MFA Hosts First Boston Festival of Films from Japan

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The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), announces the inaugural edition of the Boston Festival of Films from Japan, made possible through a 10-year partnership with UNIQLO USA that supports a variety of new programs highlighting Japanese art and culture.

The BFFJ will bring a wide range of the best films from Japan to Boston. The 2018 selections, screening February 1–28, include the live-action manga adaptation Blade of the Immortal (2017), the 100th feature film from provocative director Takashi Miike; the timely documentary Resistance at Tule Lake (2017), which chronicles a 1943 uprising at a Japanese concentration camp in California; and Jellyfish Eyes (2013), the debut film by contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, whose works are on view in the MFA’s exhibition Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics, A Collaboration with Nobuo Tsuji and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The festival kicks off February 1 with a free screening of Your Name (2016), an anime feature with gorgeous imagery and deep emotional resonance that quickly became one of the most popular films of all time in Japan. The 7:30 pm screening will be preceded by a celebration in the MFA’s Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art, starting at 6 pm and featuring live music by DJ Ian Condry, art-making activities and Japanese candies and confections at Taste Café. Free tickets for the event can be reserved starting at 10 am on January 30 and will grant attendees free admission to Takashi Murakami: Lineage of Eccentrics before and after the film screening. This Japanese Program at the MFA is generously supported by a 10-year partnership with UNIQLO USA.

With the exception of the opening night screening of Your Name on February 1, tickets for BFFJ films are $9 for MFA members and $11 for nonmembers, and will be available starting January 18. Showtimes will be published on mfa.org on January 11.