'New Directors From Japan' Limited Edition Blu-Ray & DVD Set from Third Window Films

[One Armed Boxer]

Third Window films, responsible for releasing some of the best Asian movies in the UK, have announced what they hope will be first of many campaigns supporting new talent in Asia.

'New Directors from Japan' will be a 1000 piece Limited Edition set featuring the movies of 3 up & coming directors, movies which don't have a home video release either domestically or anywhere else in the world, and to ensure the project is a success, they're asking to secure the first 250 copies via a crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter.

I've already pre-ordered my copy, as this looks to be a great initiative which can hopefully lead to bigger things down the line. The press release & link to the site are below -

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/893976289/new-directors-from-japan

New Directors From Japan

A limited edition dual-format DVD/BR 3 disc set featuring short and feature films focusing on 3 young & upcoming Japanese directors

Third Window Films have always tried hard to bring a wide variety of films from the Far East to the West, from big studio productions to minor indie masterpieces, and this project is another step in our goal to open up the West to what's so great about Asian cinema!

This project, hopefully the first of many (depending on its success!), is focusing on young and unique directors from Japan whose films have not received any sort of distribution in their own or any other territory. We want to focus on supporting young talent and making their names recognisable so decided to create this 'NEW DIRECTORS FROM JAPAN' release which focuses on individual directors and their work.

Third Window Films has always tried to find directors and films that are both 'unique' and 'entertaining' and we feel that these three directors fit into the Third Window Films brand perfectly, so we are incredibly happy to present:

Nagisa Isogai (磯谷 渚 - Aged 28) - 2 films: My Baby (わたしの赤ちゃん - 16mm / 16mins) / The Lust of Angels (天使の欲望 - HD / 40mins)

Hirobumi Watanabe (渡辺紘文 Aged 31) - And the Mud Ship Sails Away (そして泥船はゆく - HD / 88mins)

KosukeTakaya (髙谷監督 - Aged 27) - Buy Bling, Get One Free (シャレ番外地 - 35mm / 27mins) - (This film is part of a Japanese government initiative from an organisation called VIPO who run a project called 'New Directions in Japanese Cinema'. Every year they work with 5 first time directors and make 30 minute films on 35mm! As part of this release we will also interview producers of VIPO in order to show the explain more about their project - http://www.vipo-ndjc.jp/)

This release will be a limited edition set of only 1,000 copies. To cover both our blu-ray and DVD customers, the release will be a DUAL FORMAT release and include BOTH a BLU-RAY and a DVD of the films, as well as a separate extras disc (on DVD) which will include interviews with all the directors involved.

This KICKSTARTER campaign is to setup the initial costs of creating this release. Due to the number of films, interviews as well as the fact that we are putting both a blu-ray and 2 dvds into the box with a slipcase it is a very expensive project, so we want to raise the initial funds by pre-selling the first 250 copies at £16 each (the retail price will be £22.99) and the added bonus of pre-ordering is that each of the 250 copies will be signed by all 3 directors!

REGION FREE AND OPEN TO EVERYONE IN THE WORLD!

[DeathFuMaster]

Thanks for the info! I preordered as well. Can't wait to see what these directors are capable of. I encourage everyone to support this.

[Takuma]

I've seen The Lust of Angels. Four high school girls sick and tired of train molesters grab some razors and go hunting perverts. Inspired by real events of Japanese high school girls who beat the shit out of a molester they caught. It's a young director's film and a bit rough around the edges, but it has crazy energy and spirit that reminded me of Let's Make the Teacher Have a Miscarriage Club, and to some extent, the good old girl gang films of the 1970's. Also has a certain great twist that would anger feminists were the director not a young woman (or may anger them anyway, haha).

Very glad to see it coming to dvd (as long as enough people support this)

[One Armed Boxer]

Very glad to see it coming to dvd (as long as enough people support this)

The good news is this release will definitely be going ahead, the project found its 250th backer today, so it'll be on track for a late September / early October release.