Here’s a great way to get closer to Japanese indie cinema!
Chiba Film Festival will hold an event running under the title Regular Screening Vol.1 at the Chiba City Lifelong Learning Center on January 22nd. As the title suggests, this is the first of a series of film screening events that will highlight independent films. There will be two indie films available to watch with the filmmakers in attendance!!!
Details below on the titles below:
Programme 1: Doors open at 10:45, Screening at 11:00
In the Distance 
距ててて「Hedatetete」
Release Date: May 14th, 2022
Duration: 78 mins.
Director: Saki Cato
Writer: Haruka Toyoshima (Script),
Starring: Saki Cato, Haruka Toyoshima, Keita Kamaguchi, Akemi Kanda, Ayako Yukawa,
People in Chiba in January can meet director Saki Cato as she will be in attendance to introduce her film.
Cato is a choreographer, actor, and filmmaker and In the Distance is her feature debut. This film features her playing the character Ako and the screenwriter Haruka Toyoshima playing the character San.
In the Distance has been programmed for the JFF+ Independent Cinema (available online around the world) so that is how I’m going to see it but nothing beats being in the presence of a good audience and filmmaker to explore the work!
Synopsis: Ako, an aspiring photographer, and San, a freelancer, begin living together in a wooden house. In four offbeat and humorous vignettes, each told with a different theme, we see how the uptight and meticulous Ako gets involved with the sloppy and carefree San.
Program 2: Doors open at 13:45, Screening at 14:00
Haruhara-san’s Recorder 
春原さんのうた 「Haruhara-san no Uta」
Release Date: January 08th, 2022
Duration: 120 mins.
Director: Kiyoshi Sugita
Writer: Kiyoshi Sugita (Screenplay),
Starring: Chika Araki, Saho Ito, Takenori Kaneko, Mizuho Nojima, Misaki Kitamura, Ryo Anraku, DEG,
This is the third feature directed by Kiyoshi Sugita. It follows A Song I Remember (2011) and Listen to Light (2017). His efforts have earned him the distinction of being selected for Busan International Film Festival‘s Discovering New Japanese Cinema.
Haruhara-san’s Recorder is based on a tanka poem:
“Gazing on / The stamp of address unknown / The recorder / Played by Haruhara-san”
This is from author and poet Naoko Higashi’s first volume of poetry. The film had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Marseille where it won the Audience Award, Acting Award, and the Grand Prix. It went on to play at various festivals including Tokyo FILMeX.
Kiyoshi Sugita will be in attendance to talk about this work so this is a prime opportunity to find out more about the film!
Synopsis: After losing someone close to her, Sachi seeks to start afresh and quits her job at a gallery and starts working part-time at a café. One of the regulars at the café suggests moving into an apartment, which she does but the memory of her partner whom she’ll never meet again remains in her heart. We watch her everyday life as she slowly comes out of mourning…
Tickets can be bought in advance via PassMarket or at the entrance on the day. Further details on tickets, pricing, and films can be found on the festival site.