24 Aug – Celebrating its 15th anniversary in Malaysia this year is the annual Japanese Film Festival (JFF). To commemorate its milestone, JFF 2018 has lined up two special programs for its Malaysian audiences, as announced at the press conference that was held this morning at GSC Mid Valley. One of the special programs is the screenings of films shot in Japan by Malaysian filmmakers. Several titles will be screened in total, including "New World" and "Fly Me to Minami" by director Lim Kah Wai. The Japan-based Malaysian filmmaker will also be gracing the opening of JFF 2018 on 4 September and hold Q&A sessions after the screenings of his movies. Director Lydia Lubon will also conduct a Q&A session after the screening of her movie "Heart of Taiko", while director Edmund Yeo, who was named Best Director at Tokyo Film Festival 2017, will be holding a Q&A session after the screening of his short films. The screenings are free but require booking via Eventbrite website from this 30 August. The second special program for JFF 2018 is the "Chihayafuru" movie marathon, which will include the screening of "Chihayafuru Part 1" and "Chihayafuru Part 2", two movies that proved to be popular at JFF two years ago, as well as the new "Chihayafuru Part 3" that was released earlier this year. Both the special screening programs are to be held at GSC Nu Sentral.
JFF 2018 will be kicking off this September until October, taking place in 5 cities across the nation. "Back in 2004, we only had 2 venues for screening, namely GSC Mid Valley and GSC Gurney Plaza, Penang, over 4 days and 3 days with only 8 film titles," said Mr. Koichi Horikawa, Director of The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur. "Today, JFF tours more cities for longer durations with more films, and I'm proud to announce that our new addition this year is GSC Paradigm JB Mall, Johor Bahru." JFF 2018 is kicking off in Kuala Lumpur from 6 to 12 September. It will then head to Penang from 13 to 16 September before making its inaugural visit to Johor Bahru from 20 to 23 September. Last but not least, JFF 2018 will be held simultaneously in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching from 4 to 7 October. Organised by the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur ever since its inception in 2004, Cinema Online has been strongly supporting the Japanese Film Festival as its official online partner for the past 10 years. For more information on the movies and showtimes, visit our Japanese Film Festival 2018 page right HERE.