Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival

Funeral Parade of Roses

Countercultural new wave cinema from the 60s and 70s comes face-to-face with new experimental films in this investigation of youth and protest in Japan.

This edition of JAEFF, in partnership with The Japan Foundation, riffs off the Oxford Dictionaries word of 2017: 'Youthquake' - defined as ‘a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people.’

We are presenting classic avant-garde films from the 1960s and 1970s that examine youth counterculture, the student movements, and general currents of dissatisfaction and rebellion. From 'sun tribe' delinquents in Bad Boys, psychedelic drag queens in Funeral Parade of Roses, and heat-of-the-battle political documentary, to films from the influential Art Theatre Guild (ATG) film studio.

Showing alongside these films are short experimental works from contemporary filmmakers and video artists that engage with life in present-day Japan.

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