ACF 1796: Into the Shintoho Mind Warp: Girls, Guns, & Ghosts from the Second Golden Age of Japanese Film

The next film series at Japan Society, New York, its 7th Globus Film Series, is entitled Into the Shintoho Mind Warp: Girls, Guns, & Ghosts from the Second Golden Age of Japanese Film.

This series, which will run from February 27th until March 10th, 2013, provides a retrospective of 8 impossible-to-find cinematic gems, produced by iconic genre film studio Shintoho. Curated by renowned film critic Mark Schilling, this retrospective features rare (and raw) selections from the Nudes! Guns! Ghosts! Retrospective, part of the 2010 Udine Far East Film Festival. Highlighting flamboyant, unique and unpredictable film works, Into the Shintoho Mind Warp is a showcase of the legendary studio’s best titles from the late 1950s to the early 1960s.

Founded in 1947 by employees of the Tokyo-based Toho Company during strike action (its name means “New Toho”), Shintoho promptly established itself as one of the major entities of the second golden age of Japanese cinema, specializing in low- (or no-) budget productions that have become absolute cult classics. Shintoho produced over 500 features during a 14-year period, spanning a wide variety of genres from crime-thriller series to the youth films and exploitation films known as ero-guro (erotic grotesque).

The opening night screening of Ghost Story of Yotsuya on Wednesday, February 27th will be followed by the Enka Ecstasy party which will feature a live performance by New York-based Japanese soul music band Neo Blues Maki.

Tickets to each screening are $12, $9 for Japan Society members, seniors & students.

 

For complete information about the series, including the schedule, film descriptions, and ordering tickets, click here.