Boston Japan Film Festival 2025

Boston Japan Film Festival 2025 – 15th Anniversary  From Journalism to Dialogue The Boston Japan Film Festival (BJFF), now celebrating its 15th anniversary, will be held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Stata Center in 2025. Founded in 2011 in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, BJFF was born as “a platform for dialogue between Japan and the U.S. through film.” This milestone year focuses on journalism — presenting films that explore the power of visual storytelling to spark dialogue and reflection. Journalism is about documenting truth and amplifying voices. At its core lies both the act of knowing and the courage to question. Documentary film transcends simple record-keeping — it moves hearts and creates shared spaces for dialogue among people from different perspectives. Following the screenings, a panel discussion will be held under the themes “From Visual Journalism to Dialogue” and “Integrity of Journalism in the Age of AI.” Panelists include journalist Hiromichi Ugaya and documentary filmmaker Ari Beser, moderated by the MIT Japan Program. What we aim to convey through our work is the power of dialogue born from cinema — the power to question society, connect people beyond words, and foster understanding rather than division. In this commemorative year, BJFF returns to its roots with the hope that “films can create a future of mutual understanding through dialogue beyond the screen.”　 We warmly invite you to join us in this celebration of connection, reflection, and cinematic dialogue.  Raffle &amp; Donation Ticket Information This film festival is supported by the warm generosity of our community.<ul><li>Admission is free, but we kindly ask for your cooperation through donations to help ensure the continuation and growth of the festival.</li><li>Those who select a donation ticket ($10 each) at registration will receive one raffle ticket per donation ticket at the check-in desk on the day of the event.</li><li>(Those without a raffle ticket will not be eligible to participate in the prize drawing.)</li><li>A raffle drawing will be held at the end of the program.</li><li> This year’s grand prize is 80,000 JAL miles, equivalent to a round-trip Premium Economy ticket between Boston and Japan, generously offered by Japan Airlines (JAL).</li></ul>We will also have a variety of exciting prizes, including meal vouchers and gift cards. Please stay until the end and join us for the raffle! -There is no limit to the number of donation tickets per person. - Please note: Donations are used exclusively to support the operation of the Boston Japan Film Festival. MIT and the MIT Japan Program are not involved in any financial aspect of the festival. Post-Program Networking Reception After the screenings and discussion, please join us for a casual networking reception with panelists, festival staff, and attendees. Light refreshments, including sushi, will be served. We also invite you to stop by the Tokyo Information Desk presented by the Tokyo Convention &amp; Visitors Bureau (TCVB), as well as the JAL desk for information on flights to Japan and domestic travel options. Participation is free—let’s celebrate the 15th anniversary together! 🎬 Program Overview Boston Japan Film Festival 2025 – 15th Anniversary From Journalism to Dialogue Date: Sunday, November 30, 2025 | 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM Venue: MIT Stata Center (Building 32), Room 32-123 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA Registration: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-japan-film-festival-2025-tickets-1845525228639?aff=oddtdtcreator">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boston-japan-film-festival-2025-tickets-1845525228639?aff=oddtdtcreator</a> Admission: Free (To receive a raffle ticket, please select a Donation Ticket at registration.) Official Website: <a href="https://bostonjapanfilmfest.org"> https://bostonjapanfilmfest.org</a> Program Schedule 🕐 Part 1 13:00–13:10　Opening Remarks 13:10–13:15   15 Years of BJFF 13:15–13:20　Student Film: The Dream of a Fallen Egg 13:20–13:30　Short Films: Quoth The Raven, “Nevermore” / The Nuclear Family’ (Exclusive Early Look) 13:30–14:10　Medium-Length Film: Where are all the journalists? Ugaya is here ! 14:10–14:15　Special Visual Installation: The Way of Sacred Harmony (Kan’nagara no Michi) 14:15–14:30　Break (15 min) 🕓 Part 2 14:30–16:25　Feature Film: JAPAN LIES The Photojournalism of Kikujiro Fukushima, Age 90 16:30–17:10　Panel Discussion Theme: “From Visual Journalism to Dialogue / The Integrity of Journalism in the Age of AI” Panelists: Hiromichi Ugaya, Ari Beser Moderator: MIT Japan Program 17:10–17:20　Raffle Drawing 17:20–18:00　Closing &amp; Networking Reception

MIT Stata Center (Building 32), Room 32-123   

Boston Japan Film Festival 2024

The concept of the film festival is to create opportunities (“think and discuss”) through films! We are going to have the 14th Annual Boston Japan Film Festival on Sunday, December 1, 2024 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. ◆ Boston Japan Film Festival 2024 We will screen four short films, a feature film and will have a talk back with director, Kayli Kimura (Sansedai) and a post-screening discussion on Choshu five with Hiromu Nagahara (MIT) and MIT students. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the graduation of Eiichiro Homma, the first Japanese student at MIT. We will hold a discussion on the theme of "Learning Abroad." We hope you can join us ! Date : Sunday, December 1, 2024, 1pm – 5pm Location : MIT Stata Center, Bldg 32-132: Address: 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge How to access: 6 minutes walk from Kendall/MIT Station, MBTA Red line Registration :  <a href="https://forms.gle/cAortzmUFreVVCn76">bit.ly/2024BJFF</a> Admission: Free Official website :<a href="https://bostonjapanfilmfest.org/bjff"> https://bostonjapanfilmfest.org/bjff</a> ※This year our raffle prizes include 65,000 Japan Airlines miles* that's equivalent to a round trip premium economy airfare from Boston to Japan!  *Subject to seat availability. Restrictions apply. <img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfgSrFr_pQkx39qKnSHbfvbLee6kXlUwz9HTPyuPrUnqNNSQtpjgutAQDum53WLEaeL-9EQOF4yFtpceJFCBt5U0BRXdihI6IJViMO9F3TxYQsGYJv7-1dLohA3PKEf8S_puNJf?key=7acbSmH7epDxTxpCvo47eQ"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdRq7EHltYxXaivEeT8eJrfBdoXHdE6I5eI9PrNfBKawGew9qplR6i5GC05WrcRdXxFyVSLTyEHxG1cUtCgvUQ9usGpsGRDcYKNglkA-xSps9xgEm2aoTZULF-uOpQIHbRUgSTm-g?key=7acbSmH7epDxTxpCvo47eQ"> ※This feature film includes scenes of violence and sexual content. Please exercise discretion when attending with minors. (The film is not rated R.) ※Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. A $20 donation comes with a festival-exclusive tote bag, and a $30 donation includes an additional raffle ticket. Donations are accepted in cash only, so please bring cash if you wish to contribute. ◆ Program 1:00　Opening 1:10　-Short Films- Ding Dong Ditch Dir. Chavo  | 2024 | 10:59 | Drama | Japan (NYJCF / SSFF) "I want to disappear" is written in the dirt of the park. A correspondence between a boy who longs to be a villain and a girl who waits for her mother in the park at night. AI Love You Dir. Raita Yabushita | 2023 | 6:55 | Drama | Japan (NYJCF / SSFF) After a software glitch causes an advanced AI program to fall in love with a young woman, it escapes into the body of a man and tries to win her heart. * In associated with – NYJCF: New York Japan CineFest – SSFF: Short Shorts Film Festival &amp; Asia (SSFF &amp; ASIA) Sansedai　 Dir. Kayli Kimura | 2024 | 11:00 | Documentary | USA Through intimate conversations over old photobooks and home movies from the 1930s, SANSEDAI (三世代) explores themes of identity and belonging as it follows the filmmaker’s 92-year-old grandmother’s journey growing up during war, migrating to a country that was once deemed an enemy, and what it means to be Japanese-American. 1:45  Talk Session with Director Kayli Kimura (Sansedai) 2:00  Intermission 2:15 -Feature Film– Choshu Five Dir. Sho Igarashi｜2006｜119:00｜Drama｜Japan In 1863, a group of five young intrepid samurai from the Choshu domain in western Japan were determined to acquire learning from the West. Despite risking the death penalty for violating the ban on overseas travel, these samurai, abandoning their swords, disguised themselves as sailors and set off on a boat across the ocean bound for England. They would become known to history as the “Choshu Five.” Warning: This film contains some scenes of violence and of a sexual nature. Viewer discretion is advised. 4:15 Post-screening discussion about Choshu Five with Hiromu Nagahara (Associate professor of History at MIT) ,Yuki Tanaka and Taichi Shimokobe (first year students at MIT) 5:00 Closing: Raffle with grand prize of 65,000 miles from Japan Airlines (equivalent to a round trip from Boston to Japan in Premium Economy Class) *Reception with light refreshments following program ◆ Discussion Panelist <img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdASaIbTBOywIF1FQ_b9XxEma1L8AYk0w0BHxBrL58jnOybuwZeoyPdRxuNdOES94n6qd2EVvYHYLR1ZldJbp3fOHSaQI-P5yVfQ6gIyMq3-4vnbPMb-31quoevlGdOit57Ov0A_1zPJWuP_RKMy6FoEh5N?key=7acbSmH7epDxTxpCvo47eQ"> Hiromu Nagahara Associate Professor of History, MIT Mitsui Career Development Professor, MIT Hiromu Nagahara is a historian specializing in modern Japanese history, particularly the politics of art and culture since the 19th century. He authored Tokyo Boogie-Woogie: Japan’s Pop Era and Its Discontents, examining public controversies around popular Japanese music since the 1920s and its link to Japan’s middle-class, consumer-driven society. His upcoming book, An Empire of Anglophones: English in the Making of Imperial Japan’s Elites, delves into how English language skills and Anglophone culture shaped Japan’s diplomatic ambitions within a world dominated by Western powers. Nagahara teaches courses on Japanese history and co-teaches a global history class, and he enjoys leading tours of the Japanese art collection at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts for the MIT community. ◆  Film Director <img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeQsxS1Ti_EbXJgdQD43G_AN7lmbHFSzlseEN5LGOyM1m37vxU1u0-dXDURc4YxdbM4dJxt1STP6Eo8Squ--Ig7KXKCEZfA_jAtrg0XaATa34Uu_xi5apuGP5I8_T-k2LRRIy2lyYwnC32i6fQffMCRGmA?key=7acbSmH7epDxTxpCvo47eQ"> Kayli Kimura Sansedai　Director, Kayli Kimura is a Japanese-American creative director, visual storyteller, and talent manager. Her work spans across various genres with a focus on non-fiction storytelling and musically-driven films. Her documentary short film, sansedai, world premiered at the 40th annual VC Film Festival in LA and is currently screening in the festival circuit. Kayli was a 2023/24 Armed With a Camera Fellow and 2023 Asian American Collective Mentee. She has worked on a variety of commercials, TV shows, documentaries and music videos including projects for Netflix, Hulu, Food Network, PBS, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Telfar, A$AP Rocky, Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Adidas. ◆The purpose of the Boston Japan Film festival The Boston Japan Film Festival(BJFF) is aimed at introducing cinema and other elements of Japanese culture to audiences in New England. Its mission is to strengthen cultural understanding through the provocative nature of the film, and help sustain the ongoing and dynamic relationship between Japan and the Greater Boston area. BJFF began its programming in 2011 when Eastern Japan was struck by a devastating earthquake and tsunami leaving thousands killed and many more homeless. In order to draw attention to the severity of the situation and raise funds for supporting those in need, the Japanese community in Boston came together to start the film festival.  BJFF has partnered with various organizations throughout its history and continues its mission of bringing high-quality Japanese cinema and culture to those in the Greater Boston Area. Etsuko Yashiro, co-director of the Boston Japan Film Festival, says “I want to propagate ideas through movies that are difficult to tell. I also would like to discuss and review the movie, and make a place where we can think together.” ※The Boston Japan Film Festival is co-hosted by the Boston Japan Film Festival Executive Committee, the MIT Japan Program, and MISTI, in partnership with the New York Japan CineFest. 【Contact】 Boston Japan Film Festival communications person : Ogawa, Tomita e-mail:<a href="mailto:bostonjapanfilmfes@gmail.com">bostonjapanfilmfes@gmail.com</a>

MIT State Center(Building32)

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Boston Japan Film Festival 2025

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