Calling All Germany-Based Japanophiles! Nippon Connection Returns!

Patryk Czekaj, Contributing Writer; Tokyo, Japan (@patrykczekaj)

May 28 2013, 1:00 PM

For East-Central Europe it's a rather rare occasion to be able to host a film festival that focuses only on Japanese pictures. There are merely a few chances in a year to watch movies made in this particular country, and often it's a case of them playing for a day or two in one of the indie theaters in big cities like Warsaw or Prague. And sometimes it's even worse than that - many productions from Japan (and East Asia in general) get lost somewhere along the way and rarely get an opportunity to have their premieres in this part of the world. That's why it's even more exciting to experience Nippon Connection Film Festival, which so passionately pays homage to the cinema of The Land of The Rising Sun.

Covering more than 130 Japanese short and feature films this time, Nippon Connection Film Festival offers a selection that's been getting more and more impressive in its 12 years of existence. All the movies are divided into four interesting categories - Nippon Cinema, Nippon Vision, Nippon Animation, Nippon Retro. During those six busy festival days Frankfurt turns itself into a mecca for Japanophiles, giving them all the best that Japan has to offer. Apart from watching films, some of which have their official European or World premieres, there is a lot to discover about Nippon Connection. Attendees can enjoy various exhibitions, sushi tastings, karaoke get-togethers, manga workshops, sword fighting workshops, cooking classes among other activities.

In the vast amount of fascinating titles the ones which I considered must-sees are: Outrage Beyond, For Love's Sake, Dreams for Sale, A Letter to Momo and Wolf Children.

Nippon Connection Film Festival takes place in the heart of Frankfurt between June 4 and 9.