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PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2016 JAPAN FILM FESTIVAL OF SAN FRANCISCO
ANNOUNCES THEATRICAL FILM PREMIERESSHOWCASING DYNAMIC JAPANESE CINEMAThe S.F. Bay Area’s 4th Annual Dedicated Japanese Film Festival Returns With
Premiere Screenings And Very Special Guests Of Honor Taking Place
At NEW PEOPLE Cinema In Japantown
San Francisco, CA, June 9, 2016 – The 2016 Japan Film Festival of San Francisco(JFFSF), the first and only fully-dedicated Japanese film celebration for the S.F. Bay Area, hasannounced a diverse roster of films that are set to screen as part of this year’s program.
This year’s JFFSF proudly presents a broad collection of current and acclaimed
Japanese cinema across a variety of genres such as action, sci-fi, documentary, anime, shorts,
live music, kabuki theatre, crime mystery, and family drama. All films will be presented inJapanese language with English subtitles.
The 2016 Japan Film Festival of San Francisco opens Saturday, July 23rd and runs thru
Sunday, July 31st at NEW PEOPLE Cinema located inside the NEW PEOPLE in Japantown at1746 Post St., San Francisco, CA 94115 (www.newpeoplecinema.com). Tickets to individual
screenings are $15.00 each, unless otherwise noted. All ticket prices include the service feewith no further extra charge.
For the true film aficionado, this year, the JFFSF also offers the special JFFSF FestivalPassports. Available for $150 each, a passport grants the holder priority access and seating at
all JFFSF 2016 screenings. A complete listing of film summaries, trailers, screening times
and advance tickets as well as festival passports are available at: JFFSF.org.
Special 2016 JFFSF Guests of Honor include Director Shinsuke Sato (Gantz, The PrincessBlade), who appears in person for the U.S. premiere of LIBRARY WARS: THE LAST MISSION,Director Shunji Iwai (Love Letter, All About Lily Chou-Chou, Hana and Alice), who will appear
for the California premiere of A BRIDE FOR RIP VAN WINKLE, and Director Ryusuke
Hamaguchi, who will appear for the screening of HAPPY HOUR.
“We are honored to welcome three prominent directors from Japan as our Guests of Honor thisyear,” says Manami Iiboshi, Executive Director of the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco. “It isexciting to share with our beloved audience this rare opportunity to hear about the creative
vision behind their films in person. I hope everyone enjoys exploring diversity of Japanesecinema through this year’s program.”2016 Japan Film Festival of S.F. Announces Film Screening Program
Page 2	  This year’s JFFSF also complements an extensive roster of entertainment also set to take placefor J-POP SUMMIT 2016, the weekend of July 23rd and 24th at Fort Mason.
The following films will play at the NEW PEOPLE Cinema on the dates noted beginningon Saturday, July 23rd with screenings continuing until Sunday, July 31st.
LIBRARY WARS: THE LAST MISSION
Saturday, July 23rd, 12:00pm
Featuring a special in-person appearance by Director Shinsuke Sato (Gantz, The PrincessBlade)! In this new sequel to the first Library Wars film, the story is set in a near future where
the expression of thought is censored and the media is controlled. Under instructor Atsushi Dojo
whom she admires, Iku Kasahara is now a full-fledged member of the Library Defense ‘TaskForce’. They are ordered to guard a public exhibition featuring ‘The Handbook of Library Law’known as the symbol of freedom, with no clue what fate awaits ahead.
J-POP SUMMIT 2016 PRESENTS: IA 1ST LIVE CONCERT IN JAPAN "PARTY A GOGO!"
Saturday, July 23, 3pm
Presented by J-POP SUMMIT 2016, the latest Vocaloid sensation “IA” 's first solo concert film,"IA First Live Concert in JAPAN: PARTY A GO-GO," will have its San Francisco premiere at
Japan Film Festival of SF! “IA” is a virtual artist brought to life as part of the VOCALOID™3 withits synthesizing technology, and IA-related videos have collectively garnered more than 100
million views online. Experience the hottest entertainment export from Japan!
TOKYO SHORT SHORTS 2016
Saturday, July 23, 4:15pm
JFFSF's popular collaboration with Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia teams up to exclusively
premiere a collection of special short films directed by a new generation of filmmakers fromJapan! Films include: Plan B (Directed by Hatsuki Yokoo), Hana (Directed by Yusaku Okamoto)and Piece of the Future (Directed by Seiki Watanabe), Drifting cloud (Directed by YutaSukegawa) and Kerama Blue (Directed by Tsukasa Kishimoto).
RUROUNI KENSHIN: KYOTO INFERNO
Saturday, July 23 at 6:00pm; Sunday, July 24 at 6:30pm; Monday, July 25 at 8:00pm;
Tuesday, July 26 at 9:00pm
Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno and Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends are both sequels to2012's first Rurouni Kenshin live-action theatrical film. The live-action action movies were filmedback-to-back and cover the Kyoto Arc of Nobuhiro Watsuki's original historical action manga.
Kenshin Himura is a legendary swordsman in the wars accompanying the turbulent fall ofJapan’s Shogunate in the 19th Century. Once feared as, ‘Battosai the Killer,” he became awanderer living peacefully with his companions with the arrival of the ‘new age’ in Japanesehistory. But now he learns that Makoto Shishio, his crazed successor, is about to overthrow thenew government. Can Kenshin stop him without breaking his vow to kill no more and save
Japan from destruction? (**Note: This is not a double feature. Separate tickets must be boughtfor each screening.)
A BRIDE FOR RIP VAN WINKLE
Sunday July 24, 12:00pm
Screening features a special personal appearance by Director Shunji Iwai (Love Letter, All
About Lily Chou-Chou, Hana and Alice)! Director Iwai returns with a deceptively beautiful film
about a struggling teacher obsessed with a new social-media site, where she meets people thatlead her life to an unexpected place. With the wedding with a boyfriend she met online

2016 Japan Film Festival of S.F. Announces Film Screening Program
Page 3	  approaching, and with no relatives except for her divorced parents, she makes a questionabledecision encouraged by Amuro, a jack-of-all-trades whom she had also met online.
CINEMA KABUKI "NEZUMI KOZO: NODA VERSION"
Sunday July 24, 4:00pm
Don't miss the rare opportunity to experience the authentic and unique beauty of contemporary
kabuki performed by some of Japan's greatest kabuki actors and presented in vivid HD on thebig screen! Nezumi Kozo is based on the story of a real-life bandit from the Edo period (19thCentury). After his execution, a legend grew that he had been a kind of Robin Hood, sharing hisill-gotten gains with the poor. Written and directed by Hideki Noda and starring Nakamura
Kanzaburo XVIII.
DOU KYU SEI - CLASSMATES –Monday, July 25, 6:30pm
Based on a popular yaoi (Boys' Love) manga by Asumiko Nakamura, the film portrays thetantalizingly pure romance between two male high school students, Hikaru Kusakabe, a popular
student in a band, and Lichit Sajo, an honor student. These boys would have never crossedpaths until they begin to talk through preparing for an upcoming chorus festival together. A
sensitive yet refined romantic masterpiece is brought to life.
THE ANTHEM OF THE HEART
Tuesday, July 26, 6:30pm
Creators behind the popular Anohana Movie return with the original anime feature film, The
Anthem of the Heart an all-new ode to youth set in the beautiful city of Chichibu, located inSaitama Prefecture, Japan. The story unfolds around Jun Naruse, a girl who is unable to speakfrom trauma in the past. Through happening to join a musical act with an unexpected mix ofstudents, Jun gradually starts to regain her lost voice.
SOLOMON'S PERJURY (PART 1: SUSPICION & PART 2: JUDGMENT)
Wednesday, July 27, 6:30pm
A special double-feature presentation.Court commenced with the death of a 14 year-old, andconcluded with perjury. On a Christmas morning, the body of a student is discovered on thesnow-covered schoolyard below a high rooftop. His death stirred up the latent malice thatexisted within the school, leading to accusations by an anonymous source claiming to be aneyewitness. A scheme for a new murder, sensational coverage by the mass media, thenanother victim and yet another... When the teachers have forsaken the students, concerned
only with protecting themselves, one female student takes a stand to expose the hidden truth byholding a court trial within the school! Several collaborators come forward who are notintimidated by the pressure exerted by the teachers. Then, a defense counselor from anotherschool comes forward to offer support. And finally, the 5-day trail begins.
THE BOY AND THE BEAST
Thursday, July 28, 6:30pm
The latest feature film from award-winning director Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars, WolfChildren)! When Kyuta, a young orphan living on the streets of Shibuya, stumbles into afantastic world of beasts, he’s taken in by Kumatetsu, a gruff, rough-around-the-edges warrior
beast who’s been searching for the perfect apprentice. Despite their constant bickering, Kyuta
and Kumatetsu begin training together and slowly form a bond as surrogate father and son.
RUROUNI KENSHIN: THE LEGEND ENDS
Thursday, July 28 at 9:00pm; Friday, July 29, 9:00pm; Saturday, July 30 at 3:00pm;
Sunday, July 31 at 6:30pm

2016 Japan Film Festival of S.F. Announces Film Screening Program	  Don’t miss the exciting finale in the action-packed Rurouni Kenshin live-action saga!

Page 4

BEING GOOD
Friday, July 29, 6:30pm
Awarded NETPAC Jury Prize at the 37th Moscow International Film Festival, this film is a heartwrenching portrayal of isolated people caught in downward spirals that also shows how simple
acts of kindness can make a difference. Tasuku is a school teacher struggling to deal with his
homeroom and his students’ over-protective parents. When he discovers that one of hisstudents is being abused by their parents, he decides to stand up to make a difference.
DASHI & SHOYU: ESSENCE OF JAPAN
Saturday, July 30, 12:00pm
This visually striking food documentary is focused on two crucial essence of Japanese cuisine:the delicate soup stock, ‘Dashi,’ and the golden soy sauce, ‘Shoyu.’ Dashi is the bedrock ofJapanese cuisine and a distillation of the natural resources of Japan. ‘Shoyu’ is a pillar ofJapanese cuisine, which is made of soy that is transformed by a type of mold that exists only inJapan. History and secrets of Umami will be revealed. Screening will feature a special Dashi
stock tasting.
HAPPY HOUR
Sunday, July 31, 12:00pm
Screening to feature a special personal appearance by Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi! Japan’sup-and-coming director Hamaguchi’s award-winning epic Happy Hour returns to SF Bay Area
with the filmmaker himself. This 5-hours-and-17-minutes-long film about the unstable lives offour girl friends in their thirties, played by real women with no acting experience in the past,should be surprisingly gratifying for any movie lover.
About JAPAN FILM FESTIVAL OF SAN FRANCISCO
Launched in 2013, Japan Film Festival of San Francisco is the first and only fully dedicatedJapanese film event for the SF Bay Area. This year’s edition will feature a colorful mix ofnarratives, anime and documentary film premieres and exclusive screenings with special guest
appearance at the NEW PEOPLE Cinema in San Francisco’s Japantown from July 23rd (Sat)through August 31st (Sun), 2016. More details and ticket information is available at jffsf.org.
About NEW PEOPLE CINEMA
NEW PEOPLE Cinema is a 143-seat cinema located in the underground floor of NEW PEOPLE
in San Francisco. Equipped with a cutting-edge HD digital projection and THX®-certified soundsystem, NEW PEOPLE Cinema is home for local film festivals and creative events.
newpeoplecinema.com###