of the new French and Japanese film UMAMI directed by Slony Sow starring Gérard Depardieu as a famous French chef on March 22.
“I am super excited about our strong opening weekend led by A MAN directed by Kei Ishikawa. The film picked up 13 nominations across 12 categories from The Japan Academy Film Prize, Japan's equivalent of the Oscars.” Sophia Wong Boccio, Founder & Executive Director said. “The film also took 2nd place in the “Best 10” films in 2022 list just announced by the prestigious cinema magazine Kinema Junpo. Audiences who join us will enjoy great Japanese cinema and conversations!”
The Japanese Showcase kicks off the Spring season on March 18 and 19 at Evanston's AMC 12 (1715 Maple Ave, Evanston, IL 60201) with the following films:
Saturday, March 18, 2:30 PM
A MAN – OPENING FILM
Midwest Premiere
Mystery/Drama | 2022 | 121 minutes
Director/Editor: Kei Ishikawa
Screenwriter:Kosuke Mukai, from a novel by Keiichiro Hirano
Starring: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Sakura Ando, Masataka Kubota
After divorcing, Rie found happiness with her second husband Daisuke and formed a new family. But when Daisuke dies in a tragic accident, she discovers her new husband was not the man she thought he was. Rie calls on the attorney Kido to help her find the truth about the identity of the man she loved. A quest that will open larger questions about the nature of identity itself, and what makes a person real at all. Pre-recorded Q&A with director Kei Ishikawa moderated by Mark Schilling immediately follows the feature presentation.
Saturday, March 18, 5:30 PM
SHE IS ME, I AM HER
Fiction | 2022 | 70 minutes
Director/Screenwriter: Mayu Nakamura
Starring: Nahana, Fusako Urabe, Kota Kusano, Miyoko Asada, Yu Uemura
Career Achievement Award recipient Nahana is scheduled to attend and receive her award prior to the film screening. Director Mayu Nakamura is also attending
She is Me, I am Her is a feature film consisting of four short stories about various women living in post-COVID Tokyo with their unfulfilled dreams, loneliness, and desires. The roles of housewife, single working woman, sex worker, and blind woman in their late 20s to 40s are played by one mercurial actress, Nahana. By having one actress play various women, the film portrays how they share their loneliness and yearning to connect during the time of the pandemic. Post-film Q&A with director and actress moderated by Mark Schilling.
Sunday, March 19, 2:30 PM
BEFORE THEY TAKE US AWAY
Documentary | 2022 | 82 minutes | In English
Director/Screenwriter: Antonia Grace Glenn
Co-Producers:Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Patrick Glenn, Antonia Grace Glenn, and Tim Becherer
This award-winning documentary film from Unwashed Masses Productions chronicles the untold stories of Japanese Americans who “voluntarily” evacuated from the West Coast in the wake of Executive Order 9066 and spent World War II living outside the concentration camps that held their friends and family members. While the “self-evacuees” had their freedom, they became refugees in their own country, on a forced migration into the unknown. Many faced isolation, poverty, and racial violence as they struggled to rebuild their lives. Before They Take Us Away is the second film from the creative team behind The Ito Sisters: An American Story.
Before They Take Us Away powerfully chronicles the unique, largely unknown stories and voices of the self-evacuees, as well as their courage and persistence. The film also draws parallels between the Japanese American wartime experience and today's anti-immigrant and anti-refugee political climate and the resurgence of Asian Hate and racial violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-film Q&A with the production team moderated by Mark Schilling.
Sunday, March 19, 5:30 PM
CONVENIENCE STORY – MIDWEST PREMIERE
Fantasy/Drama | 2022 | 97 minutes
Director/ Screenwriter: Satoshi Miki
Original Concept/Planning: Mark Schilling
StarringAtsuko Maeda, Ryo Narita, Seiji Rokkaku, Yuki Katayama, Eri Fuse
Kato is a struggling scriptwriter whose pitches for new films fail to impress producers. Meanwhile, his relationship with his druggy actress girlfriend Zigzag is hitting the skids. But Kato is about to get a karmic jolt out of his personal troubles and professional slump.
While out buying dog food for Zigzag's dog Cerberus at a neighborhood convenience store, he begins, via a sudden push through a refrigerated display case, a karmic journey that leads him to another world.
There he encounters an odd couple running a mysterious convenience store in the middle of nowhere, where he begins to find inspiration and, in an affair with the discontented wife, danger. But an even stranger trip awaits him. Post-film discussion is between writers Mark Schilling and Chicago-based writer Michael Foster From Chicago to Osaka, currently in the development phase for a new film production.
Wednesday, March 22, 6:30 PM
UMAMI – U.S. PREMIERE
Japan / France | Culinary-Comedy | 2022 | 105 minutes
In French and Japanese w/ English subtitles
Director/Writer/Editor/Co-Producer: Slony Sow
Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Kyozo Nagatsuka, Pierre Richard, Rod Paradot, Sandrine Bonnaire, Bastien Bouillon
Following a near-death experience, France's leading chef Gabriel Carvin (Gérard Depardieu) throws himself into a quest seeking the flavor that has confounded his life since he was defeated by a Japanese chef's bowl of noodles as a young man. (Wednesday, March 22, 6:30 PM at Alliance Française de Chicago, 54 W. Chicago Street,, Chicago, IL 60610.)
The official lineup announcement for the entire season with the full schedule for films from other regions will be published on February 27, 2023.
General admission tickets for the Japanese Showcase are $10, Seniors (62+) $8, and free for Students with valid ID & educational email address. Tickets are now on sale for Japan Cinema Showcase. https://buytickets.at/apuc
The festival thanks the following organizations for their supporting contributions to “Japan Cinema Showcase”: Japan Airlines, Masuda Funai, Chicago Japanese American Historical Society, Japanese American Citizens League – Chicago Chapter, Japanese American Service Committee, Japanese Mutual Aid Society of Chicago, and Midwest Temple.
ABOUT SOPHIA'S CHOICE / ASIAN POP-UP CINEMA
Asian Pop-Up Cinema, a semi-annual Asian Film Festival, is the brainchild of Sophia Wong Boccio, founder of Sophia's Choice, a Chicago-based 501 C (3) not-for-profit, incorporated in 2015 with the multi-pronged mission of cultivating an interest in and understanding of Asian cultures via a diverse offering of Asian films; connecting the Asian film industry with local Chicago film professionals, educators, and students; and promoting Chicago as a destination for international visitors.
Connect with Asian Pop-Up Cinema:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asianpopupcinema
Twitter: asianpopupcine
Instagram: @asianpopupcinema and Vimeo: vimeo.com/asianpopupcinema
