OFFICIAL PROGRAM OF JSFF2025
Venue: Jugoslovenska kinoteka Uzun Mirkova 1, Beograd
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28
19:45 Grand Opening of the Japanese Film Review, organized by the Embassy of Japan in Serbia, and the 12th Japanese Serbian Film Festival.
19:55 Morning Light - OKINAWA (Raura Suzuki, Japan, 2025, 6.5 min)
20:00 What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Dir. Kazuhito Nakae, Japan, 2021, 120 min.)
Meet Shiro, a lawyer working in a small urban law firm, and his boyfriend Kenji, a cheerful hairdresser. For this cohabiting couple, the time spent during dinner is precious, a moment when they can share events and express their feelings. One day, on Shiro's suggestion, they decide to travel to Kyoto to celebrate Kenji's birthday. However, during the trip, the two realize they cannot fully express their true feelings to one another...
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29
15:00 Short Film Competition Block 1
- Ding Dong Ditch (Chavo, Japan, 2024, 11 min.)
- Morocco (Staša Bajac, Serbia, 2025, 21 min.)
- Oxplant (Chavo, Japan, 2024, 19 min.)
- White Days (Nevena Desivojević, Serbia, 2025, 14 min.)
- Six Days Later (Shinji Sasaki, Japan, 2025, 19 min.)
- Landing 1988 (Marta Popivoda, Serbia, 2025, 22 min.)
- The Stream XIV (Hiroya Sakurai, Japan, 2025, 8.5 min.)
17:00 JSFF PANEL – "OBSTACLES AND POTENTIALS"
A public dialogue between professionals from the Japanese and Serbian film industries on the conditions and possibilities for strengthening exchange and co-production collaboration between the two countries.
18:00 FEATURE FILM - COMPETITION SELECTION (Serbia)
20:00 River Returns (Dir. Masakazu Kaneko, Japan, 2024, 108 min.)
It is the late summer of 1958. A boy named Yucha lives in a riverside village constantly threatened by typhoons. From a Kamishibai (paper theater) storyteller, he learns the local flood legend long passed down through the community. The storyteller narrates a tale of a heartbroken girl who drowned herself in a deep mountain river pool. It is said that her sorrow has been causing great floods every few decades. A major typhoon is approaching. With childlike curiosity, Yucha sets off for the pool deep in the mountains, feared even by adults, hoping to stop the flood and soothe the girl's sorrow.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30
15:00 Short Film Competition Block 2
- Rite of Passage (Nikola Radivojević, Serbia, 2025, 10.5 min.)
- 10 Years of Isobatake (Hiroshi Gokan, Japan, 2025, 20 min.)
- Hysterical Laughter Attack (Dušan Zorić & Matija Gluščević, Serbia, 2025, 15 min.)
- Behind the Smile (Marko Đorđević, Serbia, 2025, 32 min.)
- Out of Focus (YinQi Li, Japan, 2025, 2.5 min.)
- Tarik (Adem Tutić, Serbia, 2025, 27 min.)
18:00 "Love Doesn't Interest Me" (Dir. Aya Igashi, Japan, 2025, 109 min.)
It's okay to run away from love that doesn't love you back. Thus begins the life-threatening escape drama of two real-world girls trying to break the chain of violence and dependency. This masterpiece uncovers social flaws – from toxic parenting and abuse to sexual violence – vividly portraying the struggle of young women to survive and escape their "addiction to misfortune."
20:00 "How Is It So Green Here?" (Dir. Nikola Ležaić, Serbia, 2025, 116 min.)
Nikola (34), a film director stuck in the world of commercials, buys an old van to convert into a camper, dreaming of family trips with his wife and soon-to-be-born daughter. When he learns that the remains of his late grandmother, a war refugee, could be returned to her native village in Dalmatia, he embarks on a journey with his father, Mirko (74), who is returning to the family home after 25 years. During the trip, Nikola gains unexpected insights into parenthood, family, the passage of time, and the elusive nature of memory.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 1
17:00 "When the Phone Rang" (Dir. Iva Radivojević, Serbia, 2025, 73 min.)
Through an intimate reconstruction of an important phone call, this film explores dislocation and the nature of memory. In the eleven-year-old mind of the protagonist, the phone call erases her entire country, history, and identity, hiding her existence in books, films, and the memories of those born before 1995.
18:30 Short Film Competition Block 3
- Yellow Mashi Mashi Rhapsody (Masahiro Saito, Japan, 2025, 26 min.)
- Sunset Time (Ognjen Petković, Serbia, 2025, 30 min.)
- A Recipe for Cat Ghosts (Saki Haruo, Japan, 2025, 8 min.)
- Cats (Danilo Stanimirovic, Serbia, 13 min.)
20:00 Award Ceremony of the 12th JSFF
20:30 "Yukiko a.k.a" (Dir. Naoya Kusaba, Japan, 2024, 97 min.)
Yukiko Yoshimura, a fourth-grade homeroom teacher in Tokyo, is approaching her 30th birthday, but her days are filled with stress and anxiety. Communication problems with students who refuse to go to school affect her poor ranking on the children's "Favorite Teacher List." Her boyfriend hints at marriage, but she lacks self-confidence and cannot think positively. The only thing that currently captivates Yukiko is hip-hop and rap. Holding the microphone and rapping is the only time she feels truly herself. However, contrary to her feelings, during her first rap battle, she becomes overwhelmed with emotion and is left speechless. What does it truly mean to live your own truth? This is the story of her search.