Adrift in Tokyo Friday, November 7, 2008, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium In Person: Satoshi Miki Satoshi Miki has earned a growing following for his comedies in recent years, and Adrift in Tokyo is a prime specimen of his talent for emphasizing the absurdities of everyday life. Jo Odagiri stars as a slacker (in his eighth year of college) who receives an unorthodox proposition from a debt collector who breaks into his apartment: accompany him on a walk across Tokyo, and his debts will be cleared. What these two oddballs discover about the city and about each other makes for a constantly charming, often surprising, and frequently hilarious view of Tokyo and its more eccentric denizens. Japan / 2007 / 110 min. / Japanese with English subtitles Part of "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." This collection of recent films presents the flipside of Japan's high-tech, anime-inflected, pop culture image. Just as famed Japanese poet Matsuo Basho's travelogue Narrow Road to the Interior documents both a physical and an introspective journey, the characters in these films often find themselves on trips that are actually voyages of self-discovery. The program continues in December. Presentation of Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese cinema at the Freer is generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Free tickets required. In the Pool Saturday, November 8, 2008, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium In person: Satoshi Miki Outstanding performances from a superb cast of comedic actors highlight Satoshi Miki’s first feature, an offbeat comedy about an eccentric psychiatrist and his even more eccentric patients. Intended for mature audiences Japan / 2005 / 101 min. / Japanese with English subtitles Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Free tickets required. Turtles Swim Faster than Expected Sunday, November 9, 2008, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium In person: Satoshi Miki, director An average housewife's boring exterior is the perfect cover for her second career as a spy. Absurd situations and hilarious gags abound in this zany comedy by Satoshi Miki. Japan / 2005 / 90 min. / Japanese with English subtitles Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Free tickets required. Dream of Silk and Tehran Has No More Pomegranates Thursday, November 13, 2008, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium In person: Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri In Dream of Silk, director Nahid Rezai returns to her high school twenty-five years later to explore the lives of young girls in contemporary Tehran. In this candid exploration of their dreams and hopes, the girls are at times shockingly open, often sweet, and occasionally sad as they talk about the future. Iran / 2003 / 43 min. / video / Persian with English subtitles In Massoud Bakhshi’s Tehran Has No More Pomegranates, the director uses incredible archival footage, an original visual approach, and a terrific sound track to trace 150 years of Tehran's history. With a postmodern approach, this documentary mixes humor and images from archives to present a work that is as witty and engaging as it is informative and fun. Iran / 2007 / 67 min. / Persian with English subtitles Following the screening is a discussion with Iranian filmmaker Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri. Born and raised in Tehran, Sadegh-Vaziri has created award-winning documentaries about Iran and Iranians in America. She currently works as a producer for Link Television on the Bridge to Iran series, and she teaches film studies courses at New York University. This event is co-sponsored by Link TV and Search for Common Ground (SFCG) as a part of the Bridge to Iran series currently showing on Link TV. The Bridge to Iran series ventures into Iran to meet its people and to share in its culture. Every week Link TV shows at least one documentary, short, or feature film that enhances understanding of Iran. Part of the "Documentaries from Iran" film series. Free tickets required. Sway Friday, November 14, 2008, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Miwa Nishikawa’s film, which she says was inspired by a nightmare, focuses on two brothers: a photographer in Tokyo, and the manager of the family gas station out in the country. Repressed emotions and buried resentments boil to the surface when the photographer’s return home for the funeral of their mother leads to a shocking event that strains the family’s bonds even further. Part murder mystery, part courtroom drama, Sway transcends both genres to engage larger questions about the modern Japanese family. Japan / 2006 / 120 min. / Japanese with English subtitles Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Free tickets required. Your Friends Sunday, November 16, 2008, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Ryuichi Hiroki began his career by making pornographic "pink films," but his recent work focuses on baring emotions rather than skin. Expanding upon the style and themes of Vibrator and It's Only Talk, his acclaimed character portraits of alienated young women, Your Friends follows two girls, one with a degenerative kidney disease and the other with a permanent limp that resulted from a traffic accident. Their disabilities bond them as friends and strengthen them against the everyday cruelties doled out by classmates in their provincial hometown. Japan / 2008 / 125 min. / Japanese with English subtitles Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Free tickets required. President Mir Qanbar Thursday, November 20, 2008, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium In person: Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri Mir Qanbar, a seventy-four-year-old retiree, has dedicated himself to winning an elected position in his country's government. This beautifully shot and stylized film by Mohammed Shirvani shows the off-beat presidential campaign of a man who is making his last stab for political power. Iran / 2005 / 70 min. / video / Persian with English subtitles Following the screening is a discussion with Iranian filmmaker Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri. Born and raised in Tehran, Sadegh-Vaziri has created award-winning documentaries about Iran and Iranians in America. She currently works as a producer for Link Television on the Bridge to Iran series, and she teaches film studies courses at New York University. This event is co-sponsored by Link TV and Search for Common Ground (SFCG) as a part of the Bridge to Iran series currently showing on Link TV. The Bridge to Iran series ventures into Iran to meet its people and to share in its culture. Every week Link TV shows at least one documentary, short, or feature film that enhances understanding of Iran. Part of the "Documentaries from Iran" film series. Free tickets required. Funuke, Show Some Love, You Losers! Friday, November 21, 2008, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium A dysfunctional family's secrets become the fodder for dark comedy in Daihachi Yoshida's film. When the clan's parents die in a freak traffic accident, their children become locked in a three-way sibling war that drags more and more bizarre secrets to light before the astonished eyes of the son's wife, who thought she was marrying into a nice, normal country family. Featuring brilliant comic performances from its talented cast, Funuke is "not just a laugh fest, but an unblinking examination of how families can become festering swamps of crushed hopes, suppressed rage and sexual deviance" (Mark Schilling, Japan Times). Japan / 2007 / 112 min. / Japanese with English subtitles Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Free tickets required. The Sakais’ Happiness Sunday, November 23, 2008, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Mipo Oh, winner of the Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award, made her feature debut with this quietly charming story of a family who conceals a sea of conflicts below its placid surface. Told from the point of view of the teenage son, the film follows the family's journey from contentment to confusion to acceptance after the father suddenly disappears—and the son discovers the shocking reason why he left. Japan / 2006 / 112 min. / Japanese with English subtitles Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. All films are in Japanese with English subtitles. Free tickets required. The Mourning Forest Friday, December 5, 2008, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Andrew O'Hehir of Salon calls Naomi Kawase's film, which won the Grand Prix at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, "a tremendously immersive experience, a work of great cinematic and emotional power." Set in the breathtaking Japanese countryside, it tells the story of an elderly widower and the young woman who works as his caregiver. When she accompanies him on a daytrip, she discovers that he intends to go on a more spiritual quest. In Japanese with English subtitles. Japan / 2007 / 97 min. Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. Free tickets required. Anime Masterpieces: Grave of the Fireflies Saturday, December 6, 2008, 2:00 p.m., Meyer Auditorium Film critic Roger Ebert calls Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies "an emotional experience so powerful it forces a re-thinking of animation." Ernest Rister, an animation historian, compares the film to Steven Spielberg’s Schindler's List and says, "It is the most profoundly human animated film I’ve ever seen." Taking place in Japan toward the end of World War II, it is the poignant tale of two orphaned children who try to survive amid widespread famine and the callous indifference of their countrymen. Some critics consider it one of the most powerful antiwar movies ever made. In Japanese with English subtitles. Japan / 1988 / 89 min. Presented in association with Anime Masterpieces, a project of Gorgeous Entertainment. Major support for this event is provided by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). A panel discussion follows the screening. Panelists: John W. Dower is the Ford International Professor of History at MIT and the co-founder of the Visualizing Cultures project [http://visualizingcultures.mit.edu]. Dower is the author of many publications on modern Japanese history and U.S.-Japan relations. War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and was also a finalist for the National Book Award. In Japan, it won the ōhira Masayoshi Memorial Prize for distinguished scholarship on Asia and the Pacific. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II, which examines Japan when it was under the control of American occupation authorities from 1945 to 1952, was honored with the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction and the National Book Award for Nonfiction. The Japanese translation of Embracing Defeat was awarded the special prize in the Asahi newspaper's 2001 Osaragi Jiro Prize competition for distinguished nonfiction writing, as well as the Osaka Prefectural Government's 2002 Yamagata Banto Prize for creative work on Japan by a non-Japanese writer. Susan J. Napier is professor of Japanese studies at Tufts University. A specialist in Japanese literature and culture, she is the author of four books, including The Fantastic in Japanese Literature: The Subversion of Modernity; Anime from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle, and most recently From Impressionism to Anime: Japan as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of the West, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2007. Frederik L. Schodt has written widely on Japanese history, popular culture, and technology. Among his better-known works are Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics and Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. His writings on and translations of manga helped trigger the current popularity of Japanese comics in the English-speaking world and resulted in his being awarded the Special Category of the Asahi Shimbun’s prestigious Osamu Tezuka Culture Award. His latest book, The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution, was published by Stone Bridge Press in 2007. Free tickets required. Fine, Totally Fine Sunday, December 7, 2008, 2:00 p.m., Meyer Auditorium The plot of Yosuke Fujita's film concerns a love triangle between two brothers--one a fan of horror films who dreams of building the scariest haunted house ever; the other a frustrated hospital worker--who fall for the same endearing yet spectacularly clumsy young woman. The storyline plays second fiddle in this comedic gem, which works its peculiar magic through endearingly odd characters and perfectly constructed gags. In the words of Japanese film specialist Mark Schilling, the title "not only describes the mood of this quietly brilliant film but also sounds like a three-word review. It's more than just 'fine,' though--it's . . . really, really wonderful." In Japanese with English subtitles. Japan / 2008 / 110 min. Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. Free tickets required. Bootleg Film Friday, December 12, 2008, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium In person: Masahiro Kobayashi, director An homage to his influences (especially the work of French film director François Truffaut), Masahiro Kobayashi's Bootleg Film is filled with references to classic European cinema. This darkly comic, low-budget, improvisatory road film is about a gangster and a cop—who just happen to be best friends—on their way to the funeral of a woman who was married to one and the lover of the other. If that doesn't complicate their relationship enough, the body that turns up in the trunk of their car certainly does. In Japanese with English subtitles. Japan / 1999 / 74 min. / b&w Free tickets required. Bashing Saturday, December 13, 2008, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium In person: Masahiro Kobayashi, director When Yuko, a former volunteer aid worker, returns home after being taken hostage in Iraq, she does not receive a hero's welcome. Instead she is met with ostracism and shame. Inspired by true events, Masahiro Kobayashi's intimate drama is a searing critique of cruelty and bullying in a small Japanese town. In Japanese with English subtitles. Japan / 2005 / 82 min. Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. Free tickets required. The Rebirth Sunday, December 14, 2008, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium In person: Masahiro Kobayashi, director Masahiro Kobayashi takes a starring role in his latest film, which won the prestigious Golden Leopard at the 2007 Locarno International Film Festival. It is a portrait of two characters—one the father of a murder victim, the other the mother of the killer—who are forced by circumstance to coexist in a small town. Daringly minimalist in style, The Rebirth has little dialogue and is structured according to the rhythms of its characters’ daily lives, thus making its emotional epiphanies all the more powerful. In Japanese with English subtitles. Japan / 2007 / 102 min. Part of the film series "Roads to the Interior: Another Side of Japanese Cinema." Generously supported by Toshiba International Foundation. Free tickets required. Banana Skin Friday, January 9, 2009, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Sunday, January 11, 2009, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium This engaging comedy by Ali Atshani takes a light approach to death and the afterlife. Hamid, a workaholic, has everything his modern lifestyle requires but no time to enjoy it—until a freak accident delivers him at death’s door. Welcomed by the ghosts of his just-deceased uncle and another accident victim, Hamid discovers that being a prankish spirit in the city isn’t such a bad deal after all. The plot thickens when a pretty lady-ghost comes on the scene, and his uncle ponders matchmaking protocol in the great beyond. Description provided by the Gene Siskel Film Center. In Persian with English subtitles. Iran / 2008 / 89 min. Part of the Freer’s thirteenth annual festival of Iranian films. This series is organized by Bo Smith of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the support of ILEX Foundation: Olga M. Davidson and Niloofar Fotouhi. This series is cosponsored by the ILEX Foundation. Due to high demand for tickets, assigned seating is in effect for this series. Up to two free tickets per person are distributed beginning one hour before show time. Three Women Friday, January 16, 2009, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Sunday, January 18, 2009, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium A dispute over an ancient carpet propels a grandmother, mother, and daughter into realms of mystery and mysticism in Manijeh Hekmat’s film. Minoo, a museum textiles curator, makes off with the carpet, a national treasure, in an effort to save it from an unscrupulous dealer. She loses the precious antique, and her mother as well, to a mission that beckons the elderly lady from the past. The call of the unknown puts Minoo’s daughter on the road to self-discovery, causing Minoo to question who or what she herself needs to find. Description provided by the Gene Siskel Film Center. In Persian with English subtitles. Iran / 2008 / 94 min. Part of the Freer’s thirteenth annual festival of Iranian films. This series is organized by Bo Smith of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the support of ILEX Foundation: Olga M. Davidson and Niloofar Fotouhi. This series is cosponsored by the ILEX Foundation. Due to high demand for tickets, assigned seating is in effect for this series. Up to two free tickets per person are distributed beginning one hour before show time Head Wind Friday, January 23, 2009, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Sunday, January 25, 2009, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium This film by Mohammad Rasoulof is a candid, searing look inside the Islamic Republic and its losing battle for control over the flow of information that enters the country from the outside world. In what at first seems like an investigation into the government’s effort to deny people access to Hollywood films, the documentary unfolds to reveal that at the heart of this struggle beats the desire of the Iranian people for self-determination and open access to information. This remarkable film touches on one of the major post-revolution issues by examining Iran’s underground satellite, Internet, and DVD culture. Description adapted from the Tribeca Film Festival. In Persian with English subtitles. Iran / 2008 / 65 min. Part of the Freer’s thirteenth annual festival of Iranian films. This series is organized by Bo Smith of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the support of ILEX Foundation: Olga M. Davidson and Niloofar Fotouhi. This series is cosponsored by the ILEX Foundation. Due to high demand for tickets, assigned seating is in effect for this series. Up to two free tickets per person are distributed beginning one hour before show time. Loose Rope Friday, February 6, 2009, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Sunday, February 8, 2009, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Two young rural men who work at the animals market in Tehran have only twenty-four hours to take a large cow from downtown to the northern part of the city—or else their jobs and futures are at stake. The spectators follow their obligatory journey with the rope, which is tied around the cow. Mehrshad Karkhani cinematically describes the contrast that exists between the south and the north of Tehran. Description provided by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In Persian with English subtitles. Iran / 2008 / 82 min. Part of the Freer’s thirteenth annual festival of Iranian films. This series is organized by Bo Smith of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the support of ILEX Foundation: Olga M. Davidson and Niloofar Fotouhi. This series is cosponsored by the ILEX Foundation. Due to high demand for tickets, assigned seating is in effect for this series. Up to two free tickets per person are distributed beginning one hour before show time Over There Friday, February 13, 2009, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Sunday, February 15, 2009, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium A beautiful black-and-white film that explores the inner workings of a marriage, Abdolreza Kahani’s Over There follows ten days in the lives of Payman and Leila, a young couple in the middle of a marital meltdown. Payman has only ten days left to return to the United States to renew his green card, but he cannot exit the country until he legally leaves his wife with five hundred gold coins. Description provided by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In Persian with English subtitles. Iran / 2008 / 75 min. / b&w Part of the Freer’s thirteenth annual festival of Iranian films. This series is organized by Bo Smith of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the support of ILEX Foundation: Olga M. Davidson and Niloofar Fotouhi. This series is cosponsored by the ILEX Foundation. Due to high demand for tickets, assigned seating is in effect for this series. Up to two free tickets per person are distributed beginning one hour before show time. Santouri: The Music Man Friday, February 20, 2009, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Sunday, February 22, 2009, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Following a fine series of films about women, Dariush Mehrjui’s latest work focuses on Ali, a popular young singer and musician. Despite his talent, Ali struggles with heroin addiction. The film flows from Ali’s happier past to his troubles with the law and the emotional and physical price of his addiction. Description provided by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In Persian with English subtitles. Iran / 2007 / 106 min. / video Part of the Freer’s thirteenth annual festival of Iranian films. This series is organized by Bo Smith of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the support of ILEX Foundation: Olga M. Davidson and Niloofar Fotouhi. This series is cosponsored by the ILEX Foundation. Due to high demand for tickets, assigned seating is in effect for this series. Up to two free tickets per person are distributed beginning one hour before show time. Free TICKETS Free tickets are required for films in the 300 seat Meyer Auditorium, located in the Freer Gallery. Up to two tickets per person are distributed at the auditorium one hour before show time. Support Us Your support helps to make our free film programs possible. Click here to make an online donation. E-NEWSLETTER Click here to sign up for our free e-newsletter and receive updates on any or all Freer and Sackler events and programs. Movies at the Smithsonian Film listings for all the Smithsonian Museums

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