Japan Film Festival - Los Angeles Committee

Since its inception in 2003, the Chanoma Film Festival has been a vanguard event dedicated to strengthening the general understanding of Japanese culture by providing American and Japanese audiences in Los Angeles cutting-edge, original films depicting authentic representations of contemporary Japan.

With the generous help and support of the Japanese Consulate General, the Japan Foundation of Los Angeles, numerous Japanese-American corporations, and much of the Japanese media in the Los Angeles area, the festival has been heralded as a top notch event and over the years has grown into a tremendous success.

Several thousand people have attended the yearly festivals, including a great number of students from local high schools and universities who studied or just demonstrated interest in the Japanese language and culture.

In past years, Chanoma Festival films were based primarily on the theme of 'chanoma' - a Japanese style living room. As we look towards the future so too does the festival, and thus, it has evolved to include a wider variety of genres for audiences to enjoy, all of which portray a different aspect of Japanese culture. To reflect these changes and highlight the festival's evolution, we have reassigned a new name for our event: beginning in 2008 the festival will be henceforth known as the 'Japan Film Festival - Los Angeles.' Additionally, we have planned a day to screen independent films with the intention of forming a connection between filmmakers in Japan and the American film industry and audience.

While some Japanese films have become increasingly popular outside of Japan, many of these movies consist of anime, horror, and action themes that fail to accurately reflect authentic Japanese culture and tradition. The 2008 Japan Film Festival will provide a significant opportunity for American audiences to come and see what Japan is all about and for Japanese people themselves to look at their own culture from different perspectives and reflect upon what it means to be Japanese.

Film screenings will be made affordable and accessible to all who wish to attend and judge for themselves our notion that the JFF has considerable social and cultural significance and is indeed a valuable contribution to our society.

Cinema is the bridge that connects us all! We are convinced that through this festival, we can help strengthen the understanding of contemporary Japanese culture within American shores as well as encourage communication and the exchange of ideas between Japan and the U.S.

In order to make this festival a continued success, we ask that you please consider becoming a sponsor or making a charitable contribution. On behalf of the 2008 Japanese Film Festival Committee, we'd like to thank you in advance for your time and consideration.