Camera Japan 2012 Festival Reveals Line-up

If you're a Western fan of Japanese cinema, there are worse places to live than Rotterdam. Each January the International Film Festival Rotterdam provides viewers with a very wide selection of movies from all around the globe. It is, however, not the ONLY film festival in Rotterdam. In October there is also Camera Japan, a festival which, although smaller in size, concentrates exclusively on Japanese films. And within that subset, it easily trumps its bigger brother.

Over the years, it has become one of my favorite events of the year; for starters it is one of the few times I can see anime in a cinema. But there are also Japanese bands playing, there is always a book market, lectures on aspects of Japanese society, good food ...

This year the festival starts on the 4th of October, and it has just revealed its line-up. Take a look at a few of this year's titles:

Himizu
Postcard (Shindo Kaneto's last film)
Berserk: Egg of the King
Mardock Scramble: First Compression
From Up On Poppy Hill (the new Studio Ghibli film)
Matsuko Delivers
Dead Sushi
Japanese Salary Man NEO
Monster's Club
The Warped Forest
Saudade

And many more besides. Also, as this year's theme is food, there are several screenings of documentaries and classic films on that subject, like Tampopo.

Yummie...