Atlanta…The Consulate General of Japan, the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Literature, Communication and Culture and the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Modern Languages present a Japanese film festival featuring “Ghosts, Legends, and Technology in Japanese Cinema.” The series is co-curated by Angela Dalle Vacche, Allison Whitney, Andrea Wood, and Olga Solovieva. Each film will be introduced by a faculty member. Poster and web design for the series were done by Jenifer Vandagriff.

The series includes Kenji Mizoguchi’s ‘Ugetsu,’ regarded by some as one of the greatest Japanese films ever made, Masaki Kobayashi’s masterpiece ‘Kwaidan,’ five years in the making, and Cannes International Film Festival winner Kiyoshi Kurosawa’ s ‘Pulse.’

All screenings are free and begin at 7:00 p.m. in Press Rooms A and B, 2R Level, (seating capacity 100), Student Success Center, 219 Uncle Heinie Way, Atlanta GA 30332-0445, Georgia Tech campus. Click here for directions and parking.

These films are inappropriate for children 17 and younger.

Film Schedule

Monday, March 25: UGETSU
(Stories of Moonlight)
(1953, 94 minutes, b&w)

Master director Kenji Mizoguchi’s film adapts two 18th century short stories to create one of the cinema’s acknowledged masterpieces. Two poor villagers dream of wealth, power and fame–one comes under the spell of a seductive ghost princess, while the other cheats his way to become a samurai. As they pursue their goals in war-torn, late 16th century Japan, their wives suffer. Winner of a Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, Ugetsu is a key example of Mizoguchi’s biting criticism of male vanity alongside female intelligence and compassion, and of the director’s extraordinarily beautiful cinematography and staging. Cast with leading film stars of the fifties (Kinuyo Tanaka, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori), it is generally regarded as one of the greatest Japanese films ever made. In Japanese with English subtitles.

Thursday, March 27 KWAIDAN: Parts 1 and 2 (1964, 85 minutes, color)

Director Masaki Kobayashi invested five years of preparation before shooting this anthological adaptation of four tales of the supernatural by Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), a best-selling author of books on Japan. The first two stories will be shown March 27. The first, “Black Hair,” stars Rentaro Mikuni as a poverty-stricken samurai who leaves his kind wife (Michiyo Aratama) to marry the daughter (Misako Watanabe) of a wealthy official. After years of misery with this woman he returns to his first wife to find a bitter surprise. In the second, “The Woman of the Snow,” a woodcutter (Tatsuya Nakadai) and his brother take shelter from a snowstorm in a deserted hut. However, trouble arises when a strange woman (Keiko Kishi) appears. In Japanese with English subtitles.

Friday, March 28: KWAIDAN: Parts 3 and 4 (1964, 85 minutes, color)

Director Masaki Kobayashi invested five years of preparation before shooting this anthological adaptation of four tales of the supernatural by Lafcadio Hearn. Parts 3 and 4 will be shown March 28. The third story, “Hoichi the Earless,” features a blind temple musician (Katsuo Nakamura), who is known for his mastery of the ballad of the Heike clan. A samurai ghost bids him sing the ballad at the Heike tomb, and Buddhist priests protect him by painting his body with a depiction of the sacred text. In the last tale, “In a Cup of Tea,” a samurai (Ganemon Nakamura) famed for courage, has a recurring vision of the face of another samurai in his tea. Shot entirely on a soundstage to allow the director complete control of the film's palette, it's a stunning display of sensuous color, perfectly suited to these otherworldly tales of the macabre. Takemitsu's “musique concrete” score is eerily appropriate. In Japanese with English subtitles.

Monday, March 31: KAIRO (Pulse)
(2001, 118 minutes, color)

Winner of the “Un Certain Regard” competition at the Cannes International Film Festival?this horror film tells the story of a group of young Tokyo residents to whom strange things begin to happen after their friend hangs himself. One friend sees visions of his dead friend in the shadows on the wall; another finds a diskette that seems to have a strange virus, and when he puts the diskette into his computer, a message appears: 'Do you want to meet a ghost?' Separately, they witness an unraveling horror --all leading to a steady decrease in Tokyo's population. Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. In Japanese with English subtitles.

The Clary Theater in the Student Success Center is built into the west side of the football stadium. The entrance to the Center is near the base of Tech Tower, the campus's most visible landmark.

You can park in one of two lots:
1. Burge Parking (on North Ave., close to the Success Center)
2. Visitor Parking (close to the Student Center, a 7 minute walk)

Burge Parking
Exit the Interconnector (I-75/85) and get on North Ave. heading west.
After Techwood Drive, move to the left lane and prepare to turn left.
Turn left into driveway just before the pedestrian overpass.
Burge Parking Garage entrance is on the right.
Parking is available on the ground level and is free in the evening.

From Burge Parking to Success Center (a 2 minute walk)
Cross North Avenue on pedestrian overpass.
Walk up the stairs to side of football stadium.
Follow the sidewalk on the right to the front doors of the Success Center.

From Burge Parking to Visitor Parking
If Burge is full (it is a small lot), continue west on North Avenue for only 100 more feet.
Go right onto Cherry St., a small entrance to campus.
At stop sign turn left onto Ferst Drive.
Visitor parking is 300 yards ahead on your right.

From Visitor Parking to Success Center (a 7 minute walk)
Walk back out to Ferst Drive
Turn left and walk back to Cherry St.
Cross Cherry St. and continue on footpath, passing in front of Tech Tower
The Success Center is straight ahead.

Inside the Success Center, take an immediate left to foyer of Clary Theater.

For more directions to the Georgia Tech campus, pleas CLICK HERE.

Questions? Contact Angela Dalle Vacche

or (404) 365-9239.

return to CinemaTech