As a program advisor for the Udine Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, I have spent the last few months scouting Japanese films for the next edition, which will be held April 26 to May 4. This doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ve seen all the upcoming releases ¡ª sales companies are often not ready to screen their Golden Week or summer films so early in the year ¡ª but I am building up an idea of what might and might not work for our audience.
Looking at the 2019 line-ups from domestic distributors, I see the same puzzle-plot mysteries and weepy romantic dramas that appear as regularly on local screens as the cherry blossoms do each spring. With a few exceptions, these films, which are green lit for their idol stars or on the basis of their source material, be it a manga or best-selling novel, are hard sells outside of Japan.
Other perennials are the sentimental, sluggishly paced family or social- problem dramas, that are usually set in the remote countryside, which tend to appeal to older audiences but put this older reviewer in a coma.
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