Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2012

If you were planning a new film festival, what ingredients would you want to stir into the mix? Put it in a tropical paradise ? Give it a thematic twist like making it a comedy festival? Even add a marketplace (or “Contents Bazaar”) where international and Japanese producers can meet to talk about co-productions? That’s pretty much the formula that major entertainment agency Yoshimoto Kogyo has hit upon for their Okinawa International Movie Festival (www.oimf.jp/en), now in its fourth year. Held in Naha, the film fest will run March 24-31 and feature world premieres, including Japanese political satire Ah! Minister, and Signal, starring popular actor Kengo Kora. It will also showcase the flick that swept the Academy Awards, The Artist, and feature the Japan premiere of the Oscar-nominated comedy Bridesmaids. The fest always runs retrospectives and this year we’ll be able to see the film of respected actor Yoshio Harada and much-heralded director Yoshimitsu Morita, both of whom passed away since the last fest was held. All screenings will have English subtitles and, in all, over 80 films will unspool in this meeting of tropical paradise and celluloid.