Friday May 15th, 8:00pm LOVE & HONOR(2006) is the last film in Yoji Yamada’s samurai series. Young samurai, Sinojo Mimura, has big time challenges. Food taster to the shogun, Mimura loses his vision by eating fish which is poison out of season. He loses his modest court position and his means for a living . To secure his future, his loyal wife submits to his superior. It all comes to a head in a duel. There are Japanese legends of blind samurai who fight with great skill, stealth, and strategy. More than any other Japanese director, Yamada has broken through the clichés of this tradition. His Mimura carries the banner of the samurai, and he is also a conflicted, bitter man trying to do the right thing in a rigid, hypocritical society. The one sword duel in the film won’t disappoint the most avid samurai afficionado. 3 Japanese 2007 Oscars. ( Japanese with English subtitles)

Sat. May 16th, 12:30pm GO FOR BROKE ( 1951)MGM broke through racial barriers with this WW 11 docudrama on the all Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat unit who fought with distinction in Italy and France. The movie’s battle scenes show their age, but the story is compelling. GO FOR BROKE follows the boys through training in Mississippi to Italy. Van Johnson, stars as the unit’s trainer and leader. He views the short, raw recruits with distaste. His request for transfer is denied; he later changes his mind. The 442nd Nisei soldiers (2nd generation Japanese Americans) play themselves. The film depicts the 5 day assault through German lines and rescue of 211 surrounded men of the Texas National Guard. Nicknamed 'the Purple Heart Battalion' the 442nd, part of the 100th Infantry Battalion, suffered the most casualties and won the most decorations in U.S. military history – 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, 19 Medals of Honor, and 9,486 Purple Hearts.

Sat. May 16, 3:00pm MOST HONORABLE SON (2007) Ben Kuroki says in this PBS WW11 documentary that enlisting with the Army Air Corps was, “my personal answer to Pearl Harbor”. The Nebraskan farm kid of Japanese immigrant farmers intended to farm when WW11 intervened. It was hard to enlist. The War Department had ordered Japanese Americans to be classified as 'undraftable enemy aliens', but Kuroki and his kid brother had already enlisted. Kuroki made it to England as a clerk typist and saw action as a gunner on a B 24 when the Army fell short on men. He flew 58 missions over Europe and the Pacific and was honored with the Distinguished Service Medal in 2006. Film documentarian Bill Kubota, KDN films, shows archival shots of the Nebraskan Farm Country, WW 11, the internment camps, and Kuroki’s surviving squadron fellows.

Sat. May 16, 5:00 pm THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2006) is a well crafted anime time travel film with a great story. Makoto is a cute, Japanese high school kid whose bike brakes fail, putting her in the path of an oncoming train and certain death. She opens her eyes to find herself minutes before the crash which she now can avoid. Using the new found gift of traveling backwards in time, Makoto, can retake tests and change events when things don’t go her way the first time. She also learns that we are all interconnected and that her actions bring complications and dangers to those closest to us. Winner of the 2007 Japanese Oscar for Best Anime. (Japanese with English subtitles)

Sat. May 16, 8:15pm A STRANGER OF MINE (2005) begins with a shy, business man, Miyata (Yasuhi Nakamura) and a woman, Maki (Reika Kirishima) who have been discarded by their lovers. Miyata is left with the expensive condo bought for his intended marriage, and Maki can get only 3,500 yen from a pawn shop broker for her engagement ring. An old junior high buddy, Kanda (Soh Yamanaka) brings them together after lecturing, 'After 30, forget about meeting women naturally or by fate. It’s not going to happen.' Maki and Miyata suffer through an awkward restaurant date. Things begin to happen. Miyata’s ex, Aymi, shows up. Turns out she has a Yakusa (gangster) boyfriend and a suitcase full of cash. The action takes place in an evening and day, Director writer Kenji Uchida reveals what is happening using flashbacks and different points of view. Earlier scenes take on different meanings in this film rich with humor, human drama and intent. Winner of 3 awards at the 2005 Cannes film festival.(Japanese with English subtitles.)

$10 All Seats or $25 for an all festival pass – Passes go up to $30 on 5/7/09.
Tickets ON SALE NOW at tickets.com, Crest box office, 1-800-225-2277, outlets

Playing in Theatre 1
www.tickets.com/venue_info.cgi?vid=26

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