Author: pvhaecke

Strangers in Kyoto (2025) review [Japannual 2025]

A light-hearted exploration of uncomfortable truths that marks our interactions with others/the Other – what we say is not what we mean; what we want to say we are not allowed to say; politeness is often a fabricated facade that we must believe in.

A Bad Summer (2025) review [Japannual 2025]

Hideo Jojo offers a compelling exploration of poverty within the Japanese societal field as well as the the structural possibility of exploiting the welfare system for one’s own gain.

How Dare You? (2025) review [Camera Japan Festival]

With her narrative, Mipo O delivers one of the most convincing arguments to parents to create space for the subjectivity of their child and to take their signifiers – their pleasures, pressures, worries, fights, and frustrations – seriously.  

8 films to watch in preparation for Ghost of Yotei

In this short article, we want to introduce people, who are new to the Japanese cinema, to a few easily accessible films to prepare themselves for the game and immerse themselves in the themes that the game will explore.

Dear Stranger (2025) review

Tetsuya Mariko’s drama of the passion for ignorance could very well be the best Japanese film of the year.   

Truth or Lies (2025) review [OAFF 2025]

An incredibly satisfying film that does not merely show that subjects need the lie but also that it is, by virtue of fiction, that our signifiers have effects on the other.