Special Screening of "A Girl Named Ann" (An No Koto) and Panel, Q&A Session
in collaboration with TIFF featuring director Yu Irie,
TIFF Festival Chairman Hiroyasu Ando and TIFF Programming Director Shozo Ichiyama
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
TIFF panel: 5:00 - 5:45 pm
Screening of "A Girl Named Ann" (An No Koto): 6:00 - 7:55 pm
Q&A session: 8:00 - 8:45 pm (please keep in mind that these are all estimated time schedule)
The Film Committee is pleased to once again welcome our friends from the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), to discuss highlights from the 37th edition of the festival, the Japanese titles being showcased and the special events being planned.
Yu Irie, who has been named TIFF 37's Nippon Cinema Now Director in Focus, will join TIFF Chairman Hiroyasu Ando and Programming Director Shozo Ichiyama on the panel, which will be followed by a special English-subtitled screening of Irie's early-summer hit "A Girl Named Ann." The director will also be on hand for a Q&A session following the screening.
The 37th edition of TIFF will run from October 28 - November 6 at expanded venues in the Hibiya/Marunouchi/Yurakucho/Ginza area.
Special Screening: "A girl named Ann" (An no Koto)
In Japanese with English subtitles
Japan, 2024 114 minutes
Written and directed by: Yu Irie
Produced by: Yukiko Tanigawa, Tomohiko Seki
Starring: Yuumi Kawai, Jiro Sato, Goro Inagaki, Kawai Aoba, Yuriko Hirooka, Akari Hayami
Film courtesy of Kino Films
For more (in Japanese): https://annokoto.jp/
An intensely dramatic story based on a real-life character, Yu Irie's powerful “A Girl Named Ann” reveals a side of Japan that remains all too invisible, and features a tour-de-force performance from in-demand actress Yuumi Kawai, who has attracted global attention after star turns in festival favorites "Plan 75" (2021) and "Desert of Namibia" (2024).
Kawai plays the protagonist, Ann, a young woman on the margins who has struggled since her brutal childhood to find a place for herself. Forced into prostitution in her mid-teens, she has also developed a methamphetamine addiction, and is eventually arrested. During interrogation, she meets an unusual detective, Tatara (Sato), who runs an NPO offering support and guidance for drug users. Tatara takes Ann under his wing, and with the help of a magazine reporter who's doing an article on him, Kirino (Inagaki), the young woman is soon working, going to night school and living independently for the first time in her life. But when Covid becomes widespread. Ann finds herself isolated and struggling, facing a mounting crisis.
Told with great sensitivity in an unflinching style that lends it a sense of documentary realism, Irie's "A Girl Named Ann" is devastating and moving, and should help prompt an expanded public dialogue about recovery programs and support services in Japan.
YU IRIE made his feature debut in 2006 with "Japonica Virus." His sophomore effort, "8,000 Miles" (2009), won the Grand Prize at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival and was screened to great acclaim at numerous festivals around the world. Its success brought him a Best Newcomer Award from the Directors Guild of Japan. Two sequels followed, as well as a late-night television series broadcast in 2017. Irie soon began helming large studio productions with big-name stars, including "Hibi Rock: Puke Afro and the Pop Star" (2014), "Joker Game" (2015), "Memoirs of a Murderer" (2017), and "AI Amok" (2020). But he also continued helming indie productions, like "The Sun" (2016), "Vigilante" (2017), "Gangoose" (2018) and "Ninja Girl" (2021). The independent "A Girl Named Ann" was released in June 2024. His next film is "Muromachi Outsiders," due for release in early 2025.
HIROYASU ANDO entered Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs after graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1970, and served as a diplomat in the US, the Philippines and the UK. He then served as the Private Secretary for the Prime Minister, the Minister-Counselor at the Embassy of Japan in the US, the Director-General in charge of Middle East and African Affairs, the Ambassador of the Consulate General of Japan in New York, the Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary and the Ambassador to Italy. From 2011 to 2020, he focused on international cultural exchange initiatives as the President of the Japan Foundation. He was named Chairman of TIFF in 2019.
SHOZO ICHIYAMA began his career producing films at Shochiku and Office Kitano, focusing mainly on work by non-Japanese filmmakers, and continues to be an independent producer. Among his major films are Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "Flowers of Shanghai" (1998), Samira Makhmalbaf's "Blackboards" (2000), and Jia Zhangke's "A Touch of Sin" (2013). From 1992 to 1999, Ichiyama served as a programmer for Tokyo International Film Festival, before launching Tokyo FILMeX in 2000. He served as the program director there until 2021, when he left to become the Programming Director of TIFF. Since 2013, he has been teaching at the Tokyo University of the Arts. He is the recipient of the 2019 Kawakita Award.
TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TIFF) is the only Japanese film festival accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).* TIFF started in 1985 as Japan's first major film festival and has grown to become one of the leading film festivals in Asia. Celebrating its 37th anniversary in 2024, TIFF continues to seek out excellent films from around the world and bring them to Tokyo, where filmmakers and film fans can enjoy them, meet emerging filmmakers, and be inspired. TIFF is serving as a member of the FIAPF Festivals Committee from 2021 to 2027.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk 03 3211-3161 or register online.
All film screenings are private, noncommercial events primarily for FCCJ members and their guests.
- Karen Severns, Film Committee
*FIAPF is an international organization that oversees issues related to the film industry and international film festivals.