In a city that’s home to an endless array of overlapping film festivals (not a complaint!), Japan Cuts continues to merit special attention every July. Produced in partnership with — and hosted by — New York’s Japan Society, Japan Cuts is not only North America’s largest and most high-profile festival dedicated to Japanese film, it’s also perhaps the most well-curated, as the titles programmed across the slate’s various sections collect into a vividly comprehensive snapshot of the country’s cinematic landscape. Case in point: The 2024 lineup runs the gamut from lavish samurai epics like Takashi Kitano’s “Kubi” and kaiju masterpieces like Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s “ Shin Godzilla ” (presented here in its new black-and-white edition) to sensitive festival darlings like San Sebastían breakout “Great Absence” and the Berlinale-minted “The Box Man.
” It highlights major auteurs like “Tetsuo the Iron Man” director Shinya Tsukamoto (whose “Shadow of Fire” is this year’s centerpiece), while also using its Next Generation section to shine a spotlight on emerging filmmakers who are just beginning to make their mark (don’t miss the playful “Retake,” about high schoolers making a movie, the unbridled enthusiasm of which is sure to hit different when paired with Urara Matsubayashi’s “Blue Imagine,” a drama that confronts sexual abuse in the Japanese film industry). In addition to a trio of docs, a clutch of wonderful short.
