The Japan Film Program is organized by the Baltimore-Kawasaki Sister City Committee (BKSCC) in partnership with Towson University College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) Dean’s Office , along with the Asian Arts & Culture Center at Towson University and its Director, Joanna Pecore. Films are hosted by and from the private collection of Reed Hessler, longtime host on WBJC.
Unless otherwise noted, all film screenings are at 1pm ET and take place at the Towson University Center for the Arts, Art Lecture Hall, Room 2032, 7700 Osler Drive, Towson, MD 21204 .
Screenings are free but registration is required. To register, find the film on the Baltimore-Kawasaki Committee’s film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.
Fall Semester program
Saturday, September 12, 1 pm
High and Low
天国と地獄, Tengoku to Jigoku
Experience stunning cinematography and surprising narrative twists in this 1963 film depicting disturbing moral dilemmas, class divisions, urban anxiety, and the rise of consumerist culture in post-World War II Japan. High and Low is a kidnapping thriller that inspires reflection on our basic humanity. (b & w) Directed by Akira Kurosawa. 2 hours, 23 minutes. Hosted by Reed Hessler, longtime host on WBJC. Co-presented with the Baltimore Kawasaki Sister City Committee (BKSCC) and TU College of Fine Arts and Communication Dean’s Office.
To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.
Saturday, November 21, 1 pm
Kwaidan
怪談
Be spellbound by an afternoon of Japanese ghost stories rendered masterfully in this 1964 film comprised of four distinct stories depicting vengeful spirits, supernatural warriors, and eerie apparitions. These enchantingly surreal tales stir every emotion, leaving viewers to contemplate the boundaries of existence. (color) Directed by Masaki Kobayashi. 3 hours, 3 minutes. Hosted by Reed Hessler, longtime host on WBJC. Co-presented with the Baltimore Kawasaki Sister City Committee (BKSCC) and TU College of Fine Arts and Communication Dean’s Office.
To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.
Spring Semester program
Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 1pm
Spring Dreams
春の夢 Haru no Yume
This 1960 satirical comedy explores class, greed, love and selfishness. A sweet potato vendor has a stroke in the home of the wealthy and dysfunctional Okudaira family. While he recuperates there, “well-wishers” from his tenement house drop in to visit with ulterior motives. (color) Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. 126 minutes.
To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.
Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 1pm
The Ceremony
儀式 Gishiki
Funerals without bodies. Burials without funerals. Marriages without brides. This 1971 epic drama revolves around twenty-five years of weddings, funerals, and incest of the Sakurada clan and their intergenerational conflicts which mirror Japan’s post-war fall from grace. (color) Directed by Nagisa Oshima. 123 minutes.
To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.
Saturday, June 20, 2026 at 1pm
Humanity and Paper Balloons
人情紙風船 Ninjo Kami Fusen
This bold, 1937 historical anti-military melodrama is a gem of Japanese cinema. While following Edo-era slum residents—debilitated samurai, peasants, and petty merchants—and their struggles to survive, it exposes the hypocrisy and cruelty of high society. (black and white) Directed by Sadao Yamanaka. 82 minutes.
To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.
Saturday, July 18, 2026 at 1pm
Like Father Like Son
そして父になる Soshite Chichi ni Naru
A ten-minute standing ovation followed the premiere of Like Father Like Son at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Two couples—from different classes and with contrasting parenting styles—discover that their six-year-old sons were switched at birth and embark on journeys of soul-searching, impossible decisions, and coming to terms with the meaning of family. (color) Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. 120 minutes.
To register, go to the film program webpage and click the RSVP link next to the film.
