· Screenings and talkback session on the film adaptation of a successful stage play that explores the struggles of the Korean community in 1970s Osaka
· Roundtable discussion on film production in Japan and the Philippines
MANILA and TOKYO (August 8, 2019) – The Japan Foundation, Manila, through its annual film festival EIGASAI, brings a talk on film production in Japan and the Philippines, as well as a film screening featuring a story about a Korean family residing in Japan, to the University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI) on August 16-17, 2019.
Yakiniku Dragon 焼肉ドラゴン offers its viewers a look into the vigorous life of a Korean community in the 70s era Japan. In the outskirts of Osaka, in a squatter settlement on government property, a Korean family runs a barbecue restaurant. With a wife, three daughters and a son, the father Yong-gil lives with bravado but is gradually bombarded by the tides of the times.
Award-winning playwright and director Chong Wishing 鄭 義信 brings his successful theater production to the big screen. Yakiniku Dragon is a play made in collaboration between the Seoul Arts Center and the New National Theatre Tokyo. It has received numerous theater awards including the 8th Asahi Performing Arts Awards Grand Prix, the 12th Tsuruya Nanboku Drama Award, the 16th Yomiuri Theater Award for Best Play and the 59th Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts.
The film, produced in 2018, marks his first feature film as a director. It features a cast of leading Japanese and Korean actors including Mao Inoue, Yoko Maki, and Kim Sang-Ho. Yakiniku Dragon was the opening film of the 19th Jeonju International Film Festival, a festival dedicated to alternative/independent films worldwide that supports freedom of expression in cinema.
As a third-generation Korean living in Japan himself, his life experiences reflect prominently in his works. Chong was born in July 1957 in Japan and studied in the Department of Arts of the Yokohama Movie and Broadcasting College. In 1993, he won the 38th Kishida Prize for Drama for his play “The Terayama”, wherein the same year he branched out into film, and his movie “All Under the Moon” (1993) won the prize for Best Screenplay from both the Mainichi Film Competition and the Kinema Junpo Award. He published a collection of essays “Andreas’s Hat” in 1995 then bagged several awards for his movie ‘Begging for Love” (1998), including the Kinema Junpo Awards, Japan Academy, and the First Asia-Pacific Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay. He also won the 2001 National Arts Festival Grand Prize for his TV drama “I’ll Be Eighteen Tomorrow” (2001).
Director Chong will be in Manila for a series of events during the 22nd Japanese Film Festival | EIGASAI screening of Yakiniku Dragon at UPFI. Together with film producers Mr. Toru Emori and Mr. Hirotake Sasaki, he is scheduled for a Director’s Talk on August 16, 2:00PM and August 17, 4:30PM at UPFI Cine Adarna.
They will also take part in a talk and roundtable discussion on film production in Japan and the Philippines together with award-winning producer-director Prof. Giancarlo Abrahan for select UP film students and filmmakers, to be held at UPFI Videotheque on August 16, 1:30PM.
Screenings of Yakiniku Dragon and other festival entries at UPFI from August 14-17 are free of charge.
Follow the official EIGASAI Facebook Page for updates.
Download:
– Film lineup and synopsis <https://bit.ly/2My2o2o>
– Schedule for Metro Manila <https://bit.ly/2Wr2vkU>
RSVP and press inquiries, please contact:
The Japan Foundation, Manila
Kanami Namiki, Ph.D.: knamiki@jfmo.org.ph | Rolando Samson: rsamson@jfmo.org.ph
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About the Japan Foundation, Manila
The Japan Foundation was established in 1972 by special legislation in the Japanese Diet and became an Independent Administrative Institution in October 2003. The mission of the Japan Foundation is to promote international cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and other countries. As the 18th overseas office, the Japan Foundation, Manila was founded in 1996, active in three focused areas: Arts and Culture; Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange; Japanese-Language Education Overseas. For more information please visit our website at www.jfmo.org and Facebook.
YAKINIKU DRAGON
[ 2018 | 126 min | Drama, Feature | Color ]
- [Screening and Director’s Talk with Chong Wishing, Toru Emori & Hirotake Sasaki ]
August 16 (Friday), 2:00 pm, Cine Adarna (UP Film Institute) - [A Talk & Roundtable Discussion on Film Production in Japan and the Philippines with Mr. Toru Emori, Hirotake Sasaki, Chong Wishing and award-winning producer/director Prof. Giancarlo Abrahan]
August 16 (Friday), 1:30 pm, UPFI Videotheque (UP Film Institute) - [2nd Screening with Director’s Talk]
August 17 (Saturday), 4:30 pm, Cine Adarna (UP Film Institute)
[ Story ]
Film adaptation of the play that has been honored with numerous theater awards. Warm portrayal of the joys and sorrows of a Korean family living in Japan, set in the Kansai region when Japan’s economy was booming. Playwright Chong Wishing wrote the screenplay and makes his directorial debut with this film.
In 1970, the Kansai region is jubilant over the World Expo in Osaka. Ethnic Korean Yong-gil (Kim Sang-ho) runs a yakiniku barbecue restaurant in a squatter settlement on government property. With a wife, three daughters and one son, he lives with bravado but is gradually bombarded by the tides of the times.
[ Film Festivals, Awards ]
2018 Jeonju International Film Festival, Opening Film
[ Director’s Profile ]
CHONG Wishing
Born in July 1957, Japan. He studied in the Department of Arts of the Yokohama Movie and Broadcasting College. In 1993, Chong won the 38th Kishida Prize for Drama for his play “The Terayama” wherein on the same year he branched out into film, and his movie ”All Under the Moon” (1993) won the prize for Best Screenplay for both awards giving bodies—the Mainichi Film Competition and the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Screenplay.
He also won several awards for his movie ”Begging for Love” (1998), including the Kinema Junpo Awards, Japan Academy, and the First Asia-Pacific Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay. He also won the 2001 National Arts Festival Grand Prize for his TV drama I´ll Be Eighteen ”Tomorrow” (2001), and published a collection of essays ”Andreas´s Hat” in 1995. In 2008, his Japan-South Korea joint production the play ”Yakiniku Dragon ”was staged in Tokyo and Seoul.
With “YAKINIKU DRAGON”, he received the 8th Asahi Performing Arts Awards Grand Prix, the 12th Tsuruya Nanboku Drama Award, the 16th Yomiuri Theater Award for Best Play and the 59th Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts. “YAKINIKU DRAGON” was ranked 3rd in Korean Association of Theatre Critic’s “The Best Theatre of 2008,” and ranked 7th in the National Theater Association of Korea’s “The Best Theatre of the Year.” His notable works in recent years include “Pamaya sumire”, “Bring me my chariot of fire”, “Asia Onsen, Shabake”, “Saraba Hachigatsu no Daichi”, “Subete Shigatsu no Tameni”, “Hisoyakana Kessyou”, “Sekido no shitano Macbeth.” Chong received the Medal with Purple Ribbon for spring 2014.
TORU EMORI
Producer; Project Manager, IK Entertainment
Born in 1969. He handled the package business for Warner Bros. Japan, and the film distribution for Walt Disney Company (Japan), and became a regional manager of Asmik Ace in the Kansai region before he established IK Entertainment in 2013.
His major works includes:
Planning Producer: Yakiniku Dragon (2018)
Producer: DEAR ETRANGER (2017) directed by Yukiko Mishima
Executive Producer: Pieta in the Toilet (2015) directed by Daishi Matsunaga;
VIGILANTE (2017) directed by Yu Irie; MUKOKU (2017) directed by Kazuyoshi
Kumakiri; OVER THE FENCE (2016) directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita
Production: Museum (2016) directed by Keishi Otomo; MAESTRO! (2015)
Directed by Shotaro Kabayashi; Have a Song on Your Lips (2015) directed by
Takahiro Miki; The Emperor in August (2015) directed by Masato Harada;
SADAKO VS. KAYAKO (2016) directed by Koji Shiraishi; Ju-On: The Final
Curse (2015) directed by Masayuki Ochiai
HIROTAKE SASAKI
Producer
Born in Osaka in 1977. Admiring Leos Carax, he went to France after graduating from university. He stayed there for 3 years while performing on the streets. After coming back to Japan, he was involved in various theater productions as a producer and met Chong Wishing. Yakiniku Dragon is his first work as a film producer.