DRIVE MY Car, the Cannes-winning film from director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, will get an exclusive preview at the Japanese Film Festival 2021, which takes place in Galway this week.
Eight films will be shown at the Pálás Cinema for this in-person, physical festival, which begins on Thursday October 14, and continues throughout Friday 15, Saturday 16, and Sunday 17.
Inspired by a Haruki Murakami short story, and featuring a Japanese performance of Beckett’s Waiting For Godot, Drive My Car will be shown on Sunday October 17 at 7pm.
Two years after the death of his wife, theatre actor/director Yusuke is still struggling to come to terms with the loss. He accepts an offer to direct Uncle Vanya at a theatre festival in Hiroshima and decides to drive there in his cherished red Saab 900, but the festival insist he have a chauffeur during the production. He reluctantly agrees to a reserved young, woman called Misaki driving his car.
This screening, in partnership with Galway Film Society, is a chance to see Drive My Car ahead of its cinema release later this year.
Also screening at JFF21 will be the sassy, in-your-face, Mean Girls meets Battle Royale of Office Royale (Thursday, 9pm ); Soushi Matsumoto’s charming sci-fi and samurai-themed celebration of filmmaking It’s a Summer Film! (Friday, 6.30pm ); and the highly original mind-bender Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes, sure to become a cult gem (Friday, 8.30pm ).
Saturday’s screenings will be a treat for anime fans with a double-bill of Hideaki Anno's Evangelion: Death (True )² at 4.30pm and The End of Evangelion at 6.30pm. Then, at 8.30pm comes the Irish premiere of the brilliant and laugh-out-loud funny On-Gaku: Our Sound. Forget everything you know about anime, because On-Gaku is unlike anything you have yet seen.
As well as Drive My Car, Sunday will also see the documentary-style drama, Company Retreat (4pm ), based on a real scandal, amnd which gives a deeper look at how Japanese culture and society has responded to the global #MeToo movement.
For more information and tickets see www.jff.ie or www.palas.ie, or call 091 - 394800 for ticket sales and updates.
