Member Takuma Posted February 7, 2013 Member Share Posted February 7, 2013 Finally set to visit one of the coolest film festivals in the world. Located in the godforsaken small town of Yubari, this fest gathers together the latest Japanese indie, cult and trash films (+ a few foreign films and a boring official selection which provides the small town locals a chance to catch some Japan premieres of big Hollywood movies) - Want to see the world premieres of films you've never heard of, and never will? Check! - Wanna see Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police) hosting a non-stop, two day series of new Troma films, Japanese High School Girl splatter, his own early 8mm works, and late night parties? Check! - Wanna see a film festival whose jury is led by Shinya Tsukamoto and my favorite actor Hiroshi Yamamoto? Check! - Whose guests include Yudai Yamaguchi (Yakuza Weapon), Keita Amemiya (Cyber Ninja), Takanori Tsujimoto (Hard Revenge Milly), Kensuke Sonomura (Alien vs. Ninja), Atsushi Muroga (Score) etc.? Check! Though I'm going to try to balance the splatter with new indie dramas, I must say I'm most exited about the Yoshihiro Nishimura series: (my own translation of the program, not official): Fest program here (don't miss the "Competition Selection & Forecast Selection" link at the top... it's a bit hidden) http://yubarifanta.com/index_pc.php?ct=films.php&langue=21002 More challenges: - The city of Yubari is so small that Google Maps doesn't have street view of it - The access is near impossible, and there's only two "real" hotels - My hostel is in the middle of a forest. I will bring a flashlight in case there's no lights on the forest road - The coldness will guarantee that if I get lost, I'm dead - The heavy snowfall will guarantee that if I die, my body won't be found until next summer - My self written instructions to the hostel state "follow the highway for 500 meters, turn right, and cross the bridge. Then you're lost" More trivia: - The city, which already went bankrupt once, has a population of 10 000. The festival expects more than 12 000 visitors. - Yubari is famous for delicious melons (the fruits, not oppai you hentai yaro!) - Though it's a strange statement, Yubari usually guarantees a view of Yoshihiro Nishimura's balls as he runs naked in the snow. - Yubari has frequently been referred by filmmakers: Kill Bill's Gogo Yubari is named after the fest, Helldrivers zombie horns refer to the Yubari melons, etc. - When Yubari went bankrup, the citizens could choose whether to keep the amusement park of the film festival. They chose the fest. Yubari last year Nishimura and Iguchi on the top, Maki Mizui in the bottom picture. Maki's gonna be there this year, too, but in order not to make my gf jealous I will focus on Nishimura's balls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted February 7, 2013 Author Member Share Posted February 7, 2013 Of course, Yubari is not only splatter and balls... The guest list is incredibly long, but I'm most hoping to run into: Tsukamoto Shinya (director; Tetsuo, Tokyo Fist) Yamamoto Hiroshi (actor; Ramblers, No One’s Ark) Yoshida Daihachi (director; The Kirishima Thing, Funuke) Nishimura Yoshihiro (director; Tokyo Gore Police, Helldriver) Yamaguchi Yudai (director; Meatball Machine, Yakuza Weapon) Mizui Maki (actress; Helldriver, Mutant Girls Squad) Murata Yui (actress; Helldriver, Karate Robo Zaborgar) Tsujimoto Takanori (director; Hard Revenge Milly, Bushido Man) Sonomura Kensuke (action director; Hard Revenge Milly, AvN, Bushido Man) Koga Mitsuki (actor; Hard Revenge Milly, Shinobi, Bushido Man) Ohata Hajime (director; Henge) Amemiya Keita (director; Cyber Ninja, Kamen Rider, Garo) Muroga Atsushi (director; Score, Blowback: Love & Death) Hara Masato (director; 20th Century Nostalgia) Hiranami Wataru (director: The Rise and Fall of the Unparalleled Band) Kitamura Akihiro (actor; The Human Centipede) Watanabe Makiko (actress; Love Exposure, Himizu) Saeki Hinako (actress; Assault Girls, Uzumaki) Aramaki Shinji (director; Appleseed, Starship Troopers: Invasion) 2 weeks till the fest. Photos and reviews to come if I come back alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted March 1, 2013 Author Member Share Posted March 1, 2013 Best. Festival. Ever. !!! Half of what happened I can't even post photos of because me or someone else would get in trouble! - A boob attack that sent the victim's glasses fying in the air? Check! - Chatting with Yoshihiro Nishimura and Maki Mizui more than 3 times? Check! - Zombies wandering around the festival area? Check! - Nishimura's bare balls? Check! - The nazi-mutant-bitch from The ABCs of Death doing striptease? Check! - Yui Murata spitting beer on my face after Nishimura drags me in front for fan service? Check! - and much more... And the small town itself is absolutely wonderful. Tons of snow everywhere, enough to make a house size movie screen for Cinema Caravan. Mountains, cliffs, rivers. Streets filled with beautifully painted old movie advertisements - Charles Bronson movies, Sonny Chiba movies, Akira Kurosawa movies, John Wayne movies, James Bond flicks...!!! The famous Yubari bear! Eats festival guests for dinner! Zankoku! The screening arena for student splatter films and Yoshihiro Nishimura Forum! Nishimura with co-hosts Naoya Tashiro and Maki Mizui Jessica when she still had her clothes on Bushido Man's Takanori Tsujimoto & Mitsuki Koga + Sengoku Bloody Agent director Naoki Takeda Yui Murata just before she poured beer on my face... from her own mouth! Charles Bronson! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted March 2, 2013 Author Member Share Posted March 2, 2013 Yubari Photos: Part II Welcome to Yubari. The streets are full of old movie advertisements And lots of snowy views! "What are you looking at?!" Nishimura + piece of my jacket (I'm bad at photoshopping myself from a picture). Festival area with ski center in the background Speaking of the hand drawn movie ads on the streets, I spotted at least: - Violent City (Charles Bronson) - Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa) - Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa) - Golgo 13 (Sonny Chiba) - Death Wish (Charles Bronson) - Tokyo Story (Yasuhiro Ozu) - Die Hard (Bruce Willis) - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Paul Newman) - Dr. No (Sean Connery) - Planet of the Apes (Charlton Heston) - The Longest Day (John Wayne) - The Sound of Music (Julie Andrews) - Several unidentified Nikkatsu action movies from the 1960's - Several unidentified Toei yakuza and samurai movies from the 1960's - Several undentified musicals and dramas from the 1960's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted March 6, 2013 Member Share Posted March 6, 2013 Very cool , does the town keep those movie billboards up year round? Yubari is up in the middle of nowhere, where do you live in Japan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted March 6, 2013 Author Member Share Posted March 6, 2013 Very cool , does the town keep those movie billboards up year round? Yes, they do! I'd love to visit Yubari in the summer, too, though I'm not sure there would be anything to do except take photos. Even finding a restaurant in Yubari is challenging. Yubari is up in the middle of nowhere, where do you live in Japan? Sapporo. It's not that far, but the closer you get to Yubari, the less there is public transport. It's impossible to arrive Yubari before 9:30 am, and it's also impossible to leave the town after around 8 pm... Even within the town the transport can be problematic... the taxi company actually closes at midnight as we found out (thankfully we were saved by a fest employee who gave us a ride and we didn't have to walk 14 km to the hostel...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted March 6, 2013 Administrator Share Posted March 6, 2013 Glad that you made it out alive! Sounds like you had an amazing time. Two questions... Why Photoshop yourself out of the picture? Did you get a photo of the GOLGO 13 ad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted March 6, 2013 Member Share Posted March 6, 2013 Thanks for the great read. Loved the pics; Yubari seems like a very nice place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted March 7, 2013 Author Member Share Posted March 7, 2013 Glad that you made it out alive! Sounds like you had an amazing time. Two questions... Why Photoshop yourself out of the picture? Did you get a photo of the GOLGO 13 ad? Heh, just for forums, I don't need to distribute my mugshot everywhere You guys would be more interested in seeing Nishimura than me anyway Thanks for the great read. Loved the pics; Yubari seems like a very nice place. Certainly is... during the film fest at least it's a movie lover's dream. Old billboards everywhere, dozens and dozens of famous directors and actors on the streets, cool movies, fantastic program, boobs... If you come from the Tokyo direction like my friend did, you'll probably be sharing the bus from the airport to Yubari with folks like Nishimura, Tsukamoto etc. In the screenings, too, you'd soon come to realize half of the people sitting next to you are directors or actors. It's the most unusual feeling when all of a sudden you recognize the girl sitting next to you as the nazi mutant killer on the screen - and even more unusual when the next day she comes talking to you. Everyone very friendly and modest, and Nishimura (who was always calling me "finlandojin") was operating the 8mm film projector himself (and managed to break the film at one point) for his old films. The "My Sex" Competition was unforgettable. The participants had either submitted a work or did a live performance. The winners were: 1. An incredible air-sex performance by a man who was making love to "nothing" 2. My favorite, Naoya Tashiro's ourtageous live action romantic comedy Chinkou-kun, where a 100cm special effects penis is dating a human girl (karaoke, cafe, love hotel...) 3. Jessica's (from the ABC's of death) very beautiful dance, though she may have won extra points for finishing the dance with nothing but small pants on... Some others I loved were Maki Mizui's speech ("I hate Nishimura") which instantly proved her acting talent, and a student short film where a film geek takes a girl to a love hotel but his rental movie selections turns out less than successful: A Better Tomorrow and Project A. Top: air-sex man + Nishimur a & Chinkou-kun harassing a girl Middle: Yuipuru mini-live (no picture of her spitting bear on my face!) Bottom: Jessica when she still had clothes on+ Maki Mizui again, my apologies, I cannot post the best stuff because someone might get in trouble at home, lol... "Who's that's girl hitting you with her boobs!?#$¤" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted March 7, 2013 Administrator Share Posted March 7, 2013 Takuma- I love all the fantastic photos. Though... that is one angry looking penis! Big thanks (especially) for posting the GOLGO 13 one! Man... I would love to paint something like that on my little suburban house. "You think your garden gnome is special neighbor? Feast your eyes on my 70 foot high STREETFIGHTER house painting!" Years ago I saw someone had painted a really badass Spider-Man that covered the entire side of a barn. When I said how much I dug it, my wife said "I wouldn't mind if you did something like that." but within seconds, before my woody even had time to bob twice, she quickly clarified "I mean if we lived out in the middle of nowhere and had a barn!" DAMN! Since I couldn't attend this festival, it sure is cool to have your report on it. Can you tell us the story behind the bear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted March 7, 2013 Author Member Share Posted March 7, 2013 Can you tell us the story behind the bear? The Melon Bear? That's just a city mascot. I dunno if there's any special story behind it. Yubari is famous for melons, and maybe there's a few bears, too (Chiba's movie Yellow Fangs takes place in Hokkaido, the island where Yubari is, btw). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted February 7, 2014 Author Member Share Posted February 7, 2014 Last year I got spit (a mouthful or beer) on my face by an idol, maybe this year I should get beaten by Rina Takeda... So what’s Yubari 2014 looking like? Genre favourites Yoshihiro Nishimura and Noboru Iguchi will be in attendance, the latter presenting his latest film Live, and the former hosting an absolutely insane looking Forum Theater event that comes with zombies, ninjas, live concert, Japanese Tom Cruise, and an SM-event with Eihi Shiina. And there’s even more trash in the official competition with Asami’s blood soaked Gun Woman - and Asami will be there, too!!! Other competition titles include lovely sounding films like Fuck Me to the Moon and the school girl flick The Lust of Angels! Nishimura protégé Maki Mizui’s directorial debut Kept is also included, being one of the numerous films by female directors in Yubari. Another one is Wandering Alien Detective Robin director Lisa Takeba’s The Pinkie. More female power is provided by karate girl Rina Takeda, who will be in attendance with not one but two films – the drama School Girl’s Gestations and the Shusuke Kaneko action film Shojo wa isekai de tatakatta. Last year’s winner Yukihiko Toda (Extend Hands from Darkness) will bring a new, still untitled film about sexual violence. Nobuhiko Obayshi will also be there with his latest 3 hour film (Seven Weeks). And tons of other films. In addition there will be Art of Kaiju exhibition and seminars, stove parties, and other fun. But of course, the highlight of the fest will no doubt be the fore-mentioned Nishimura event. My own, (very) rough and simplified translation of the Nishimura program below: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted March 23, 2014 Author Member Share Posted March 23, 2014 Part 1/2 The festival was an absolute blast again!!! I guess it says something that I only got an average of 4.5 hours of sleep per night. Amazing town, great film selection, over 250 guests... that means you'll be running into famous filmmakers all the time. Really nice atmosphere. I was chatting with Noboru Iguchi, who is the nicest guy on the planet, took another photo with Yoshihiro Nishimura, and felt really bad for Maki Mizui who was crying after she didn't win the Grand Prix. Run into Nobuhiko Obayashi too, but was too shy to talk to him Of course the Nishimura event was unforgettable... went in a little late and the first thing I see is Marc Walcow pushing in the lunch on wheels... that is, sushi on naked woman! Later SM competition between Iguchi, Mizui, and Eihi Shiina on who can stick most needles into their partner/victim. Also an amazing live make up demonstration by Soichi Umezawa, and a terrific early horror film from Nishimura from 1984. Rina Takeda showed up as well for the Noboru Iguchi night. Other movie highlights: Gun Woman (with Asami and Kurando Mitsutake attending), Fuck Me to the Moon, School Girl's Gestation (with Rina Takeda) and The Lust of Angels. Again I've got tons of pictures, many of which I cannot post publicly in uncensored format, and some of which I can't post at all. Let's start with some scenery: Soichi Umezawa turning the beautiful Momoko Kuroiwa into an old granny with her guts hanging out. Click on the image for a larger version! Oriental Tom Cruise!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted March 23, 2014 Author Member Share Posted March 23, 2014 Stove Party White Rock: a tent which houses some of the screenings Soichi Umezawa, Marc Walcow and Henge director Hajime Ohata Rina Takeda with School Girl's Gestation cast and crew Takeda again: Noboru Iguchi Night. Both wearing pink Nuigulumar Z stuff Gun Woman cast and crew: Asami, Kurando Mitsutake, Dean Harada Noboru Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura The notorious Eihi Shiina SM event Yoshihiro Nishimura + Live Team (Noboru Iguchi, Asami, Takashi Nishina, Kanji Tsuda) Yoshihiro Nishimura and Maki Mizui The city's mascot: Melon Bear x 2 And then there's a few things of which I really can't post pictures publicly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted February 18, 2015 Author Member Share Posted February 18, 2015 It's that time of the year again. Yubari film fest starts tomorrow! I'm gonna miss the first day but join the fun from Friday. The program looks as usual... meaning very unusual. Haman Telekura Cannoball Run 2013 Noboru Iguchi's Wonder Gravity: Damager Use the Eyeballs! Maiddroid Mizo No Yoshihiro Nishimura Forum Theater this year since he's busy being a jury member, but he's holding Nishimura Mad Night Event on Friday. All the usual suspects are present... Nishimura, Noboru Iguchi, Maki Mizui, Rina Takeda, Hajime Ohata... Kim Ki-duk was supposed to come too, but unfortunately he had to cancel for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted February 24, 2015 Author Member Share Posted February 24, 2015 Yubari 2015 was... amazing!!! Noboru Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura dancing in high school girl's uniforms, naked (male) punk-rock-stripper クリトリック・リス performing in the middle of the audience, amazing Damager event, and a lot more, including something top secret that I can't talk about anything! As usual, I managed to get about 4.5 hours of sleep each night. Oh, and Masanori Mimoto (Bushido Man, Alien vs. Ninja) was cooking me some deer. What a nice fellow. Oddly enough, the next night I ran into 4 deers on the street while walking to the hotel... I was afraid karma was getting at me! Yubari 2015 Photos: Part 1 The main venue, Adire Kaikan, which will be taken down after this. The festival needs a new main venue from next year. Bye bye Cine Salon... White Rock was relocated this year. Noboru Iguchi's Wonder Gravity: Damager! The salaryman on the left realized his life-long dream to play a superhero. He contacted Iguchi and paid him about $4000 to make a film starring him. Iguchi though it was a great idea and would help him find his first ever girlriend ("stop wasting money on dating sites, playing a superhero makes you much hotter"). Iguchi write a theme song, had a costume designed, and shot a 25 minute film which is a lot of fun. The hero is called Damager (aka "Self-Mutilation Warrior Damager") because he can only unleash his power by hurting himself, e.g. cutting his wrists or receiving 40 punches to travel back in time. and the video: _s8-m8sC-ys Then, the night got even crazier when Clitoric Ris appeared I've got video of this, too: km4XV6byNtE At the beginning of his show he threw his shirt in the audience and accidentally re-created the towel suffocation scene from The Naked Gun 2½ So why was he there? Well, because Iguchi directed this excellent music video for him RXjV3bYdE_8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted February 24, 2015 Author Member Share Posted February 24, 2015 Yubari 2015 Photos: Part 2 Then later the same night, Nishimura and Iguchi a moment before... ...the madness broke out. And here's the video: 4i4SJH_iXyI Don't tell my gf, but I think Kayano is really cute. Thankfully my gf rather looks like her. Naoya Tashiro at the screening of his new film Use the Eyeballs. It's a pretty fun bizarre love comedy of a young man who has two additional eyeballs that always pop up from his nose when he gets nervous, which always scares the girls away. It's the first Tashiro film I've seen that doesn't have splatter in it and doesn't show his wife Iona naked. She even kept her clothes on during the festival for the first time in three years... last year she was the naked human sushi plate at Nishimura event and the year before she was a boob fighter... Tetsuya Okabe, Maki Mizui and the rest of the cast at Haman screening. Despite some God-awful CGI blood the film is a moody, sad and beautiful horror drama and love story of a high school girl whose vagina has teeth... which tend to eat the partner's dick and leave him dead. Despite the bizarre idea, the film bravely avoids any idiotic comedy and camp, and plays it traight. Good music, ok visuals (a bit pale but not overly digital or over-light) and good actors. The cast (mostly AV actresses) of the Grand Prix winner, the excellent Make Room. The film is a hilarious comedy entirely set in one room, which happens to be the make up room for a porn shooting. The crew has only one day to finish the film but everything goes wrong: the actress hired to play lolita schoolgirl shows up with huge tattoos covering her back, another one got eye infection from an actor accidentally coming to her eye, the new star doesn't know her stage name so they can't film her interview scene, and the damn street musician is ruining the audio recording with his singing... and that's just for starters. Everyone who saw the film thought it was fantastic. Make Room director Kei Morikawa (who has directed 1000+ porn flicks) receiving the main award. The juru included Nishimura (in white jacket) among others. Band playing at the awards ceremony I ran into a lot of deer during the festival Including 4 on an empty street a day after I had had deer for dinner (cooked by Masanori Mimoto)... I though karma was gonna strike back edit: Here's mini-reviews of most of the films I watched: http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showpost.php?p=254576&postcount=60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted March 27, 2015 Administrator Share Posted March 27, 2015 This was a tremendously entertaining report as usual. Thanks Takuma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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