Cast Me if You Can Screening at USC - The Ray Stark Family TheatreNEW

Los Angeles Screening "Cast me if you can"

Cast me if you can (Wakiyaku Monogatari) is a charming romantic comedy set in Tokyo, written and directed by Atsushi Ogata, and featuring a veteran cast of popular actors (Toru Masuoka, Hiromi Nagasaku, Masahiko Tsugawa, Keiko Matsuzaka, and Emoto Akira). The film was released in North America on DVD in January, and will have a special screening in March in Los Angeles:

Presented by University of Southern California (USC), Japan Film Society (JFS)

Date
Thursday, March 1st

Time
7:00 pm

Location
The Ray Stark Family Theatre, George Lucas Building, SCA 108, USC, 900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007

Entry
Free

Running time: 97 minutes (Q&A after the screening)
Guests: Atsushi Ogata (writer-director), Eriko Miyagawa (producer)
Moderator: Dr. Akira Mizuta Lippit, Chair of the SCA Division of Critical Studies, USC

Reservation:  http://cinema.usc.edu/CastMeIfYouCan

* DVD's will be available for purchase at the screening. Anyone who purchases the DVD will receive an original autographed "press book."

About Cast me if you can:

Cast me if you can tells the story of Hiroshi, a perpetual supporting actor, living in the shadow of his famous playwright father. However fate smiles on Hiroshi when he gets cast in a Woody Allen remake, meets his muse, falls in love and learns to play the lead in his own life.

Cast me if you can has screened at numerous film festivals in Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, Mill Valley, Boston, China, India, and Germany, and has received many awards. It had a nationwide theatrical release in Japan and a novel based on the film has been published. The film combines wit, humor, romance and family relations, in an uplifting comedy that has appealed to audiences around the globe. (trailer & info: wakiyakuthemovie.com/en)

North American DVD : www.amazon.com/Cast-Me-If-You-Can/dp/B0060ANYRA

Comments by festival programmers & jurors

"A smart, savvy and sophisticated new Japanese comedy which bears favorable echoes of Chaplin, Tati, and the gentle humor of Imamura"       - Karen Davis of the Mill Valley Film Festival, California

"Hiromi's performance is stellar. She lights up the screen"      - Emmy-award winning juror Mary Lou Belli

"Our audience here in the US thought the film was hysterical and loved it."

- Charlie Prince of Friars Club Comedy Film Festival, New York

About the Guests

Atsushi Ogata (director): Graduate of Harvard College and MIT's Center for Advanced Visual Studies. Nicknamed "Japan's answer to Woody Allen", Ogata has worked in Holland, Germany, Japan, and the U.S. as a film director, screenwriter, video artist and actor. Eternally Yours, his previous film, was selected for the prestigious New Directors/New Films Festival 2007 in New York (MoMA & the Lincoln Center) and won numerous awards.

Eriko Miyagawa (producer) has worked in production, casting, and art direction on numerous internationally acclaimed films including Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Lost in Translation, Babel, The Kite Runner and The Flowers of War. She is MFA candidate for The Peter Stark Producing Program at USC School of Cinematic Arts.

About Japan Film Society

The Japan Film Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded to promote Japanese film and culture in the United States. JFS is an all-volunteer network of artists, business people, and film lovers who share an appreciation for the diverse world of Japanese cinema. Together, we aspire to showcase the work of Japanese filmmakers and non-Japanese artists inspired by Japanese cinema and culture. We organize screenings of Japanese films and other events throughout the year in Los Angeles, and in November of 2011 we launched the LA EigaFest, an annual Japanese film festival, at the Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

HP: www.japanfilmsociety.org LA EigaFest: laeigafest.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JapanFilmSociety