A cinematic portrait of Tokyo at the 18th Five Flavours! Announcing the programme for the "Tokyo Stories" section

Japan's capital is now one of the most visited cities in the world. This great metropolis is home to nearly 40 million people! It is simultaneously a vast and cramped space, the setting for many coincidences and encounters, with micro-narratives waiting to be discovered in its many corners.

It’s a place rich in local contexts that inspire filmmakers, while also shaping collective perceptions of Japan. "Tokyo Stories" offers a portrait of the metropolis spanning six decades. Starting in the 1960s, when Shinjuku became the epicentre of countercultural movements, through the neon-lit 1980s and the uncertain 1990s submerged in the economic crisis, and into the whimsical present, where modern visions challenge the stereotypes surrounding Japan's ‘here and now’. From the buzzing energy of the bustling city centre to the quiet outskirts suspended in lazy timelessness, "Tokyo Stories" is a kaleidoscope of narratives that together form a portrait of the sprawling city, capturing its colourful diversity, filled with paradoxes and unexpected meanings. 

The section's programme will feature eight works by Japanese masters, all with strong ties to Tokyo. Among them is Toshio Matsumoto, whose New Wave manifesto, Funeral Parade of Roses, restored in 4K, remains one of the most striking portrayals of the queer underground in 1960s Tokyo. Equally intense is Tokyo Fist, a frenetic creation by Shin'ya Tsukamoto, which tells the story of Tokyo through the lens of body horror and boxing film conventions. The quiet dramas of Hiroshi Ishikawa and Hirokazu Koreeda will offer a sense of serenity. Steeped in Tokyo poetics, "tokyo.sora" is perhaps the most beautiful film about the phenomena of urban loneliness that was ever made. The cinephile comedy "Air Doll", on the other hand, invites us to look at the cityscape through the eyes of a sex doll working in a video store.

Above all, many of the films presented in the section have been unavailable in the festival circuit for years, and some will be screened in a restored version. All "Tokyo Stories" titles will be available online!

Festival pass sales begin on September 12.

Funeral Parade of Roses

Bara no Sōretsu

dir. Toshio Matsumoto

Japan, 1969, 105’, 4K restoration

[theatre screenings + online]

A few days in the life of the queer community of Tokyo's Shinjuku – a neighbourhood that, before it became Tokyo's commercial centre for good, was a hotbed of protests and political happenings back in the late 1960s. The camera follows Eddie, a provocateur from the gay bar Genet, whose daily life revolves around romances, wandering around the city, performances and drug trips in the company of Tokyo artists. From the episodic narrative emerges a colourful and vivid picture of the urban jungle, complemented by a documentary observation of the queer underground. ‘Funeral Parade of Roses’ is a manifestation of cinematic creativity. Its collage form has not only become emblematic of New Wave experimentalism but also a performative variation on the theme of a Tokyo captured moments before the global end of the summer of love.

The film will be shown from a restored 4K copy.

Air Doll

Kūki Ningyō

dir. Hirokazu Koreeda

Japan, 2009, 112’, 2K

[theatre screenings + online]

Tokyo through the lens of Hirokazu Koreeda. Hideo, a lonely middle-aged man, is the personification of stereotypes about Japanese fetishists – he is stuck in a relationship with an inflatable sex doll named Nozomi. He dresses her, talks to her, fixes her make-up, prepares meals for her and, of course, loves her with all his heart and body, echoing the sentiment of ‘Lars and the Real Love’. However, when he goes out to work, Nozomi comes to life. The “girl” quickly finds a job at a local video store in Tokyo. She thus begins to get to know the city through the stories of the people she meets there, searching for the answer to the nagging question – what are human emotions? ‘Air Doll’ flawlessly captures the state of disorientation and emptiness in the face of the rushing modernisation of an alienating Tokyo.

The film will be screened from a 2K copy.

Tokyo Fist

dir. Shin’ya Tsukamoto

Japan, 1995, 87’

[theatre screenings + online]

An iconic work that came from the author of the legendary "Tetsuo". Tsuda (played by Tsukamoto himself) is a drained of vitality salaryman, whose work takes all the joy out of his life. One day, boxer Kojima barges into the fragile existence of the man and his wife, igniting a spiral of obsession. "Tokyo Fist" is a visionary attempt to convey the crisis of masculinity through the image of a jittery, uncertain city shaken by the economic crisis of the 1990s. Here, the Tokyo maw becomes a peculiar creature whose guts are the scene of a boxing dance that echoes carnality and violence.

"Tokyo Fist" is shown in collaboration with the Octopus Film Festival.

tokyo.sora

dir. Hiroshi Ishikawa

Japan, 2002, 127’

[theatre screenings + online]

Several intertwined stories, connected by the skies of Tokyo. An aspiring actress oscillating between watching ‘Betty Blue’ and cheap porn; an Academy of Fine Arts student undergoing a sexual initiation; two girls from a hostess bar, one of them writing a book about the other; a couple discussing culinary eclecticism; or a Chinese immigrant model who listens with great interest to the sounds coming from the neighbouring flat – Hiroshi Ishikawa's characters embrace the coincidences of their Tokyo lives without surprise. ‘tokyo.sora’ is a melancholic chronicle of events, revealing the paradox of urbanity. No matter how big the city, film will always find a way to make the metropolis a microcosm.

The film will be shown from a newly digitised copy, prepared for the festival.