Programming Japan Abroad: Japanese Film Festivals and the Politics of National Images

This chapter explores the specifics of Japanese Film Festival (JFF) practices in detail by focusing on their programming dynamics. It considers how JFFs participate in shaping audiences’ understandings of Japan and its cultures through the exhibition of national cinema and festival events. The chapter examines the pivotal work of key festival actors in maintaining the difficult balance between achieving various goals and maximising public participation through their development of festival programs. The chapter considers the politics of JFF programming to reveal how decisions for film screenings and festival activities are influenced by various factors such as the individual’s own understanding of institutional responsibilities, personal values, cultural diplomacy goals, the interests of stakeholders and industries, local operating conditions and audience demands. It pays attention to how the autonomous and institutional qualities of the JFF format allow programmers to actively shape the ways audiences engage with national images and Japanese cinema, and how we might come to understand the JFF model as an extended image network through this process.