Kawasaki City Museum has been a pioneer in researching new genres of art, such as photography, comics, graphics, film and image, while also collecting valuable materials as civic resources. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Museum is hosting "Collection Pickup - Curators' Picks" Exhibition, in which curators will pick up some works from the Museum collection and introduce them from their own perspectives. Location: Art Gallery

July 5th (Sat)-July 7th (Mon) [W:2-A] Reddars "Kokoniiru-kuukan" Group: Painting, Art Object, Sound, Film Screening, Multimedia and Performance July 6th (Sun)-July 12th (Sat) [W:1-A] Iwakan "Iwakan" Group: Painting, Illustration, Photography July 8th (Tue)-July 10th (Thu) [W:2-A] Renature "Shizenkaiki F/W 2008" Fashion July 11th (Fri)-July 13th (Sun) [W:2-A] Posucaporuca Exhibition Group: Art Object and Illustration [Image: Posucaporuca Exhibition]

This year marks the 30th edition of the Pia Film Festival. PFF is one of the largest film competitions in Japan, attracting unique independent works in 8mm and 16mm formats from emerging talents. The National Film Center is presenting a new project in collaboration with PFF, focusing on the history of Japanese independent cinema. In this first inaugural edition of the series, with support of the Pia Corporation, this screening event looks closely into the history of prize-winning works from the film festival, featuring 40 works (spread out over 22 programs) created within the first 10 years up until 1986. Please look at the NFC's website for more details.

Teinosuke Kinugasa (1896-1982) is the director of the avant-garde silent movies "A Page of Madness" (1926), "Jujiro" (Crossways) (1928), and also the Cannes prizewinning work "Gate of Hell" (1953). Kazuo Hasegawa (1908-1984), also known as Chojiro Hayashi, was a strikingly handsome actor who made his film debut in "Chigo-no Kempo" (Children's Fencing) in 1927 and became the most beloved onscreen leading man at the time. These two men are widely considered a matchless pair in the history of Japanese film. Since they were both experienced at playing female roles in Kabuki theater, the sword fighting depicted in the films was sophisticated and graceful, and they soon became noted for this. Together, they ushered in the golden age of the production company Shochiku Kyoto. In later years, they worked together at the Toho and Daiei production studios, successfully producing a number of films. Commemorating Hasegawa's 100th birthday, the Film Center presents a total of 55 films that Kinugasa directed and Hasegawa starred in, from the early silent films to the features produced from the postwar period through to the 60s.

An installation that invites the audience to actively investigate and in some ways participate in a frozen hyperreality. This is the first solo exhibition in Japan by the remarkable installation artist Mark Jenkins. Also not to be missed is Miho Kinomura's film about the making of Jenkins' work.

The National Film Center was established in 1952 as the first film department in a national institution in Japan. Entering the second century since the birth of film, the Center's task to protect the accumulated items from over 50 years as historically and culturally significant documentation and heritage is becoming increasingly more important. The collection includes 30,000 films, 20,000 books, 30,000 scripts, 42,000 posters and 372,000 still photos. This exhibition presents a selection of rare items from the collection including historical equipment, mementos of prominent figures in the film industry and newly discovered films, as well as the achievements of past film restorations to trace the history of the Japanese film conservation movement.

This film program presents the work of up-and-coming director Ryota Kawabe, dealing consistently with the deaths of people who ought to be present in the story, but who are somehow stumbled upon in the end. In concrete terms, Kawabe's work examines the disappearance and subsequent search for missing people in public spaces and the unforeseen encounters that arise as a result, occupying the gap located somewhere between documentary, drama and performance that exposes the subjects and characters to scrutiny in curious positions. "Someone Somewhere" is a voyage in search of the "average face" arrived at in an arbitrary fashion, "Familial Scenery" sees Kawabe's own family putting in performances of themselves in the aftermath of the mother's fictional disappearance. Taking up the notion that the specific appeal of images lies in their ability to give form to the seen as well as unseen, Kawabe's films depict in a sense the drama of purely "imaged" characters. (Takashi Sawa) For full schedule and synopses, please see the venue website. Artist Talk (after each screening. Free entry with ticket stub) July 12th, 19:30, Ryota Kawabe July 13th, 14:00, Akio Miyazawa (playwright, author, chairman of Amusement Park Revival Association) and Ryota Kawabe, 16:00 Ryota Kawabe July 18th, 17:00 and 19:00 Ryota Kawabe July 19th 19:30 Ryota Kawabe

July 13th (Sun)-July 17th (Thu) [W:1-A] Teketekebia "Kijinhenjin Daikyouun" Illustration July 15th (Tue)-July 18th (Fri)[E:201 202] Magnet "2008 A/W" Fashion July 16th (Wed)-July 18th (Fri) [W:2-C] Deekei & Wacwac "Perorinpoi" 2 Artists: Painting and 3D object July 17th (Thu)-July 19th (Sat) [W:2-A] International Culture School Fashion Course "Nothing" Makeup July 18th (Fri)-July 20th (Sun) [W:1-A] Tomomi Miyahara "Anoko wo Umeta Atode.." Illustration July 18th (Fri)-July 20th (Sun) [E:102] Piroko Univers Fashion July 19th (Sat)-July 20th (Sun) [W:1-C] Will Send Later Painting, Multimedia and Installation July 19th (Sat)-July 20th (Sun) [E:301] Gas "Summer Exhibition 2008 -Mix Colors" Group: Illustration and Graphic Design July 19th (Sat)-July 21st (Mon) [W:1-B] Yuko "Kawaii" Illustration July 19th (Sat)-July 21st (Mon) [W:1-F] Love Chookje Group: Photography, Film Screening, DJ and Sweets July 19th (Sat)-July 21st (Mon) [W:1-G] Kodachi Miroku Illustration, Photography and Graphic Design July 19th (Sat)-July 21st (Mon) [W:2-B] Analog Complex "Bamboo Princess" Group: Space Art [Image: Gas "Summer Exhibition 2008 -Mix Colors"]

Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is one of the largest film festivals in Asia started in 1992. Outstanding films dealing with sexuality and gender issues are on screen. Please refer to the official website of the film festival for details. The film festival first starts at Shinjuku Wald 9, screening between July 11th (Fri) - 13th (Sun).