In a world where we're always connected—to a sometimes-frightening degree—there's an added value to truly foreign experiences. We travel to get out of our ordinary environment, and we're generally thrilled by how vast the differences are. Take comfort, then, in the strangeness found in Japanese Currents—the ninth annual, NW Film Center-hosted overview of noteworthy and contemporary Japanese films. It's proof that the internet hasn't succeeded (yet) in drumming out the idiosyncrasies of culture.
Each film I sampled from this year's festival tested my comfort zone, despite the range of genres the fest touches on.
