The “Nippon Culture” section in which SHIFT also took part had many other events; live performances, dining rooms, Japanese drum workshops, massage, Shodo (Japanese calligraphy), Haiku (Japanese poem of seventeen syllables), Manga (cartoon), lectures, etc.

The place of the opening lounge had other live performances every night afterwards which sometimes lasted until next morning. It was the third night of the festival when two girls of the Japanese punkrock band “Afrirampo” came onstage with strong red dresses and bare feet. The hall full of people were engulfed in their impromptu shouting and jumping.

Underground of the festival center, there was a soup lounge “SOBA-YA” which provided Japanese tastes with Soba (buckwheat noodles) and Udon (wheat noodles) throughout the duration of the festival. It was always full of people, and they sometimes made a line and finished the night sold out. Some ate while standing at the counter which was a Japanese style at some Soba restaurants, and others ate sitting on a sofa and relaxing. There was a Karaoke-set at the corner of the lounge, and some people were trying to sing on the stage. A Sushi bar was also placed in front of the “Nippon Cinema”. People could enjoy their original rolls and walked around the festival center with a special Sushi pack.

All these projects were not only by Japanese people. The chef in the SOBA-YA and Sushi bar was from Germany, and “YAKITORI” which had a shop in Frankfurt was selling Japanese sundries. Also, a project called “Nippon Connection Exchanging Tracks” by Pedo Knopp and others, which started three years ago, were really great. They made a CD project of Nippon Connection two years ago, and seven short movies from the sound inspiration were completed with “Planet Studio +1”. This year, they had a booth of their second CD, which will be released in May, and people enjoyed listening to their Japanese traditional sound tracks.

Such a variety of projects and events of “Nippon Culture” indicated that the Nippon Connection was not just a film festival. This is definitely a notable project with an increasing amount of visitors year by year. I could undoubtedly feel the moment that the staff, artists, and visitors were connected together regardless of their nationalities. I now have big expectations for the future of the event. It is also a fact that selecting the works to be part of this project is important. After concluding in Frankfurt, Nippon Connection 2005 will have a tour to Berin and Barcelona. It will be interesting to see the responses there too.

Thanks to all the staffs and visitors! You can also feel this festival’s great energy next year in Frankfurt.

Nippon Connection is waiting for your works for next festival. The deadline will be 31st January 2006.

Nippon Connection 2005
Date: April 13th – 17th, 2005
Places: Festival Center, Filmtheater Valentin, Literaturhaus Frankfurt, Kino im Deutschen Filmmuseum, Knstkerhaus Mousonturm
info@nipponconnection.de
https://www.nipponconnection.de