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Experience Japan through cinema

Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2016

An inspiring collection of contemporary Japanese cinema in partnership with The Japan Foundation.

See work from Japanese filmmakers who have captured the highs and lows of life – stories of people persevering, reconciling or overcoming the environment they live in.

Tale Of A Butcher Shop (12A)

Aru Seinikuten No Hanashi

Japan, 2013, 113 mins. Dir. Aya Hanabusa.?

Japanese with English subtitles 

An award-winning documentary about the Kitades and their family-run butcher shop in Kaizuka City (outside Osaka). For over 100 years the family have been raising, slaughtering, and selling their own meat in their small shop. As the family embark upon their decision to shut down their long-running slaughterhouse this touching documentary looks at how the three butcher siblings have devoted their lives to the trade.

Containing unflinching scenes of animal slaughter, the film reveals the intricate, old-fashioned and reverential procedures the family follow in processing the meat. The seventh generation of their family’s business, the Kitades are descendants of the Buraku people, a social minority in Japan who are still subject to discrimination today and Hanabusa’s film touches upon the family’s continuing struggle to make their living despite the persistence of ancient prejudices.

Warning: Some scenes that show the slaughtering process may be disturbing for viewers.

Meal Deal

Enjoy a specially prepared Japanese meal and film for just £13.

Post-Screening Q&A with Director Aya Hanabusa

We’re delighted to announce that the award-winning director of Tale Of A Butcher Shop will be flying over from Japan to join us for our screening. Afterwards, Aya will be able to answer audience questions about the themes and topics raised in the film, as well as how it came about as a concept.

Tale of a Butcher Shop is her second film and focuses on the characters within the butcher family as they struggle to make a living in an ever changing society. Her gentle and caring approach to her protagonists, in this film like her first, offers charming and respectful portrayal of the lives she is filming. You can find out more about Aya Hanabusa and her work here >>

Programme Notes

Read programme notes from The Japan Foundation about this film here >>

Venue: Studio 74