SIX CINEMATIC VIEWS OF JAPAN
In conjunction with the exhibition Hokusai’s Summit: Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, the Doris Duke Theatre screens two months of the best new releases and short classic films from Japan. See all of them get the full scope of Japan’s many cinematic styles.

HAWAII PREMIERE
K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces
Director, Shimako Sato
Japan, 2008, 137 mins.
Appropriate for children 10 and up
In Japanese with English subtitles
See the trailer.

Japanese heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro stars in this action-packed film based on the “retro-futuristic” romance novel by Soh Kitamura. Set in an alternate universe where World War II bypassed Japan, the film features a country where the Meiji Era never ended and the nobility is firmly in place. A mysterious thief called K-20 preys on the superrich of the capital of Teito, where the aristocrats own 90 percent of the wealth. A circus acrobat named Heikichi Endo (Kaneshiro) is mistaken for K-20 and imprisoned. Using his physical dexterity, Heikichi challenges the real K-20. This spectacular Japanese thriller will have you on the edge of your seat. Rad Parkour scenes.

• Tuesday, November 3, Wednesday, November 4, Thursday, November 5, Friday, November 6, Saturday, November 7, Sunday, November 8, Tuesday, November 10,Wednesday, November 11, Friday, November 13 at 1, 4, and 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, November 12 at 1 and 7:30 p.m.

Purchase tickets online.
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HAWAII PREMIERE
Your Friends
Director, Hiroki Ryuichi
Japan, 2008, 125 mins.
In Japanese with English subtitles

A journalist named Nakahara visits an alternative school in a small city to research children who have learning differences. There he meets school volunteer Emi, a physically delicate, fiercely reserved woman who photographs cloud formations. Intrigued by Emi’s elusiveness, Nakahara learns that her photographs symbolize Emi’s profound friendship with a girl named Yuka. With astonishingly original cinematography, this film tenderly depicts Emi, Yuka, and other Japanese children who courageously learn to accept and embrace what makes them unique.

• Tuesday, November 17, Wednesday, November 18, Saturday, November 21, Sunday, November 22, Tuesday, November 24, Wednesday, November 25 at 1, 4, and 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, November 19 at 1 and 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, November 20 at 1 and 4 p.m.

Purchase tickets online.
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20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End
Director, Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Japan, 2008, 142 mins.
In Japanese with English subtitles
See the trailer. 

Based on Naoki Urasawa’s manga book phenomenon, this first installment of the 20th Century Boys film trilogy is a time-hopping sci-fi epic. It’s the late 1960s and Kenji and his friends write The Book of Prophecy, a sci-fi tale about their battle with an evil organization that is plotting to destroy the planet. Years later, Kenji works in a convenience store and raises the child of his sister who has disappeared—and the boys’ schooldays creation seems to come to pass. When a virus-spreading giant robot tries to attack Tokyo, Kenji and his friends are the only ones who can stop it. 20th Century Boys was included in this year’s Hawaii International Film Festival.

• Friday, November 27, Saturday, November 28, Sunday, November 29, Tuesday, December 1, Wednesday, December 2, Friday, December 4, Sunday, December 6 at 1, 4, and 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, December 3 at 1 and 7:30 p.m.

Purchase tickets online.
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The Short Films of Osamu Tezuka
Total running time 79 mins.  
In Japanese with English subtitles 

One of Japan’s most influential animators, Osamu Tezuka revolutionized the comic and cartoon industries, earning him the title “God of Manga.” (Artist Takashi Murakami reveres him and included him in his 2005 exhibition Little Boy at the Japan Society). Still a major influence on Japanese popular culture, Tezuka’s creations include Astro Boy and Jungle Emperor Leo. To mark the 80th anniversary of Tezuka’s birth (he died in 1989), Barbican Film is touring an exhibition of his films. The Doris Duke Theatre screens the best of his shorts. Special thanks to Tom Vick, film curator at the Freer and Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution, for organizing the national tour of Tezuka’s films.

Tales of the Street Corner
1962, 38 mins.
In Tezuka’s first film, he draws from apparently unrelated elements to reach a single tragic climax that is profoundly anti-war.

Jumping
1984, 6 mins.
One of the most technically dazzling achievements of its day, this film was shot in a single cut with 4,000 images that show a boy skipping and gradually striding higher and higher into the sky until he leaps across war torn countries and looks down on human activity as if he were a god.

Broken Down Film
1985, 6 mins.
A heroic cowboy not only fights a conventional villain but also battles a film so old that it breaks down. Tezuka’s affection for the craft of silent film fills every frame.

Legend of the Forest
co-directed by Kouji Ui
1987, 29 mins.
Set to Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, Tezuka planned to review the history of animation in four episodes, but completed only two segments. Animals and fantasy creatures warn humans about the danger of destroying natural habitats, while Tezuka cautions against cheap, limited TV animation that will decimate manga’s rich heritage.

• Tuesday, December 8, Wednesday, December 9, and Thursday, December 10 at 1, 4, and 7:30 p.m.  

Purchase tickets online.
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MEET THE PRODUCER: Yuko Shiomaki, producer of the Japanese films  Adrift in Tokyo, Oh, My Buddah!,Sad Vacation, Autumn Heart, and many other acclaimed international films, will introduce Adrift in Tokyo,Saturday, December 19 at 7:30 p.m. She will be available afterwards for a q&a following the screening.

Adrift in Tokyo
Director, Satoshi Miki
Japan, 2007, 101 mins.   
In Japanese with English subtitles 
See a clip of the movie.

In this hilarious, quirky comedy, law student Takemura owes 800,000 yen to mullet-sporting loanshark Fukuhara, who gives him 72 hours to pay his debt. But the thug has a change of heart, and offers Takemura the deal of a lifetime—a million yen for accompanying Fukuhara across Tokyo. When Fukuhara introduces Takemura to his old haunts, the two bond as they encounter eccentric, wacky characters that appear and sometimes just as quickly disappear in the nearly surreal streets of Tokyo. 

•Friday, December 11, Sunday, December 13, Tuesday, December 15, Wednesday, December 16, Thursday, December 17, Friday, December 18, Saturday, December 19 at 1, 4, and 7:30 p.m.

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MEET THE PRODUCER: Yuko Shiomaki, producer of the Japanese films  Adrift in Tokyo, Oh, My Buddah!, Sad Vacation, Autumn Heart, and many other acclaimed international films, will introduce Oh, My Buddah!Wednesday, December 22 at 7:30 p.m. She will be available afterwards for a q&a following the screening.

WORLD PREMIERE
Oh, My Buddah!
Director, Tomorowo Taguchi
Japan, 2009, 114 mins.    
In Japanese with English subtitles 

The coming-of-age story gets uproariously comedic treatment in this film based on the novel by Jun Miura. The narrator—Jun—is a first-year student at an all-boys Buddhist school in Kyoto in 1974. He idolizes Bob Dylan and writes his own songs as he trudges through his dull, middle class life. One day he and his friends are invited to an island of “free sex,” and suddenly the summer sparkles with unexpected surprises.

• Tuesday, December 22, Wednesday, December 23, Saturday, December 26, Sunday December 27, Tuesday, December 29, Wednesday, December 30, Saturday, January 2, Sunday, January 3, Tuesday, January 5,Wednesday, January 6, Thursday, January 7 at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, December 24 and Thursday, December 31 at 1 p.m.

Purchase tickets online.
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ART & COPY
Director: Doug Pray
USA, 2009 89 mins.
Jan 8-9, 12-14, 15 at 1, 4, and 7:30 p.m.
After the 1960s ad execs portrayed in Mad Men came a new generation that shook up the advertising world. Doug Pray (Surfwise) profiles some of the most creative thinkers in advertising, the mavericks (some of them surfers) who came up with culture-influencing slogans like “Where's the Beef?” and “Got Milk?” See ad giants such as George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow and Hal Riney tell insider stories, such as the fact that Nike’s “Just Do It” was inspired by the last words uttered by spree killer Gary Gilmore.
See the trailer.

HAWAII PREMIERE
MINE
Director: Geralyn Pezanoski
USA, 2009, 81 mins.
Jan 19-22 1, 4, 7:30 p.m.
Hailed as “Oscar material” and “the best movie at SXSW,” this gripping, character-driven documentary follows New Orleans residents in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as they seek out pets that have been adopted by other families. Custody battles arise when two families love the same pet. A compelling meditation on race, class and the power of compassion, Mine examines how we treat animals as an extension of how we view and treat each other.
See the trailer.

3RD ANNUAL BOLLYWOOD FILM FESTIVAL  JAN 22-FEB 23
The Bollywood Film Festival is back with 10 of Mumbai’s best, including new releases and premieres from 2009 and 2008. If you loved Slumdog Millionaire, don’t miss our tribute to master filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, director of The Blue Umbrella, Maqbool, and Kaminey (the Doris Duke Theatre screened his film masterpiece Omkara in 2008). Along with films that epitomize this film genre—highly stylized familycentric romantic comedies with dazzling dance numbers (Dil Bole Haddipa, Kaminey)—we also include critically acclaimed films based on Indian epics and novels, as well as a Shakespearean tragedy, Mumbai noir, socially conscious cinema, and an indie production.  
 
Special thanks to Indru and Gulab Watumull for their generous donation; Debashri Sengupta Muralidharan for her expertise and knowledge of Indian film, Vinitha Vinayachandran of UTV Films, Alice Coelho of Eros Entertainment, and Vaibhav Rajput of Yashraj Films for their support of this festival.

HAWAII PREMIERE: KAMINEY
Director:  Vishal Bharadwaj
India, 2009, 142 mins.   
Cast: Shahid Kapur, Priyanka Chopra, Amol Gupte  
Jan 22-24 at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Young identical twin brothers are opposites in every way in this comedy born out of chaos. While one breaks the law to pursue dreams of wealth, the other works hard and remains honest. Their lives finally converge when they realize they only have each other.
See the trailer.

DILE BOLE HADDIPA
Director: Anurag Singh
India, 2009, 148 mins.
Hindi with English subtitles
Cast: Shaid Kapur and Rani Mukherjee
Jan 26-28 at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.
While Anurag Singh’s debut film is quintessential Bollywood (catchy songs and Crayola-colored clothing), protagonist Veera is not your typical village beauty. She’s obsessed with cricket and plays the sport well enough to bat with the boys. There’s one hitch—girls aren’t allowed on all-male teams. In comes Veer (Veera disguised as a Sikh man). Get ready for a roller coaster ride of romance and comedy.
See the trailer.

HAWAII PREMIERE: WAKE UP SID
Director: Ayan Mukerji
India, 2009, 138 mins
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Anupam Kher
Jan 29, 31, Feb 2 at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.
In this neo-Bollywood film about Generation Y, Sidharth Mehra is a Bombay slacker who takes his father’s wealth for granted. Aisha, a budding writer from Calcutta, moves to Bombay to realize her dreams, and meets Sid the day she arrives. Sid parties while Aisha explores the city. Sid’s enraged parents kick him out, and Aisha takes him in. An intelligent rom-com on how Sid allows Aisha’s focus and spirit to inspire him.

HAWAII PREMIERE: DEV D.
Director: Anurag Kashyap
India, 2009, 138 mins.
Hindi with English subtitles
Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill
Feb 3-5 at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.
The famed novella Devdas by Sharatchandra Chatterjee has been adapted for the screen many times (see Devdaas), including by illustrious filmmakers P.C.Barua and Bimal Roy. But this version, hailed as one of the most brilliant new Hindi releases, is a riveting interpretation of a classic tale of lost love and self-destruction, with crisp dialogue, mind-boggling cinematography and intoxicating music. Now set in the lush mustard fields of Panjabi and the streets and dingy rooms of Delhi, Dev D. portrays (often humorously) Dev as a self-indulgent hypocrite who re-discovers love after hitting rock bottom.

THE BLUE UMBRELLA
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
India, 2007, 90 mins.
Hindi with English subtitles
Cast: Shreya Sharma and Pankaj Kapur
Feb 6, 7, 9 at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.
One day Biniya, a villager in the foothills of the Himalayas, trades her lucky charm for a beautiful blue umbrella—and everyone tries to get their hands on it. The umbrella goes missing, and the hated village shopkeeper is the prime suspect. A visual treat that is touchingly innocent. Based on Ruskin Bond’s novel of the same name.

JODHAA AKBAR
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
India, 2008, 213 mins.
Hindi and Urdu with English subtitles
Cast: Hrithk Roshan and Aishwarya Rai
Feb 13, 14, 16 at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.
A period epic based on the real-life story of Mughal Emperor Akbar and his Hindu wife Jodhaa Bai. Fiery Jodhaa resents being reduced to a pawn in what starts as a marriage of political convenience. Akbar’s biggest challenge is not winning battles but winning the love of his wife. Alluding to modern-day issues, Jodhaa Akbar illustrates that love can overcome racial and religious prejudice—no matter what century we’re in.

DEVDAAS
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
India, 2002, 182 mins.
Hindi and Bengali with English subtitles
Cast: Shahrukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai
Feb 17 and 18 at 12:30 and 7 p.m.
Feb 19 at 12:30 p.m.
This extravagant second adaptation of Sharatchandra Chatterjee’s classic novella (see Dev D.) is set in the early 1900s. Devdaas Mukherjee wants to marry his childhood sweetheart Paro, but can’t stand up to his disapproving parents. Paro marries someone else, and Devdaas fritters away his life. The stunning courtesan Chandramukhi falls in love with him, but he only belittles her. Devdaas’ hypocrisy and egoism pave a path for a tragic romance. Includes Ismail Darbaar’s traditional Indian scores.

MAQBOOL
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
India, 2004, 132 mins.
Urdu and Hindi with English subtitles
Cast: Irrfan Kahn as Maqbool
Feb 20, 21, 23 at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.
In this all-star Indian reworking of Macbeth, Maqbool (Irfan Khan) murders everyone who is an obstacle on his path to power, including his mentor and guardian, Abbaji. Guided by his scheming wife Nimmi, the couple gets their comeuppance when their crimes and guilt catch up with them. Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri play corrupt policemen and provide comic relief with sinister jokes and predictions.
See a clip.

SWADES
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
India, 2004, 189 mins.
Hindi and English with English subtitles
Cast: Shahrukh Khan and Gayatri Joshi
Feb 24-26 at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.
When respected NASA scientist Mohan Bhargav returns to his homeland for vacation, he is confronted by misery, poverty, prejudice and superstitions in rural India. He takes action, changing this community forever. Soulful music by Oscar winner A.R. Rehman.
See the trailer.

OYE LUCKY! LUCKY OYE!
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
India, 2008,  (running time/ck)
Hindi with English subtitles
Cast: Abhay Deol , Paresh Rawal, Neetu Chandra
Feb 27, 28, March 2 at 12:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Based on the true story of Lucky Singh, a charismatic thief who mingled with Delhi’s high society then robbed them blind. The Bombay noir film opens with his trial and charts his rise from crime-ridden suburban Delhi to the corridors of power. The film’s genius lies in its ability to remain entertaining while offering a subtle critique of class envy and conflict, and the nature of celebrity.

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General information: The Doris Duke Theatre opens its doors on Kinau Street one half-hour before each showing.
Tickets for films may be purchased at the theater door on the day of screening, beginning one half-hour before each showing.
Admission: $8 adults; $7 seniors, students and military; $5 Academy members.
Parking: For weekday matinees, theater patrons may park in the lot behind the Academy Art Center at Linekona (entrance on makai side of Beretania) for $3 with theater validation. For evening screenings, you can park free at the Academy's lot at 1035 Kinau St., Diamond Head of Victoria Street. Handicapped parking is available in the small Luce Pavilion lot on Victoria Street. Patrons using handicapped stalls should proceed to the main entrance on Kinau Street.
For the hearing impaired: The Doris Duke Theatre is equipped with the Easy Listener Hearing Assistance System. You can pick up a receiver at the ticket counter.