MARRAKESH: The 14th Marrakesh Film Festival in Morocco is paying tribute to Japan by showcasing a retrospective of 27 movies at an event traditionally dominated by Arab, French or American cinema.
"Along with American, French and Italian cinema, Japanese cinema is among the four that have established a cinematographic language," festival director Bruno Barde said.
"It is maybe even the biggest," he added at the onset of the nine-day festival that wraps on Sunday.
Takuya Misawa's debut feature "Chigasaki Story", a romantic comedy, is among 15 films vying for the top prize to be decided by a jury headed by French actress Isabelle Huppert.
A large Japanese delegation, led by director Hirokazu Koreeda, has travelled to Marrakesh, and many among them have expressed pride and also surprise that they were being honoured.
"This year, they paid tribute to Japanese cinema -- 27 Japanese films have been shown here. I think it is really impressive," said film-maker Hideo Nakata, who directed the 1998 cult horror film "Ring".
Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who was honoured four years ago at Marrakesh with a personal tribute because of his work, remembers being told in 2010 that the festival planned to pay homage to Japanese film.
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