“More than anything, document.write(“”); the Festival du nouveau cinéma is about a spirit, the spirit of good company, revelry and fun. Every edition is a chance to get together and celebrate our shared passion for film around each new lineup. The eleven-day Festival is designed as a space devoted to discussions, meetings and sharing, where film fans can come together with artists and professionals to exchange ideas in an informal setting. (…) [T]he Festival du nouveau cinéma, resolutely forward-looking, has long been the unfailing advocate of new technologies. Each year, the Festival seeks out new developments that move cinema forward (…)! The Festival (…) is a showcase for cinema of all types, from offbeat, one-of-a-kind niche works to crowd-pleasers to daringly innovative big events. (…) Cinema at its best, shorts and features, documentaries and fiction from Quebec and around the world (…). [T]he programming team puts together a rich, varied lineup to celebrate local and international cinema the way it deserves, year after year.“
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The 44th edition of the Festival du nouveau cinéma will be held from october 7 to 18 in various location in Montreal (Theatre Maisonneuve, Pavillion Judith-Jasmin Annexe at UQAM, Cinéma du Parc, Cineplex Odéon Quartier Latin and Université Concordia). It’s offering 350-odd movies from around the world, including ten Japanese movies. More details on the festival website and Facebook page.

For more information about the Japanese programming, you can check the Coco Montréal website. I’ve also gather some useful information and links (after the jump):

• An (?? / lit. “Sweet Red Bean Paste”): Japan/France/Germany, 2015, 113 min; Dir.: Naomi Kawase; Cast: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida.
  

  “At seventy, Tokue is sure of herself, thanks to her secret recipe for exceptional dough for dorayaki, a traditional, irresistibly delicious Japanese sweet cake filled with red bean paste. In her mind, there is no doubt: Sentaro, the lonely dorayaki vendor who doesn’t like sugar, must hire her. The idea turns out to be good, because once Tokue gets involved, the little shop’s sales take off. While the old lady teaches her boss to “listen to the beans,” she can’t hide her secret for very long.” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as a special presentation: Sat 10/10 15:30 at Auditorium Alumni H-110 (Concordia); Sun 10/18 21:00 at Cineplex Odeon Quartier Salle 10.

• Belladonna of Sadness (????????? / Kanashimi no Beradonna): Japan, 1973, 86 min; Dir.: Eiichi Yamamoto; Scr.: Eiichi Yamamoto & Yoshiyuki Fukuda (based on a book by Jules Michelet); Mus.: Masahiko Satô; Animation: Gisaburo Sugii; Prod.: Osamu Tezuka; Cast: Katsuyuki Itô, Aiko Nagayama, Shigako Shimegi, Masaya Takahashi, Netsuke Yashiro, Masakane Yonekura.
  

  “Never before officially released in North America, this one-of-a-kind cult classic can now be enjoyed in all of its splendour through a new restoration based on original negatives. [P]roduced by the legendary Osamu Tezuka’s studio Mushi Production (…). Based on a book by Jules Michelet (Satanism and Witchcraft, 1862), it tells the tragic feminist tale of a 14th-century peasant woman driven by religious oppression to give herself body and soul to witchcraft and the sulphurous charms of the devil.” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as part of the “Temps 0” segment: Mon 10/10 19:00 at Salle J.A. De Sève (Concordia); Sat 10/18 19:00 at Cinéma du Parc 2.

• The birth of saké: USA/Japan, 2015, 94 min; Dir./Scr./Phot.: Erik Shirai; Ed.: Takeshi Fukunaga, Frederick Shanahan; Prod.: Makoto Sasa.
  

  “In northern Japan, the small Tedorigawa brewery has been making its saké using the same artisanal methods for more than a century. From October to April, the workers, all men, live together at the brewery and work non-stop, even when mourning. Cooking the rice, stirring it by hand, overseeing its fermentation… it is a sacred ritual, conducted silently in a shroud of steam. (…) There is a good reason saké is not “manufactured” but rather “born”: it is a beverage, but it is also history and culture.” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as part of the “Panorama” segment (documentary): Thu 10/15 19:00 at Cinéma du Parc 1; Sat 10/17 19:00 at Centre PHI – Espace B.

• The Diary of Ochibidi (????? / Ochibi-san): Japan, 2015, 8 min; Dir./Scr.: Masashi Kawamura; Phot.: Kan Sugiki; Ed.: Hidehisa Watanabe; Animation: Shuhei Harada, Tetsuo Ichimura, Junko Negishi, Saki Omita, Kenta Shinohara, Moe Usami; Mus.: Kenjiro Matsuo, Yuichi Nakamura.
  

  “The film is loosely based on the famous manga Ochibi-san, by Moyoco Anno, about the day-to-day life of Ochibi as she experiences the 4 seasons of Japan.” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as part of the “P’tits Loups” segment: Sat 10/10 10:00 at Agora Hydro-Québec du Coeur des sciences.

• Journey to the shore (???? / Kishibe no Tabi): Japan/France, 2015, 127 min; Dir.: Kiroshi Kurosawa; Scr.: Takashi Ujita, Kiyoshi Kuroswa (based on a novel by Kazumi Yumoto); Cast: Eri Fukatsu, Tadanobu Asano, Yu Aoi, Akira Emoto.
  

  “Yusuke drowned in the ocean three years ago. But one day, he reappears in the middle of Japan, more specifically in the life of his strangely unsurprised wife, Mizuki, a piano teacher, who he invites on a journey through villages and rice paddies. On their journey, there is no confrontation; there are, rather, opportunities to rebuild their bond and meet others who, like him, are still wandering. What they will find at the end is, perhaps, eternal peace.” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as a special presentation: Thu 10/08 14:00 at Cinéma du Parc 1; Sat 10/17 16:30 at Auditorium Alumni H-110 (Concordia).

• Oyster Factory (???? / Kaki Kouba): Japan/USA, 2015, 145 min; Dir.: Kazuhiro Sôda; Cast: Shinsuke Hirano, Koichi Watanabe, Yukiko Watanabe.
  

  “Once there were twenty or more. Now, in the Japanese coastal village of Ushimado, there are only six. The gradual disappearance of small, family-run oyster factories may be a sign of the times, but it is more than a symbolic change: it also has very real consequences for fishermen, manual labourers and local residents, who are not happy to see workers being brought in from outside.” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as part of the “Panorama” segment (documentary): Sat 10/10 18:30 at Cinéma du Parc 2; Sun 10/11 13:00 at Cinéma du Parc 2.

• The Taste of Tea (??? / Cha no Aji): Japan, 2004, 120 min; Dir./Scr.: Ishii Katsuhito; Phot.: Kosuke Matushima; Ed.: Katsuhito Ishii; Mus.: Little Tempo; Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Takahiro Sato, Maya Banno, Satomi Tezuka, Tomokazu Miura, Tatsuya Gashuin, Anna Tsuchiya, Rinko Kikuchi.
  

  “A spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project at home. Uncle Ayano has recently arrived, looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo for several years. Meanwhile, Yoshiko’s daughter Sachiko is mainly concerned with why she seems to be followed around everywhere by a giant version of herself.” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as special presentation commented by Jean-Marc Vallée: Fri 10/09 19:00 at Cinéma du Parc 1.

• Sumo Road: The Musical (????????? / Dosukoi Musical): Japan, 2015, 25 min; Dir./Scr.: Ken Oshiai; Phot.: Chris Freilich; Ed.: Chieko Suzaki; Mus.: Nobuko Toda; Cast: Tetsu Watanabe, Ryusuke Komakine, Lin Yu Chun, Gitarô Ikeda.
  

  “An over- weight exchange student with no friends decides to join the sumo team at a Japanese university.But to ensure his spot, he must stand up to the team leader and face him in an ultimate sumo match. Can he embrace the spirit of sumo or will he be cast out and friendless once again?” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as part of the “Compétition International” segment: Mon 10/12 17:00 at Pavillon Judith-Jasmin annexe (Salle Jean-Claude Lauzon); Wed 10/14 13:00 at Pavillon Judith-Jasmin annexe (Salle Jean-Claude Lauzon).

• The whispering star (????? / Hiso Hiso Boshi): Japan, 2015, 100 min; Dir./Scr.: Sion Sono; Phot.: Hideo Yamamoto; Ed.: Junichi Ito; Prod. Des.: Takeshi Shimizu; Cast: Megumi Kagurazaka, Kenji Endo, Yûto Ikeda, Mori Kouko.
  

  “Yoko (Megumi Kagurazaka) is a robot employed by a courier company. In her interstellar ship, shaped like a little Japanese house, she scoots back and forth across the galaxy, delivering parcels and news to people everywhere. Yoko is terribly bored, and eventually can no longer resist looking inside the parcels to learn more about the very strange phenomenon that is human nature.” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as part of the “Temps 0” segment: Sat 10/10 17:00 at Cineplex Odeon Quartier 10; Sun 10/11 21:00 at Cinéma du Parc 1.

• Yakuza apocalypse (????? / Gokudo Daisenso): Japan, 2015, 115 min; Dir.: Takashi Miike; Scr.: Yoshitaka Yamaguchi; Phot.: Hajime Kanda; Ed.: Kenji Yamashita; Mus.: Kôji Endô; Prod. Des.: Akira Nakamoto; Cast: Hayao Ichihara, Yayan Ruhian, Riko Narumi, Lily Franky, Reiko Takashima.
  

  “He’s a benevolent vampire yakuza feared by criminals and adored by regular folk. One day two men show up: a Django-like goth preacher and a geeky fighter (none other than Yayan Ruhian from Raid 2). They belong to a rival cartel that wants him dead. But just before he dies, the yakuza vampire bites his faithful right-hand man, young Kageyama. What happens next? The apocalypse, obviously!” (from the Festival’s website)

  Screening as part of the “Temps 0” segment: Tue 10/13 19:00 at Cineplex Odeon Quartier 10; Wed 10/14 21:00 at Cineplex Odeon Quartier 10.

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