Recent Japanese films, even ones that win prizes and plaudits abroad, can be hard to see outside Japan. Streaming sites pass them by while overseas Blu-ray distributors commonly opt for Japanese genre pics from the ’70s and ’80s that have a small but fervent fan base.
Giving these films a much-needed platform is the Japan Foundation’s Japanese Film Festival Online. The third edition, which began on June 5 and will run until July 3, presents a diverse lineup, from commercial hits to restored classics (such as Keisuke Kinoshita’s 1954 classroom drama “Twenty-Four Eyes” and Eiichi Yamamoto’s 1966 anime “Kimba the White Lion”).
Viewers in a record 27 countries and regions will be able to watch — just not in Japan, unfortunately.