Lunchtime Discussions with Director Sakamoto Junji

Discussions will take place on both Saturday (4/12) and Sunday (4/13) from 12:00-1:30pm. 
Screenings of Checkmate and Okiku and the World will follow at 7pm in HQ L02 with Q&A after each. 

Registration here is required for both days. Lunch will be provided. 

Sakamoto Junji is one of the most successful Japanese film directors of the last four decades, making films ranging from indie arthouse films to big budget action thrillers. But his tendency to focus on genre cinema has meant his work has not been shown much on the festival circuit, even though he did get a lifetime achievement award from the New York Asian Film Festival in 2023. Despite the fact his films have been consistently appeared in yearly best ten lists of Japanese film critics, with Okiku and the World voted the best film of 2023 in the prestigious Kinema Junpo Best Ten, he remains one of Japan’s greatest filmmakers little known abroad. Yet his cinema are always rewarding, ranging from pure entertainment social problem films, including a series of works interrogating Japan’s relationships with the world, including the USA, Korea, and Cuba.

We are glad to welcome Sakamoto Junji to Yale to show his films and talk with the Yale community. In addition to screening two of his works in the evening on Saturday and Sunday, as we have done with visits of Japanese filmmakers before, we are creating the opportunity to converse with Sakamoto in a more casual atmosphere at lunch on those days. Sakamoto will talk about his films and his experiences making movies in Japan, as well as entertain questions from members of the Yale community.

We are also pleased that Shii Yukiko, the producer of many of Sakamoto’s films and one of the most active women film producers in Japan, will be joining Sakamoto in his visit to Yale. She will also participate in the discussion on both days. Questions to her are also welcome.