Third edition of Japan Film Festival to begin from September 27

Critically acclaimed titles such as "Shoplifters" and "Weathering With You" will be screened as part of the third edition of Japanese Film Festival in India, which begins from September 27.

Japan Foundation, in partnership with PVR cinemas, on Monday unveiled the line-up of the multi-city festival that will feature films across genres such as romance, drama, comedy and anime films.

"From the films which the Japan Foundation has brought to you this year, you will discover what Japanese people laugh at, what they are moved by, and what they like, etc. I hope that, through these interesting stories, you will feel closer to Japan and Japanese people. I am sure this film festival will help further consolidate the friendship between the people of our two countries," Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu said at the inauguration of the festival.

Kaoru Miyamoto, Director-General, Japan Foundation New Delhi, said they decided to take the festival to other cities following the overwhelming response to the previous two editions.

"Looking at the growing appetite for Japanese content in India, we aim to strengthen content collaboration between Indian and Japanese film industries through this platform. We are grateful to our partners, PVR Cinemas and through this partnership we aim to engage with a wider set of audience and enable cinema lovers come together and witness internationally acclaimed content," Miyamoto said.

The opening film for the festival's Delhi-Gurugram stage is Makoto Shinkai's "Weathering With You", which is slated to release in Indian theatres on October 11. Shinkai will be attending the opening night.

The festival will showcase 25 films and some of the popular titles, available across select PVR cinemas, are "Dance with Me", "Lu over the Wall", "Your Name", "Perfect World"," Bento Harassment", "Children of the Sea", "Kingdom", "My Dad is a Heel Wrestler!" Tokyo Ghoul and "The Fable".

"We are very excited to collaborate with the Japanese Foundation for the third consecutive year for the film festival. The positivity from cinema lovers and response from the past two editions cemented our decision to go grander this year," Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, JMD, PVR Ltd, said.