JFF - JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL INDONESIA
― INDONESIA ―

FILM LINEUP

JFF2023

  • Drama
  • Mystery

A MAN

  • 2022
  • 121 min.
Director:
ISHIKAWA Kei
Cast:
TSUMABUKI Satoshi, ANDO Sakura, KUBOTA Masataka

Over four blissful years, Rie and her son shared a loving new life with her second husband, Daisuke. His sudden accidental death brings not only grief, but an unnerving discovery for the widow: the man she thought she knew was posing under someone else’s identity. In a startling dual narrative, the mystery around Mr. X unfolds beneath the hands of KIDO, the attorney handling the case. Prefaced by René Magritte’s surrealist painting Not to be Reproduced, this thought-provoking film is a vital addition to a growing genre of Japanese cinema that interrogates fragile morals permeating contemporary society.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung, Surabaya, Palembang, Yogyakarta

  • Comedy

MONDAYS: See you “this” week!

  • 2022
  • 82 min.
Director:
TAKEBAYASHI Ryo
Cast:
MARUI Wan, MAKITA Sports, OSAMURA Koki, MIKAWA Yugo, TAKANO Haruki

Working over night with colleagues, a head injury from a traffic accident, constant sleepiness on the job and a bird slamming itself into the office window... on top of a pressing deadline at her advertising job, YOSHIKAWA is having the worst week ever. As if her headache wasn’t bad enough, her coworkers ENDO and MURATA are going mad and claim the entire office is stuck in a time loop... but after a few rounds of reliving the same mundane Monday, YOSHIKAWA soon realises they're telling the truth. Now the teammates must work together, enlighten their oblivious colleagues and find a way to end this endless Monday!

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung, Surabaya, Palembang, Yogyakarta

  • Drama

The Lines That Define Me

  • 2022
  • 106 min.
Director:
KOIZUMI Nori
Cast:
YOKOHAMA Ryusei, KIYOHARA Kaya, HOSODA Kanata, KAWAI Yuumi

Sosuke Aoyama, a university student unable to overcome the death of his family members in an accident, is drifting aimlessly through various part-time jobs. While working at an exhibition gallery, he encounters sumi-e, Japanese ink paintings, and becomes instantly captivated by their powerful yet delicate beauty. Kozan Shinoda, a sumi-e master painter, notices Sosuke’s fascination and invites him to be his pupil. While initially reluctant, Sosuke accepts the offer and gradually opens his heart to the wonderful world of sumi-e while trying to overcome his traumatic past.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung, Surabaya, Palembang, Yogyakarta

  • Drama

FATHER OF THE MILKY WAY RAILROAD

  • 2023
  • 128 min.
Director:
NARUSHIMA Izuru
Cast:
YAKUSHO Koji, SUDA Masaki, MORI Nana, TOYODA Yudai, SAKAI Maki, TANAKA Min

In 1896, Masajiro welcomes a long-awaited baby boy, Kenji, who later becomes a beloved novelist and poet in Japanese literature. As him being the eldest son, he wishes Kenji to succeed his job, but he refuses this for any suitable reason and goes his own way: farming, artificial jewelry, and religion. Masajiro tries to be a strict father but ends up being supportive for Kenji's own good. Eventually, when Toshi, Kenji's younger sister and who understands him the best, becomes ill, Kenji starts to devote himself to writing… Based on a best-selling novel that won Naoki Prize, it depicts the ultimate love between father and son, and the life of the genius novelist through the eyes of his father.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung

  • Drama
  • Romance

We Made a Beautiful Bouquet

  • 2021
  • 124 min.
Director:
DOI Nobuhiro
Cast:
SUDA Masaki, ARIMURA Kasumi

The last train at midnight leaves a group of stragglers stranded at the station, who opt for a bar rather than paying for a taxi home. Among them are twenty-two-year-olds Mugi and Kinu, whose curiosity for one another is fated to have a lasting and more intricate outcome than initially expected. Caught in the period of youth when many enter the gruelling Japanese workforce, the pair live under the pressure of maintaining an income without compromising their creative passions. Patient and bittersweet, this romance chronicles the fleeting lifespan of love, as Mugi and Kinu reckon with the hard realities of societal life imposing on their relationship and senses of self.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung, Surabaya, Palembang, Yogyakarta

  • Action

BRAVE:GUNJO SENKI

  • 2021
  • 115 min.
Director:
MOTOHIRO Katsuyuki
Cast:
ARATA Mackenyu, MIURA Haruma, YAMAZAKI Hirona, MATSUYAMA Kenichi

When a lightning bolt strikes an elite sports school, day-to-day club activities are drastically interrupted by a samurai army wreaking havoc on the campus. Kyudo club member and history geek Aoi soon realises that the entire school has travelled back in time to the gruesome Sengoku Period; precisely before the famous Battle of Okehazama, featuring none other than Lord Oda Nobunaga himself! Thanks to his familiarity with the battle’s tactics and encouragement from his childhood friend Haruka, Aoi is chosen to become the leader of a rescue mission against the clock to save his abducted friends, just in time to return to the present.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung

  • Drama

THE WATER FLOWS TO THE SEA

  • 2023
  • 123 min.
Director:
MAEDA Tetsu
Cast:
HIROSE Suzu, ONISHI Riku, KORA Kengo

High school student Naotatsu (ONISHI Riku) decides to move in with his uncle Shigemichi (KORA Kengo) to live closer to school. However, on the day of his arrival, the one who came to pick him up at the station was a woman named Sakaki (HIROSE Suzu). She takes him to the shared house where Shigemichi lives. From that day on, a chaotic yet amusing life begins with the residents of the shared house. Naotatsu is drawn to Sakaki, who rarely expresses her feelings, only to learn that she promised herself never to fall in love. What he doesn't know is that he is connected to her past and her decision.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung

  • Drama
  • Romance

AND YET, YOU ARE SO SWEET

  • 2023
  • 99 min.
Director:
SHINJYO Takehiko
Cast:
TAKAHASHI Kyohei, HATA Mei

KISARAGI Maaya is in her second year of high school and has just been completely rejected by her crush. Heartbroken and mortified, she vows out loud to "never confess to someone ever again"… only to realise later that her high school’s heartthrob CHIGIRA Sui is within earshot! Upon hearing Maaya's weeping, CHIGIRA proposes a strange solution to heal her heartbreak – that she pretends to have a crush on him instead. When CHIGIRA starts treating Maaya sweetly, it isn't hard for her to keep up pretences in this strictly one-sided love game… but as the pair grow closer, Maaya's feelings for CHIGIRA become undeniable. What will become of their “pretend crush” now?

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung

  • Anime

Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom

  • 2023
  • 117 min.
Director:
WATANABE Kotono
Cast:
KAKU Kento, HAMABE Minami, KAMIYA Hiroshi, GINGA Banjyo

Glistening with gold and water beneath the same sun, Alhamit and Baikari are two warring kingdoms that have come to a diplomatic agreement: Alhamit will gift their most beautiful woman and Baikari their cleverest man, to wed the nations into peace. But apparently they are too stubborn to even honour such a simple deal, and trouble sparks when a dog and cat arrive in place of the promised bride and groom! In a strange twist of fate however, Princess Sarah of Alhamit and Naranbayar of Baikari meet in the forest by chance, without realising who the other is…

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung, Surabaya, Palembang, Yogyakarta

  • Horror

The Forbidden Play

  • 2023
  • 110 min.
Director:
NAKATA Hideo
Cast:
SHIGEOKA Daiki (Johnny’s WEST), HASHIMOTO Kanna, HOTTA Mayu, KURA Yuki

When beloved wife and mother Miyuki passes away, her little son Haruto buries one of her fingers in the backyard she cherished dearly, hoping to bring her back to life. As father Naoto watches Haruto chant a resurrection spell, he can hardly bear to tell him there’s no way to bring his mother back. But little does Naoto know, as Haruto repeats his chants daily, something evil is pulsing underground... How could Miyuki ever rest in peace when Naoto turned his back on a family promise? A playful mixture of Hollywood and J-horror tropes, this film is the latest from NAKATA Hideo, the director of Ring (1998).

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung, Surabaya, Palembang, Yogyakarta

  • Thriller
  • Mystery

Lesson in Murder

  • 2022
  • 128 min.
Director:
SHIRAISHI Kazuya
Cast:
ABE Sadawo, OKADA Kenshi, IWATA Takanori

Masaya Kakei attends a low-ranked university, a situation he finds depressing. One day he receives a letter from Yamato Haimura, a high-profile serial murderer convicted and sentenced to death for nine of the twenty-four killings he’d been accused of. Before his capture, Yamato ran a local bakery, which Masaya frequented while attending junior high school. Reaching out to Masaya, Yamato freely admits his guilt but insists the ninth conviction was a frameup and implores him to find the true killer. As Masaya delves into the case, the truth proves to be cruel beyond imagination.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta

  • Anime

LUPIN THE 3rd, THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO

  • 1979
  • 100 min.
Director:
MIYAZAKI Hayao
Cast:
YAMADA Yasuo, KOBAYASHI Kiyoshi, INOUE Makio, MASUYAMA Eiko, NAYA Goro

In the quaint European Duchy of Cagliostro, Lupin and Jigen end up with a damsel in distress on their hands. It's a daring rescue operation to find the castle's treasure and save the captured princess! Directed by MIYAZAKI Hayao, this action-adventure romp is said to have inspired some renowned film directors as well!

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung

  • Anime

Takeshi Yashiro Stop Motion Animation: NORMAN THE SNOWMAN -The Northern Light-

  • 2013
  • 25 min.
Director:
YASHIRO Takeshi
Cast:
ODA Keita, YOSHINO Hiroyuki, NOJIMA Akio

As the first snow falls on a town in the northern country, a boy sneaks out of his house to board a northbound train with his friend “Norman the Snowman.” They are off to witness the beautiful wonders of nature that Norman had always talked about.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung

  • Anime

Takeshi Yashiro Stop Motion Animation: NORMAN THE SNOWMAN -On a Night of Shooting Stars-

  • 2016
  • 25 min.
Director:
YASHIRO Takeshi
Cast:
ODA Keita, YOSHINO Hiroyuki, KAJI Yuki

Tomorrow is the night of the shooting stars! A new chapter of “Norman the Snowman” begins as Norman and the Boy embark on another venture to see the star-filled sky.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung

  • Anime

Takeshi Yashiro Stop Motion Animation: Moon of a sleepless night

  • 2015
  • 27 min.
Director:
YASHIRO Takeshi
Cast:
Lavernhe Tomoki, MAKO Shuou, IWAINOFU Ken

A squirrel and a boy set out on a journey together to restore daylight. They must find and release the moon stuck high up on a tree somewhere far, far away.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung

  • Anime

Takeshi Yashiro Stop Motion Animation: Gon, The Little Fox

  • 2019
  • 27 min.
Director:
YASHIRO Takeshi
Cast:
TANAKA Masato, IRINO Miyu, KODA Tatsuya

When Gon, a playful orphaned fox, finds that young Hyoju has lost his mother, he tries to comfort him and make amends for his own earlier mischiefs by secretly bringing small gifts to the boy every day. But Hyoju doesn’t realize who is behind the anonymous gifts, and the two are headed for a heartbreaking climax.

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Subtitle: English & Indonesia

Playing at: Jakarta, Makassar, Bandung

  • Classic
  • Drama

The Island

  • 1960
  • 94 min.
Director:
SHINDO Kaneto
Cast:
OTOWA Nobuko, TONOYAMA Taiji, TANAKA Shinji, HORIMOTO Masanori

A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops. Their difficult life as farmers becomes even more tested when their eldest son falls ill. Faced with this tragedy, the family must work even harder to survive.

*Silent Movie

Playing at: Jakarta

  • Classic
  • Drama

kitchen

  • 1989
  • 106 min.
Director:
MORITA Yoshimitsu
Cast:
KAWAHARA Ayako, MATSUDA Keiji, HASHIZUME Isao

The story centers around Mikage, a young woman who loses her parents when young. She grows up in a lonely household with her grandmother who dies when Mikage reaches adulthood. Grief-stricken, she finds solace in the kitchen. Yuichi, a friend of Mikage's deceased grandmother, invites her to live with him and his mother. Then Mikage discovers that Yuichi's mother is actually his father, who is impersonating a female.

Subtitle: English

Playing at: Jakarta

  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Samurai

WE'RE BROKE, MY LORD!

  • 2023
  • 120 min.
Director:
MAEDA Tetsu
Cast:
KAMIKI Ryunosuke, SUGISAKI Hana, MATSUYAMA Kenichi

Best-selling author Jiro ASADA’s seminal historical fiction novel is finally coming to theaters! A man suddenly becomes the head of a domain, only to discover a debt of 10 billion yen?! Money has been intertwined with people’s lives throughout the ages, and this is no exception in this amusing and exciting story about how a man caught up in trouble and his friends fight to turn their life around!

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Subtitle: English

Playing at: Jakarta