The lineup for the 6th Okinawa International Movie Festival (OIMF) was announced today along with some of the comedians and pop stars that will be in attendance.
The festival runs for one week from Thursday, March 20, to Monday, March 24, when it takes over the main island of Naha with stage appearances and performances from some of Japan’s top comedians and TV personalities, live music, film-related events and activities for the people of Okinawa, and of course film screenings.
Catch world premieres of Japan’s latest comedy and drama movies, as well as screenings of world cinema hits you won’t find anywhere else in the country. The Competition Section of the festival is split into two main categories, “Laugh” and “Peace,” covering films with the theme of “making people laugh” and “making people feel happy after viewing” respectively. Highlights include Antboy, a Danish adventure comedy about a boy who is bitten by an ant, gaining its powers and abilities; Mr. Go, a Korean movie in which a gorilla is chosen to play baseball and revive the fortunes of a losing team; and F*ck You, Goethe, a German comedy in which an ex-con is forced to work as a substitute teacher after a school is built over the spot where he buried his money. Hollywood is represented by Stallone/de Niro boxing comedy Grudge Match and Ben Stiller directorial debut The Secret Life of Walter Mitty along with screenings of classics The Sting and Duck Soup.
The festival is tremendous fun, and a great excuse to head down to Okinawa for a week. It might be worth the trip just to catch a night screening of the spectacular Gravity played on the beach on the world’s largest outdoor screen.
Check out the official website for the full lineup and details:
http://oimf.jp/
Main Image: Still from 円卓/Round Table, one of the films to be shown this year
