(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The 14th Marrakesh Film Festival in Morocco is paying tribute to Japan by showcasing a retrospective of 27 movies at an event traditionally dominated by Arab, French or American cinema.
"Along with American, French and Italian cinema, Japanese cinema is among the four that have established a cinematographic language," festival director Bruno Barde said.
"It is maybe even the biggest," he added at the onset of the nine-day festival that ends tomorrow.
Takuya Misawa's debut feature Chigasaki Story, a romantic comedy, is among 15 films vying for the top prize to be decided by a jury headed by French actress Isabelle Huppert.
A large Japanese delegation, led by director Hirokazu Koreeda, has travelled to Marrakesh, and many among them have expressed pride and also surprise that they were being honoured.
"This year, they paid tribute to Japanese cinema - 27 Japanese films have been shown here. I think it is really impressive," said film-maker Hideo Nakata, who directed the 1998 cult horror film Ring.
Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who was honoured four years ago at Marrakesh with a personal tribute because of his work, remembers being told in 2010 that the festival planned to pay homage to Japanese film.
"I thought they were just being polite," he added with a smile.
Japanese films listed in the retrospective included Mikio Naruse's 1955 black-and-white Floating Clouds and Naomi Kawase's 2014 release Still the Water.
Japanese animation films, which have won the country kudos around the world, are also being showcased. Among them is manga artist Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 fantasy movie Spirited Away, his greatest commercial success.
The tribute to Japanese cinematography comes at a time when its industry is facing a box office crisis and struggling to win the trust of the West.
"In the past, Japanese cinema generated revenue," said Kurosawa.
"Today, this is no longer the case," added the director and university professor who said he encourages his students not to stick to "dogma" but to explore new methods.
Over the years, Japanese productions have earned major awards around the globe, and several have been nominated for prestigious Academy Awards in the foreign language film category.
Yojiro Takita's Departures won the Oscar in 2009, and in the early 1950s three Japanese movies won the Academy's Honorary Award, including Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon in 1952.
In addition to honouring Japanese cinema, the Marrakesh festival this year also paid tribute to industry stalwarts including award-winning British actor Jeremy Irons and US star Viggo Mortensen.
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