If you're in the UK over the next three months, be sure to catch puppet master Kihachiro Kawamoto's dreamworlds, screening across Great Britain.

Events

From September 28, 2007

No Borders, No Limits: 1960s Nikkatsu Action Cinema

Japan Society, New York City, USA

Kicks off with the amazing A Colt Is My Passport, introduced by Mark Schilling.

October 30, 2007 - June 24

Barbican Japanimation

Barbican Cinema, London, UK

Romeo X Juliet kicks off several months of anime, with Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy on hand for intros and Q&As.

March 15 - May 15

Kawamoto: The Puppet Master

Watershed Media Centre, Bristol, and across the UK

A major retrospective of the stop motion animation works of Kihachiro Kawamoto programmed by Jasper Sharp in conjunction with the Watershed. The season is accompanied by British puppet animations from directors such as Barry Purves and Oscar-winning Suzie Templeton and Bristol-based Dave Borthwick and Peter Lord. The opening weekend features a puppet workshop for children, and a panel discussion with two of the UK's lead animators.

The program will be traveling to Newcastle, Manchester, Edinburgh, Sheffield and The Barbican in London.

March 26 - May 19

Kiju Yoshida retrospective

Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

March 27 - April 8

Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival

Brussels, Belgium

April 2 - 6

Nippon Connection

Frankfurt, Germany

April 9 - 20

Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

April 11, 12

Jean Douchet on Kenji Mizoguchi

Institut Lumiere, Lyon, France

Venerable theorist and historian Douchet introduces two days of classic Mizoguchi.

April 11 - 17

Japan Film Festival

ImaginAsian, Los Angeles, USA

Twenty features including Faces of a Fig Tree, Appleseed: Ex Machina, This World of Ours and Kaidan. Plus four programs of short films.

April 11 - 30

Tomu Uchida: Discovering a Japanese Master

BAMcinématek, Brooklyn, NY, USA

April 17 - 25

Torino GLBT Film Festival

Turin, Italy

Includes a wide retrospective of Japanese queer cinema, ranging from classics like Funeral Parade of Roses and Masumura's Manji, to Miike's Big Bang Love, Juvenile A.

April 18 - 20

Japan Film Festival

Starplex Cinemas, Irvine, CA, USA

April 18 - 26

Far East Film Festival

Udine, Italy

April 25 - May 4

Barcelona Asian Film Festival

Barcelona, Spain

April 26

Kiju Yoshida ou l'épreuve de la lucidité

Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

As part of their large Yoshida retrospective, the Centre Pompidou organises a round-table discussion, with the director and his wife/lead actress Mariko Okada present.

May 4 - June 1

The Directorspective: Akira Kurosawa

Barbican, London, UK

Five films by the immortal master.

May 14 - 24

Cannes Film Festival

Cannes, France

May 17

Erotique du remploi: Toshio Matsumoto

Auditorium du Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

Matsumoto will be on hand to introduce Funeral Parade of Roses and three of his experimental shorts: For the Damaged Right Eye, Extasis and Expansion.

May 27

Japanimation: Horror!

Barbican, London, UK

Helen McCarthy introduces a screening of Akiyuki Shinbo's Le Portrait de Petite Cossette.

July 2 - 13

Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film

Japan Society, New York City, USA

Includes screenings of Sukiyaki Western Django, Sakuran, Dainipponjin and Shunji Iwai's documentary on the late Kon Ichikawa, Filmful Life.

DVD Releases

1 January

8 January

15 January

25 January

29 January

6 February

12 February

19 February

22 February

25 February

26 February

27 February

29 February

4 March

11 March

14 March

19 March

25 March

8 April

9 April

15 April

18 April

22 April

29 April

6 May

21 May

4 June

23 June

2 July