Film Screening and Director's Talk

The JASGA February 2013 Cultural Program will present a Film Screening of "Cast Me If You Can" (Wakiyaku Monogatari) and a talk by the film director, Atsushi Ogata.

This program is in cooperation with Japan-America Society of  Houston, Japan-America Soceity of San Antonio, and Japan-America Society of Greater Austin, funded by the Japan Foundation designed to provide financial assistance to Japan-America Societies introducing Japanese arts and culture including visual arts to the community.

CAST ME IF YOU CAN (aka Wakiyaku Monogatari - subtitled in English)

Ogata will screen and present his feature film debut CAST ME IF YOU CAN (aka Wakiyaku Monogatari), discuss in detail its content and motivations, reveal the filmmaking process, and answer questions from the audience, all with plenty of wit and humor. Points covered will include: film comedy as a way to enforce positive values, raising hopes and inspirations in today’s alienating social climate, comedy as a way to bridge the generation gap, and comedy as a way to transcend national and cultural boundaries, bringing the world closer culturally, emotionally and personally.

CAST ME IF YOU CAN is a romantic comedy about a perpetual supporting actor, who is always marginalized, both at work and at home, until he meets his muse, falls in love and struggles to play the lead in his own life. Starring Toru Masuoka, Hiromi Nagasaku, Masahiko Tsugawa and Keiko Matsuzaka. CAST ME IF YOU CAN had its world premiere as part of the Asian New Talent Award competition at the Shanghai International Film Festival. It was theatrically released in 16 cities in Japan and San Francisco, released on DVD and i-Tunes in North America, and screened in festivals in California, New York, Boston, China and India, winning prizes for Best Actress, Best Original Score, Best Title Sequence and Special Recognition.

About Atsushi Ogata:

Born in Japan, and raised partly in the US, Ogata has worked in Holland, Germany, Japan, and the US as a film director, screenwriter, video artist, and actor. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies. “Eternally Yours”, Ogata’s latest short film, was selected for the prestigious New Directors/New Films Festival 2007 in New York at the MoMA and the Lincoln Center. It won Film Awards at the Bangkok, Moondance, and Boston International Film Festival, and has been screened at numerous international festivals in Berlin, Sao Paolo, Los Angeles and others. Cast Me If You Can is his feature film debut.  

View clip

Open to the public -  ADMISSION IS FREE! 

For more detailed screening schedules and inquiries, please visit the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin web site at www.jasga.org/  or call (512) 656-4731.