ACF 1829: THE LAND OF HOPE at Japan Society this Sunday

The Land of Hope / Kibo no Kuni

Written and directed by Sion Sono

With Isao Natsuyagi, Naoko Ootani,

Jun Murakami, and Megumi Kagurazaka

Japan, 2012, 133 minutes

In Japanese with English subtitles

When: Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 6:00 pm

Where: Japan Society
333 East 47th Street NYC
Between 1st and 2nd Avenues

New York Premiere

Director Sion Sono, whom The New York Times calls “the Japanese provocateur,” once again challenges viewers’ emotions, this time millions of miles away from the cult shockers for which he is best known. The Land of Hope is the world’s first fictional film about the 3/11-related nuclear power plant meltdown, and recounts disaster, aftermath and personal tragedy in two ordinary families. “So passionately filmed it commands emotional involvement” (Deborah Young, The Hollywod Reporter), the film offers a psalm to those who, far from falling in the throes of despair, stay resilient and cling to the hope of  better tomorrows. But a hovering sense of an even greater calamity, from which this time there may be no return, tugs at the edges of the movie, giving it the cold splendor of the best broken-backed tales.

The Land of Hope won the NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival.

Tickets: $12/$9 Japan Society members

Buy tickets online or call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. - Fri. 11 am - 6 pm, Weekends 11 am - 5 pm.

This screening of The Land of Hope is part of Hope, Struggle & Rebirth in the Shadow of 3/11, Japan Society's commemoration of the 2nd Anniversary of Japan’s 2011 Earthquake. The other events are a concert and a lecture encompassing resilience and recovery. Details here.

And don't forget about Yellow Line, the final film of the Girls, Guns & Ghosts film series. It will be shown at 4:00 pm on Sunday. Separate admission fee. Buy tickets online for Yellow Line, or call the Japan Society Box Office at (212) 715-1258, Mon. - Fri. 11 am - 6 pm, Weekends 11 am - 5 pm.