² Nippon Retro
Kinuyo TANAKA (1909–1977) was one of the greatest movie stars of the classic studio era of Japanese cinema and appeared in over 250 films by such prolific directors as Yasujiro OZU, Keisuke KINOSHITA, Mikio NARUSE or Kenji MIZOGUCHI. Her acting roles earned her numerous awards, and since 1985, a chosen actress receives the Kinuyo Tanaka Award for lifetime achievements at the Mainichi Film Awards every year. However, TANAKA was not only successful in front of the camera, but also behind it. She was the second female director in Japanese film history (after Tazuko SAKANE) – and the first successful one. With her debut feature LOVE LETTERS (1953), she was already invited to compete at the Cannes Film Festival. In her films, she addressed the role of women in Japanese society and put a spotlight on female protagonists and female narrative perspectives. Our retrospective highlights both sides of her extensive career. Four of her rarely seen directorial works will be screened alongside five outstanding examples of her acting prowess, among them SANDAKAN NO. 8 (1974), which earned her numerous awards, including the Silver Bear of the Berlinale. The films of our NIPPON RETRO section will be presented in the cinema of the DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum from 16mm and 35mm prints provided by the archive of the Japan Foundation Tokyo.
