Camera Japan Festival 2013 Confirms First Titles (And Shonen Knife)

September marks the welcome return of the annual Camera Japan Festival in Rotterdam. For a few days there will be, and I quote their site: "A Japanese cultural festival with its main focus on film that also dives into other areas like art, music, dance, fashion, architecture, food and many more."

Based on my visits in previous years, truer words have seldom been written. This festival is one of the few places where you can see anime on the big screen, check out some Japanese music, eat damn good Japanese food and buy more books than you planned. Recalling last year's Sake-tasting session brings fond (if somewhat dim) memories, and I met lots of the same people I see at IFFR there as well. In short: if you are interested in Japan, for its films or otherwise, I urge you to visit if you are in the neighborhood.

This year, the festival's theme is con-Tradition. How does Japan cope with both its modernised society and, at the same time, its reverence of old traditions? Filmwise, the program promises a mix of new and old (as always), but there will be at least 30 Dutch premieres and a few of these have been revealed:

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo
The Burning Buddha Man
Gatchaman
The Life of Bidori Gusuko
After-School Midnighters

Completely in line with this year's theme, the festival will be opened on 26 September by renowned female punk band, Shonen Knife. After a few days, the festival becomes a traveling one, visiting several cities in The Netherlands with a somewhat streamlined line-up.
Rest assured more news from this festival will follow!