Schema Magazine is proud to sponsor the screening of
Adrift in Tokyo, as part of the Kibatsu Cinema Series.
Presented by the Powell Street Festival Society and the Pacific Cinematheque.

Adrift in Tokyo (Tenten)
Japan 2007. Director: Miki Satoshi
Cast: Jo Odigiri, Tomakazu Miura, Kyoko Koizumi, Yuriko Yoshitaka
Thursday, July 23, 2009 | 7:00 pm | Pacific Cinematheque
Colour, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles. 101 mins.

"Flawlessly written and shot by a man who seems to have figured out exactly what sort of filmmaker he is and where his strengths lie," the edgy, offbeat and unexpectedly charming comedy Adrift in Tokyo "makes it very clear that Miki Satoshi ... has become one of the strongest voices in Japanese film" (Todd Brown, Twitch).

Lazy student Takemura, drifting through his eighth year of university, owes money to loan sharks. When mullet-haired thug Fukuhara shows up to collect the debt, Takemura can't pay. Fukuhara roughs him up and gives him 72 hours to come up with the cash. When Fukuhara turns up again, he makes the desperate student a surprising offer: he'll cancel the debt if Takemura agrees to accompany him on a long walk across Tokyo. "Their languid walk leads to a dark revelation ... The two create an unexpected - and hilariously touching - father-son bond. The experience moves Takemura to comment: 'Happiness creeps into you so slowly, you don't even notice.' The same could be said for this film" (Meghan Dean, Eye Weekly).

"A comic stroll that is indeed aimless, but consciously, introspectively, and out-of-left-field hilariously so" (Aaron Hillis, Village Voice).

More: Adrift in Tokyo, Closing Gala of the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival 2008.

KIBATSU CINEMA
eccentricity, popular culture and contemporary Japanese film
July 2 - 23, 2009 | Pacific Pacific Cinémathèque | 1131 Howe Street, Vancouver

The Powell Street Festival Society and Pacific Cinémathèque present the second edition of "Kibatsu Cinema," a five-day celebration of the odd and the eccentric in Japanese pop culture and contemporary Japanese film. Kibatsu is a Japanese word denoting a person or thing that is, by ordinary standards, unusual or unconventional. As with the first "Kibatsu Cinema" program in 2007, the quirky, smart, and stylish films screening between July 2nd and July 23rd reveal the influences of a variety of Japan's prominent pop-cultural streams, including anime, pop and underground music. The films run Thursdays through July, with one Sunday matinee.

The series opens with Megane, director Naoko Ogigami's much-anticipated follow-up to the cult favourite and critically acclaimed Kamome Diner (also screening in this year's program). The line-up also includes Funky Forest, a hilarious and bizarre trip to other worlds co-directed by Katsuhito Ishii (The Taste of Tea); Adrift in Tokyo, by director Miki Satoshi; and Yayoi Kusama: I Love ME and Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara, exceptional documentaries on two very different yet equally compelling visual artists. There's also an animated entry, but, in keeping with the series' unconventional or non-traditional theme, the selected work is a stop-motion animated film rather than the anime typically associated with the Japanese animation industry. Komaneko: the Curious Cat, screening as a Sunday matinee on July 5, is an adorable and child-friendly movie that is also clever enough for adult audiences.

Fresh, fun and original, full of the beauty - and, often, the insanity - of everyday life, these provocative works have a knack for turning the uneventful into the resonant, the highly odd into the endearing, the over-the-top into the poignant.

Kibatsu Cinema: eccentricity, popular culture and contemporary Japanese film is a lead-up event to Vancouver's 33rd Annual Powell Street Festival, a celebration of Japanese Canadian arts, culture and heritage. Festival weekend is August 1-2, with other events beginning June 18. Please check www.powellstreetfestival.com for full schedule info.

SCREENINGS JUL 2-23, 2009
Thursday, July 2 - 7:00 & 9:00pm: Megane
Sunday, July 5 - 2:00pm: Komaneko: The Curious Cat
Thursday, July 9 - 7:30pm: Funky Forest: The First Contact
Thursday, July 16 - 7:00pm: Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara
Thursday, July 16 - 9:00pm: Kamome Diner
Thursday, July 23 - 7:00pm: Adrift in Tokyo (Sponsored by Schema Magazine)
Thursday, July 23 - 9:00pm: Yayoi Kusama: I Love ME

TICKET INFO
Pacific Cinémathèque $9.50 Adult Single Bill / $11.50 Adult Double Bill / $8.00 Students & Seniors Single Bill / $10 Students & Seniors Double Bill / For more information, visit http://www.cinematheque.bc.ca
24hr Film Infoline: 604 688 FILM