The filmmaker who ushered in the Japanese New Wave in the late 1950s, Nagisa Oshima (b. 1932, Kyoto), rejected the genteel tenor of Japanese filmmaking and chose as his métier the turmoil of contemporary politics and culture. Imperfect characters from society's fringes were his vehicles for complex and often controversial ideas, while his formal brilliance won accolades around the world. This series, organized by James Quandt, Cinematheque Ontario, and The Japan Foundation, Tokyo, is presented in Washington at the Freer Gallery of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and AFI Silver Theatre.
The following individuals and organizations made the retrospective possible: Nagisa Oshima, Tokyo; Marie Suzuki, The Japan Foundation, Tokyo; Masayo Okada, Yuka Sukano, Atsuko Fukuda, Kawakita Memorial Film Institute, Tokyo; Eiko Oshima, Oshima Productions, Tokyo; Peter Becker, Kim Hendrickson, Fumiko Takagi, Sarah Finklea, Janus Films, New York.
Film descriptions courtesy of Cinematheque Ontario and the Harvard Film Archive.
Please visit Cinematheque Ontario's website to read an essay on Oshima by James Quandt.
All films are in Japanese with English subtitles unless otherwise indicated.
Festival Venues:
Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art
Independence Avenue at 12th Street SW
Washington, DC
Metro: Smithsonian
202.357.2700
202.357.1729 TTY
http://www.asia.si.edu
Free tickets are required for films in the 300 seat Meyer Auditorium, located in the Freer Gallery. Up to two tickets per person are distributed at the auditorium one hour before show time.
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center
8633 Colesville Road
Silver Spring, MD
Metro: Silver Spring
301.495.6700
http://www.afi.com/silver/new/
Box Office:
The Box Office is open 30 minutes before the first show of the day. The theatre is not open to the public before that time.
Online:
You can purchase tickets online for any regular show with no added fee. Tickets purchased online MUST be retrieved at the box office with the same credit card used online. The AFI Silver accepts American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover with no booking fee. Both advance sale, and day-of-show purchases are available online or in person. Ticket refunds are offered only in person at the box office, during the first 30 minutes of the show.
National Gallery of Art
National Mall between Third and Seventh Streets at Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
Metro: Judiciary Square or Archives
202.842.6799
http://www.nga.gov
All programs are shown in the East Building Auditorium, 4th Street at Constitution Avenue NW. Film programs are free of charge, but seating is on a limited first-come, first-served basis. Seating for films begins approximately thirty minutes in advance of the program. To ensure a seat, please plan to arrive at least ten minutes before show time. Programs are subject to change.