Japan Foundation Los Angeles presents “Japanema,tumblr lucah” providing a high-quality Japanese film screening every second and fourth Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the JFLA Auditorium, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles.

Free to attend. Reservation is not required. Street Parking is available. (www.jflalc.org/about-us.html#parking

All movies are in Japanese with English subtitles.

? Wednesday, April 8: “Sisters of the Gion”(69 minutes, 1936), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. This film follows the parallel paths of the independent, unsentimental Omocha (Isuzu Yamada) and her sister, the more tradition-minded Umekichi (Yoko Umemura), both geishas in the working-class district of Gion. Mizoguchi’s film is a brilliantly shot, uncompromising look at the forces that keep many women at the bottom rung of the social ladder.

? Wednesday, April 22: “Tokyo Sonata”(119 minutes, 2008), directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. This film hauntingly tells the story of a contemporary Japanese family torn apart after its patriarch Ryuhei (Teruyuki Kagawa) unexpectedly loses his job. Ashamed, Ryuhei keeps the truth of his unemployment a secret, but as he grows more despondent and alienated from society, his family resorts to dramatic measures to break away from their fractured lives.

For more information on JFLA programs, visit www.jflalc.org.

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