The World in a View: Media in Japanese Film
The Japanese Cultural Institute in Cologne shows how media can play a central role in Japanese society
May 17th, 2023
Nowadays the media is one of the most important and central aspects of our lives with several channels like newspaper, television, radio, film and Internet. They continuously determine our thinking and behavior and this event tries to explain how the media influenced Japanese society.
In Cologne the media is the main character of an event, organized by a Japanese Cultural Institute, which emphasizes the crucial role of the media in Japanese society and how they changed social dynamics during the last 36 years. Because whether we like it or not, they have changed our world a lot and they are still continuing to change it.
The event is composed of a film series focused on documentaries and feature films that were made between 1986 and 2022. The main goal of these films is to underline the different roles and consequences on Japanese society that the media have had in these years.
It starts with a documentary road movie that a deaf filmmaker made about herself while she was cycling through Japan (Sutâto rain), followed by a story about a young model who, after her accidental death, observes from the afterlife as it is further marketed in advertising campaigns (Tôkyô jôku irasshaimase). The unscrupulous behavior of a journalist in the tabloid press is exposed in a quirky satire (Komikku zasshi nanka iranai!) and a romantic drama that shows how an acquaintance on the internet can grow into a love relationship (Haru). Based on a very successful Japanese radio and television show, different people compete against each other in an entertaining singing competition (Nodo jiman) and the documentary about the owner of a photo studio who takes authentic portrait photos of his friends, the successful cooperation with NHK- World continued (Nikkori waratte, Yamaai no shashinkan, Jûnen no monogatari). Finally, an award-winning drama centers on a young woman whose past catches up with her when she receives a letter from her boyfriend three years after his death (Shigatsu no nagai yume).
The event is available only after the registration via Guestoo and between May 12th-21th will be also possible watching the Documentaries part of the Internationale Photoszene Köln and will present two important Japanese photographers: Moriyama Daidô and Hatakeyama Naoya.
