“Rarely Seen Gems of Japanese Cinema,” a film festival of major Japanese classics with very limited showings in the United States, will conclude this weekend with a showing of Takekurabe (Growing Up).
The film, directed by Heinosuke Gosho and based on the story by Higuchi Ichiyo, is about a group of children growing up in the Yoshiwara pleasure district. Imported from Japan solely for this series, this film will be shown in 16-mm film prints with English subtitles. An expert in Japanese literature, history and cinema studies will discuss the films before and after the showing.
Linda Ehrlich, associate professor of Japanese, world literature and cinema, is curating the festival with John Ewing, director of the Cleveland Cinematheque. They coordinated the screenings to coincide with the reopening of the Japanese and Korean Art Galleries at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The Japan Foundation in New York City is co-sponsoring the event with Case Western Reserve’s Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities, the Dean’s Office in the College of Arts and Sciences, the university’s Department of Modern Languages and Literature, and the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque.
The showing will be Saturday, Oct. 12, at 5 p.m. at the Cleveland Cinematheque. General admission to each film is $9, admission for Cinematheque members and those with CWRU and CIA IDs is $7, and admission for those age 25 and under is $6.
For further information, call 216.421.7450 or visit cia.edu/cinematheque. Parking for filmgoers is free in the CIA lot.