The mini-theme of UPAF2013 is “Disability on Film.” Through two amazing films: a documentary (“Deaf Jam”) and a comedy drama (“39 Thief”), we get to meet the vibrant NY deaf teen community as well as a Japanese young man with autism and his brothers.
All non-Japanese language films at UPAF will screen with Japanese and English (if not in English originally) subtitles. For the Q&A session after the outdoor screening of “Deaf Jam,” we will have volunteer sign language interpreters, so we especially welcome Japanese deaf audiences. Outside of this mini-theme, we will screen a visually innovative Indonesian/Dutch documentary, which is the third and the last segment of a three-part documentary following a single family living in a slum in Jakarta, and colorful shorts from the Sweden, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Micronesia, USA, etc.
8/9 (fri), 19:30 ~ Uno Port Pier#2 Trailer Theater Skype Q&A session (in process of finalizing the schedule) with Leonard Retel Helmrich after the screening Direcor/Cinematographer: Leonard Retel Helmrich Indonesia & The Netherlands/2010/Indonesian with English and Japanese subtitles/Color/111min One family, three generations, facing globalisation in Indonesia Twelve years ago, [Read more...]
8/10 (sat), 19:30 ~ Uno Port Pier#2 Outdoor Trailer Theater, 8/11 (sun), 14:00 ~ Sangyo-Shinko Bldg 3 (indoor) Skype Q&A session (in process of finalizing the schedule) after the screening Director: Judy Lieff USA/2010/ASL & English, will screen with English subtitles and Japanese closed caption subtitles/Color/ 70min/documentary Synopsis Deaf Jam is the story of deaf teen [Read more...]
8/10 (sat), 22:00 ~ Uno Port Pier#2 Outdoor Trailer Theater, Skype Q&A session after the screening Director: Kosuke Oshida Japan/2012/Japanese with English Subtitles/Color/113min/dramatic comedy “39 (Thank you) Gangsters” is Kosuke Oshida’s first dramatic feature about three youngsters with intellectual disabilities and one old man with dementia. The idea for this film was [Read more...]
8/9 (fri), 22:00 ~ Uno Port Pier#2 Outdoor Trailer Theater, 8/11 (sun), 16:00 ~ Sangyo-Shinko Bldg 3F (indoor) Skype Q&A session (in process of finalizing the schedule) with 1 ~2 filmmakers after both screenings Las Palmas Director: Johannes Nyholm Sweden/2012/No dialog/color/13min/drama A middle-aged lady on a holiday in the sun tries to make new friends and have [Read more...]
Las Palmas Director: Johannes Nyholm Sweden/2012/No dialog/color/13min/drama A middle-aged lady on a holiday in the sun tries to make new friends and have a good time. The lady is played by the lovely Helmi, the director’s 1-year-old daughter, and her new “friends” are all puppets made by her father and his creative team during his 6-month of father’s leave. A sensational hit at the [Read more...]
Rogalik Director/cinematography: Pawel Ziemilski Poland/2012/Color/No dialog/17min/Experimental/ Rogalik, once occupied by the Nazis, is now a lonesome village in northern Poland. This memorable film is a mysterious visual tour of the village through various households-- which shows just how oddly lively, unique and atmospheric these places called “home” can be. Screened at IDFA, Hot [Read more...]
Hide-and-Seek Dir: Keiko Shiraishi Japan/2012/ Japanese with English subtitles/B&W/8min/animation “They live in a residential town surrounded by the ocean and mountains. Since that day, this town has been in complete darkness. Hidden in the darkness now are the streetlights, roads home, a mother, and a baby in her womb. This animation attempts to depict the truth hiding behind the [Read more...]
Interview with the Earth (Entrevista con la tierra) Director: Nicolás Pereda Mexico/2009/ Spanish with English & Japanese subtitles/color/18min/creative documentary Synopsis Through a series of interviews and re-enactments we learn the story of Nico and Amalio, two children who lost a friend while climbing a mountain. Documentary and Fiction seamlessly merge to create a poetic [Read more...]
Impact On An Island Dir: Nathan Fitch Micronesia & USA/2011/ Kosuraean with English and Japanese subtitles/Color/34min/documentary The elders of Kosrae, a tiny island in Micronesia, are the few people in the world today that remember its history. After WWI, Germany gave Kosrae to Japan and thousands of Japanese civilians immigrated there and developed the island’s resources as a [Read more...]