Japan Foundation hosted the sixth edition of the Japanese Film Festival India in New Delhi, in association with PVR INOX from 12th-15th October. The opening ceremony was graced by Mr. Koji Yoshida, the Director of the Japan Information Centre, the Embassy of Japan in India and Mr. Koji Sato, Director General of the Japan Foundation New Delhi. The event was attended by notable stalwarts, film critics, members of the Japan Foundation and Japan Embassy. Influencers and Delhi-based cosplayers attended the screening along with the members of the Delhi Anime Club and Delhi Film Club.
Following Delhi, the Japanese Film Festival was hosted in Chennai and Hyderabad from 2nd-5th November, experiencing similar success and praise. The event was attended by notable entities, including the Consul-General of Japan in Chennai, as well as members of popular groups like The Hyderabad Anime Club.
After these great turnouts, the Japan Foundation is all set to start the penultimate leg of the Japanese Film Festival in Mumbai and Bengaluru from 7th-10th December. The festival will be held at PVR ICON, Infiniti Mall, Andheri West in Mumbai, and at INOX, Mantri Square Mall, Malleswaram in Bengaluru.
The highlight of this year’s annual JFF India is the screening of the popular anime from the ‘Detective Conan’ universe and the 4K remastered edition of ‘Lupin The 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro,’ the first anime film directed by Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki in 1979. The sixth edition of JFF will showcase 11 masterpieces, including ‘A Man’, ‘Anime Supremacy!,’ ‘Intolerance,’ ‘MONDAYS: See you “this” week!,’ ‘Father of the Milky Way Railroad,’ ‘Detective Conan: Episode “ONE”’ ‘Detective Conan the Movie: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital,’ ‘We Made a Beautiful Bouquet,’ ‘Detective Conan the Movie: The Last Wizard of the Century,’ and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s latest award-winning film, ‘Monster.’
During the inaugural speech, Mr. Koji Sato, Director General of the Japan Foundation New Delhi, expressed, “We are glad that the JFF, which began in 2017, is now in its sixth edition and has become an annual event for the people of India. It goes without saying that anime is very popular in India, but we hope that through this film festival, people will also discover the appeal of the latest Japanese feature films.”
Director of the Japan Information Centre at the Embassy of Japan in India, Mr. Koji Yoshida, expressed his appreciation for the film event, stating, “We congratulate Japan Foundation on the successful opening of the sixth edition of the Japanese Film Festival in India. We are confident that the relationship between the two countries will continue to grow through the medium of film.”
Following the Mumbai and Bengaluru edition, the last leg of the JFF India will take place in Kolkata and Pune from 18th-21st January, 2024 at INOX South City, Kolkata, and PVR ICON Pavilion Mall, Pune.
Mr. Gautam Dutta, Co-CEO, PVR INOX Limited remarked, “We are extremely pleased to host the 6th Edition of the Annual Japanese Film Festival yet again, now as a merger entity of PVR INOX and the largest and the most premium cinema exhibitor in India. Japan Foundation and PVR have shared a long association since 2017 and there has been no looking back ever since. We have taken inspiration from this new emerging trend of film festivals from Japan Foundation and our recent film festivals based on legends of Indian cinema have met with huge success.”