Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2011

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Fans of European cinema will want to check out Soul Kitchen (2009; pictured), the latest film by Turkish-German director Fatih Akin, currently playing at Shibuya’s Cinema Rize (13-17 Utagawacho, Shibuya-ku; www.cinemarise.com). The movie tells the story of a Greek restaurant in Hamburg whose new chef spices up the lives of the regular customers by turning out food much better than anything they are used to.

A modern classic of French cinema, Leos Carax’ Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991), turns 20 this year, and to celebrate, a high-definition digital remaster of the film is screening at Shinjuku Musashinokan (3-27-10 Shinjuku; http://shinjuku.musashino-k.jp) and Human Trust Cinema Yurakucho from January 29 (2-7-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku; www.ttcg.jp). Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant play street performers who meet, and live, on Paris’ oldest bridge.

A special program of Chinese independent films is running at Pole Pole in Nakano through February 4 (4-4-1 Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku; www.mmjp.or.jp/pole2). The eight films in the lineup include Senior Year (2005), a documentary tracking a group of high school students as they prepare for the next stage in their lives.

Unless noted, Japanese films screen without English subtitles. Non-English-language films are shown with Japanese subtitles only