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Film: Festival JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film

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The biggest festival of contemporary Japanese film in North America, JAPAN CUTS has a diverse lineup that reflects the country's struggle to form a cultural identity in a hyper-fragmented era. While the transcendent verdure of Naomi Kawase's Cannes Grand Prix-winning The Mourning Forest is rooted in the Shinto tradition of meditative nature worship, comedian-turned-director Hitoshi Matsumoto's Dainipponjin (Big Man Japan) uses the Japanese love of giant monsters to ask uncomfortable questions about nationalism and military dependence. The films range from manga-spun cotton candy (Sakuran) to campy East-West mashups (Sukiyaki Western Django) to stomach-turning docudrama (United Red Army), but all underscore Japan's restless desire to figure out its post-Hello Kitty future.

– Kiwa Iyobe

Note: The screening of The Mourning Forest on July 2 includes an introduction and Q&A with director Naomi Kawase, while a Sukiyaki Western Party follows the July 5 screening of Sukiyaki Western Django.

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