Five Must Watch Films to Stream at the Japanese Film Festival 2022

New Delhi, Delhi, India

The much-awaited annual celebration of Japanese Films in India is back again as an online edition in 2022. The festival’s second digital edition is currently running from 14 to 28 February 2022 where we bring you a series of titles that you can enjoy for free from the comfort of your home.

The digital edition of JFF 2022 is currently running from 14 to 28 February’22

Here is your guide for February 2022, highlighting the 5 best titles suggested by the Programming Team of Japan Foundation that you must stream from the line-up this year to be enticed by the wonders of the Japanese cinema.

The Japanese movie season with the Japan Foundation continues!

1. Under the Open Sky

Premiering at Toronto IFF and bagging the Best Actor accolade at Chicago IFF, Miwa Nishikawa’s touching and gritty drama about the life of a former yakuza (Japanese mobster) is a film that no cinephile should miss. One of the biggest highlights of the 2022 edition, this award-winning powerhouse is a testament to the profound creativity and humanism of female directors in Japan.

Tags: drama, yakuza, female directors, award-winning

2. Rashomon

Every person alive has heard of this masterpiece and every one to come will continue to hear of it. Japan’s most legendary and celebrated director Akira Kurosawa’s timeless masterpiece is streaming at JFF this year. Golden Lion, Honorary Oscar, and a place on every Film List does not even begin to do justice to the iconic status of Rashomon. If you’ve seen it, watch it again; if you’ve not, what are you waiting for?

Tags: drama, classic, Oscar, iconic

3. It’s a Summer Film!

"Let's make a movie together!" Have you ever fancied that with a close friend? Well, in this film we’ve got a teenage girl passionate about samurai films and an enigmatic boy getting together to make a film that transcends life itself. This is one coming of age heartfelt teenage story that will pull at the strings of your heart and have you smiling goofily.

Tags: coming of age, teenage, sci-fi

4. Masked Ward

A tense mystery film set in the eerie confines of a hospital, where a chilling psychological battle unfolds and eventually leads into a chain of surprising twists. The film is an adaptation of a bestselling book written by a real-life doctor, and features two of Japan's leading young actors, Kentaro Sakaguchi and Mei Nagano. So, get ready to have your brains turned dizzy with a thriller that makes you scream at your screen.

Tags: thriller, drama, psychological

5. Patema Inverted

In two worlds set upside-down to each other, there is a girl and there is a boy, a love that makes characters fall into the sky and rise onto the underground. In conventional Japanese anime fashion, this film is a touching animation that creatively depicts the beauty of love, friendship and courage. So put on your adventure hats and glide into a world brimming with possibilities.

Tags: sci-fi, anime, romance, fantasy, adventure

JFF Online is currently available from February 14 - 27, 2022. A line-up for 20 films is available to stream on: jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/jffonline2022/india.