Curtain rises for Japanese film festival, but tickets are short

The curtain rose at the 2019 Japanese Film Festival on Friday night at Shanghai Grand Cinema.

“Fly Me to the Saitama,” a live-action film adaptation from a hit Japanese anime, was the festival’s opening film. It was also the film’s global premiere. 

Director Hideki Takeuchi attended the opening ceremony and talked with local movie buffs.

The festival will run till January 13 in Shanghai and Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Six new Japanese film productions including “Hanalei Bay,” “And Your Bird Can Sing,” “You, I Love,” “Asako I & II” and “The Bastard and the Beautiful World” will be shown. 

But for those who haven't snapped up tickets yet and want to head along, you may be out of luck. Tickets for almost all screenings have been sold out.

In March, a Chinese film festival will also be hosted in Tokyo and Osaka, and the selection process for new Chinese movies to screen there has already begun.

Outstanding works from both countries will also be recommended for exhibition at Shanghai International Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival.