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Japanese Film Festival Streams Patema Inverted, Time of Eve Anime Films in India

The Japanese Film Festival (JFF) announced on Thursday that it will stream the Patema Inverted and Time of Eve anime films in India from February 14-27. The festival will also stream the live-action film of Yayoiso's ReLIFE manga.

All three films will stream in Japanese with Arabic, Burmese, Central Khmer, English, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Malay, Portuguese, Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), Thai, and Vietnamese subtitles. Time of Eve will also stream with German and Korean subtitles.

JFF announced on its Indian Facebook page on January 4 that it is canceling its Delhi event due to rising cases of COVID-19.

JFF describes Patema Inverted:

A girl and a boy living in two different worlds, that exist upside-down from each other, change the future. Characters "rise" underground and "fall" into the sky in this truly innovative animation.

A catastrophic event occurs and all the buildings in the world get sucked up into the sky. A few years later, Patema, a vivacious girl who lives in a base camp, falls into a hole while exploring a dangerous area in the premises. Patema "falls" from the undergound of the base to above ground and continues to almost fall into the sky. She is saved when she manages to cling on to a boy named Age who is above ground. The two children with opposite gravitational forces, support each other upside-down and learn about each other's worlds in the post-catastrophe era. In doing so, they learn hidden terrible truths that they begin to confront.

As Patema and Age travel to and from each other's worlds, they must support each other while being upside down or they will fall. A truly unique sci-fi fantasy that almost numbs our own senses of up and down. A touching animation that creatively depicts the beauty of love, friendship and courage.

Patema Inverted premiered in France in June 2013 and in Japan in November 2013.

Yasuhiro Yoshiura directed the film and wrote the script. The movie stars Yukiyo Fujii, Nobuhiko Okamoto, and Shintarou Oohata.

JFF describes Time of Eve:

Do androids have souls? A moving animation that considers the nature of emotions through the interactions between humans and androids.

Set in a time where humanoids have practical applications, many households are using androids/robots to do the housework. Most of the androids are treated poorly. High-schooler Rikuo also treats his female android at home very coldly. One day, while he surveills her actions, he ends up at a cafe. The rule at this cafe was that no distinctions are made between humans and androids. Rikuo cannot help but wonder what the customers hope to get out of being there. Eventually, through the people and robots he meets in the cafe, he begins to understand what having a real soul might look like.

A moving animation consisting of a string of episodes told by the customers about their sorrows of being discriminated against. The social settings of the film, such as the existence of an ethics committee that calls for caution against dependence on androids and issues surrounding old robots getting dumped as garbage provide realistic details to the world depicted.

The film launched in March 2010.

Yasuhiro Yoshiura directed the film and wrote the script. The film stars Jun Fukuyama, Kenji Nojima, and Rie Tanaka.

JFF describes the ReLIFE live-action film:

If you could redo your high school years, how will it affect your life? A peculiar coming-of-age love story about re-living new destinies.

27-year-old Arata has no jobs or goals, and his days are spent in the doldrums. When he is recruited into the "ReLIFE” project, that promises to let him re-do a year of his high school days, he is suspicious but takes the rejuvenating potion anyway and is transformed back into a 17-year-old. Thus, begins his high school life with a limit of one year. Despite his plans to stay inconspicuous, he finds himself making friends and eventually falling in love with a very shy girl named Hishiro. However, this season full of happiness passes by in a flash, and Arata's remaining time begins to dwindle.

This refreshing and touching love story suggests that perhaps living out one's youth to the fullest can effect the direction that one's life can take. A big surprise awaits at the end. A noteworthy group of popular young Japanese actors were assembled to realize this project, including Taishi Nakagawa, Yudai Chiba, Yūna Taira, Elaiza Ikeda, and Mahiro Takasugi.

Takeshi Furusawa (live-action Another, Clover) directed the film. The film debuted in Japan in April 2017.

Yayoiso launched the manga on the Comico free manga app in 2013. The manga ended in March 2018. The manga also inspired an anime adaptation that debuted in July 2016.

The Japanese Film Festival streamed 11 anime films in India in December 2020 as part of 2020 festival.

The Japan Foundation hosts the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) annually in major cities across India. The Foundation hosted the JFF 2019 event in Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangaluru, New Delhi, Gurugram, Chennai, and Guwahati. The JFF screened films such as Children of the Sea, Garden of Words your name., Weathering With You, Lu over the wall, and live-action Tokyo Ghoul in 2019.

The Japan Foundation established its South Asian chapter in New Delhi in 1994. The Foundation promotes cultural and intellectual exchange as well as Japanese Language education abroad.

Thanks to Jordan Scott for the news tip.

Source: The Japanese Film Festival's website