Learn about the illustrated history of Japanese film posters with the BFI

Hidenori Okada from the National Film Archive of Japan will be in conversation with Espen Bale of the BFI National Archive for a free, one-and-a-half-hour long webinar, which hopes to teach its viewers about the history of Japanese film posters. Japanese Film Posters: An Illustrated Talk this Friday will deep dive into the Japanese Archive’s poster collection, with Okada walking viewers through different eras, explaining the differences between stylistic choices for posters, and examining the poster designs for the most influential and famous Japanese films. As well as teaching attendees about the most famous poster designers working in Japan across the decades. Following the talk, the audience may ask questions.

Okada, a film curator, has curated exhibitions on film culture since 2007, and is also a film writer and historian. Whilst Bale is an independent writer and researcher specialising in Japanese experimental film and music.

The webinar event is one of many which will take place over the course of the Perspectives from Japan online events series. It is presented by the Japan Foundation and BFI Southbank and aims to spotlight the lesser known side of Japanese films. Well-known Japanese classics like Tokyo Story and Seven Samurai, as well as smaller art house indies, will be on show multiple times throughout the season, ending in December, as well as more educational talks and information sessions.

The webinar will take place this Friday, 19 November. It’s free but registration is essential: register here.