By the book

MANILA, Philippines - How far would you go for love? That might be the main question that Pale Moon — a Japanese film based on the novel Kami no Tsuki by Mitsuyo Kakuta — tries to answer. It’s the story of a bank employee who falls into a life of crime in order to please her lover. She may sound like a villain, but the film certainly casts her in a strange light: do you judge her for her actions, or do you root for her to succeed?

Pale Moon is just one of the selected films to be shown at this year’s Eiga Sai Japanese Film Festival. In partnership with the Japan Foundation Manila, Eiga Sai will once again be held at Cinema 2 of the Shangri-La Plaza Cineplex from July 8 to 17. In the grand tradition of Shang’s cultural endeavors, the film festival will once again be free of charge. This year, the beloved film festival takes its cues from literature, with film adaptations of some of the Japan’s best non-fiction and fiction novels. Leading the pack is The Great Passage — based on the novel by Miura Shion, this film has been nominated for Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards, and follows a woman’s passion to create a huge dictionary over a 15-year period. Even the Philippines gets a small role in the festival offerings: in the film Crossroads, two men find themselves in Baguio as they join the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers.

The stories of this year’s Eiga Sai are as nuanced as ever (this is year 19 for the fest), and perhaps what makes them a little more special is that they are books come to life. And for the love for a good story, we’d certainly go very far.

* * *

The 2016 Eiga Sai Japanese Film Festival begins on July 8 at the Shang Cineplex Cinema 2. Tickets are free, first come/first served. For inquiries, call 370-259 or 98, or visit facebook.com/shangrilaplazaofficialfanpage. You may also follow the Shang on Instagram @shangrilaplazaofficial.