As the Japanese Film Festival Ireland, returns, Gemma Creagh speaks to Adam Torel, the driving force behind Third Window Films, about bringing bold and distinctive Japanese cinema to global audiences. Two of his titles, Shadow of Fireand Typhoon Club, feature in this year’s line-up.
Gemma is also joined by Maeve Cooke of access>CINEMA, who co-organise the festival with the Embassy of Japan, to give an overview of what audiences can expect.
Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.
About Adam Torel
Adam Torel is a British-based film distributor and producer, best known as the founder and managing director of Third Window Films. Established in the mid-2000s, the company specialises in bringing East Asian cinema—particularly Japanese films - to Western audiences, helping to broaden access beyond the “Asia Extreme” boom of the early 2000s. Torel began his career in the United States, studying film history before working in video retail and later moving to the UK, where he worked for Tartan Films. He founded Third Window Films shortly afterwards, building it into a key independent label that has released over 100 titles from Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. In addition to distribution, Torel has moved into film production, collaborating with directors such as Eiji Uchida and Sion Sono, and supporting independent filmmaking through alternative financing models like crowdfunding. His work has played a significant role in promoting contemporary Asian cinema internationally, and he has also contributed to film festival programming around the world.
The Japanese Film Festival Ireland returns for its 15th edition this April, with a line-up of films that will bring the best of Japanese cinema to towns & cities across Ireland.
Ireland’s only truly national film festival will showcase 19 films across 49 screenings this year, featuring everything from the latest anime hits to exciting indie discoveries. The festival will run from April 9 - 27, with screenings in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Sligo, Waterford, Dundalk, Wexford and - for the first time - Bray. This year’s line-up will bring Irish audiences everything from acclaimed dramas to crowd pleasing anime hits. This year’s programme includes the Irish premieres of exceptional new dramas such as Egoist, Great Absence, Ichiko, Remembering Every Night and Shadow of Fire. Those searching for more light-hearted fare should seek out time-loop office satire Mondays: See You ‘This’ Week! and the playful horror-comedy Love Will Tear Us Apart. Anime fans won’t want to miss the first Irish screenings of new titles Lonely Castle in the Mirror and Komada: A Whisky Family. Audiences will also be able to enjoy a special insight into Japanese culture and traditions with films such as Tsugaru Lacquer Girl and Yudo: The Way of the Bath.
The festival pays tribute to the late, great Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto with a special double bill in Dublin of his beautiful final concert film Opus and Hirokazu Koreeda’s award-winning Monster (which features Sakamoto’s final film score). Opus will also play in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford during the festival.
Audiences in Dublin and Galway will also be able to catch this year’s classic screening - Shinji Somai’s coming-of-age drama Typhoon Club, which has been widely celebrated as one of the greatest Japanese films of the 1980s.