9 Sep - The much awaited Japanese Film Festival was launched in Kuala Lumpur last night for its 12th year running now. Present at the launch ceremony held at GSC Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur, was actor-director Masato Harada who delivered an insightful speech about the inception and the directing process he had went through for his movie "Kakekomi" which was selected as the official opening movie for the festival. "I have always been a fan of filmmakers Akira Kurosawa and Howard Hughes, and I believe that with "Kakekomi" you can see some of their influence in it." Harada who also starred alongside Tom Cruise in 2003's "The Last Samurai", said directing "Kakekomi", a jidaigeki drama film set during the Edo period about divorced wives who flee to a Buddhist temple for shelter and support, as a dream come true.
"I have always been fascinated with the Edo period and particularly the stories of these divorced women. I had seen the Engyo-ji Temple in Himeji while shooting for "The Last Samurai" and since then I have always wanted to make a film set in that location." CEO of GSC Cinemas, Ms. Koh Mei Lee also took to the stage to welcome the return of the Japanese Film Festival and highlighted three of the movie titles that are distributed by GSC Movies as part of the festival lineup this year.
"I'm glad to announce that GSC Movies have added to the lineup of this year's festival with the three Anime titles ""Initial D Legend 2: Racer", "Mobile Suit Gundam Origin: Blue-Eyed Casval" and "The Adventures of Tyrano Boy"." GSC's new concession item, the Seaweed Wasabi flavored popcorn flavour was also introduced to the guests.
From 10 to 16 September, fans can catch the 13 JFF movies at GSC Mid Valley, GSC Pavilion KL and GSC 1 Utama. It will then move on to GSC Gurney Plaza, Penang from 17 to 20 September. JFF 2015 will also head on over to East Malaysia, showing from 24 to 27 September at GSC Suria Sabah in Kota Kinabalu and 1 to 4 October at GSC CityONE Megamall, Kuching, Sarawak. (Photos Source: GSC Facebook)