What's On This Week: Paprika at 20, Ghost Town and Halloween J-Horror
What's On
What's On This Week: Paprika at 20, Ghost Town and Halloween J-Horror
Monday 26 October to Sunday 1 November 2026: Satoshi Kon on 35mm, a Japanese documentary premiere, Imamura at the ICA and Ringu on Halloween
This week brings a Satoshi Kon anniversary on 35mm, a UK premiere about the Japanese town of Kamaishi, two Takeshi Kitano and Wong Kar-wai prints at Prince Charles Cinema, and a Halloween weekend with Ringu on the big screen. Possible Love, Lee Chang-dong's new film, is also playing across London.
Here is everything East Asian that is on, day by day, with a look at the week ahead. Times come from each venue's own page where possible, so check before you travel. All times are GMT now that the clocks have gone back.
Monday 26 October
PAPRIKA at 20, on 35mm
Satoshi Kon, Japan, Picturehouse Central, London, 7pm
Picturehouse Central marks twenty years of PAPRIKA (2006) with a 35mm screening and a panel discussion chaired by Michael Leader, with Helen O'Horan, Claire Ormsby-Potter and Jennifer Coates, Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield. Satoshi Kon's anime follows a therapist who uses a device that lets her enter her patients' dreams.
PAPRIKA, directed by Satoshi Kon, Picturehouse Central, Monday 26 October, 7pm, 35mm
Tuesday 27 October
GHOST TOWN, PERFECT BLUE and TEN WOMEN IN BLACK
London, 6pm to 8:45pm
PERFECT BLUE, 6pm, Prince Charles Cinema. Satoshi Kon's psychological thriller about a pop idol plays in 4K with English subtitles, and returns on Saturday 31 October at 10am and Sunday 1 November at 6:05pm.
POSSIBLE LOVE, 7:45pm, Garden Cinema. Lee Chang-dong's 165 minute drama, with Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Cho Yeo-jeong and Zo In-sung, plays at the Garden, the ICA and Picturehouse cinemas all week.
GHOST TOWN, 8:30pm, ICA. The UK premiere of Katharine Round's 64 minute documentary, set in Kamaishi, the Japanese coastal city hit by the 2011 tsunami, told through conversations in a taxi about ghosts, dreams and survivors' guilt. The screening is followed by a Q&A with Round and a special guest.
TEN WOMEN IN BLACK, 8:45pm, Genesis, Mile End. Yellow Magic Cinema presents Kon Ichikawa's 1961 black comedy about a television executive and the nine mistresses who plot with his wife to kill him. Radiance's limited edition Blu-ray of TEN WOMEN IN BLACK is on the Terracotta store, £17.99.
TEN WOMEN IN BLACK, directed by Kon Ichikawa, Genesis, Tuesday 27 October, 8:45pm
Wednesday 28 October
BROTHER and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE on 35mm
Prince Charles Cinema, London, 12:45pm and 6:15pm
Prince Charles Cinema has two 35mm prints. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000), Wong Kar-wai's Hong Kong romance, plays at 12:45pm. At 6:15pm, Takeshi Kitano's BROTHER (2000) plays with an introduction as part of the Gangsters Have Feelings Too season, presented with the National Film and Television School's Film Studies, Programming and Curation MA. Our limited edition Blu-ray of BROTHER, with a booklet, is £17.99.
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, directed by Wong Kar-wai, Prince Charles Cinema, Wednesday 28 October, 12:45pm, 35mm
Later, GHOST TOWN plays Picturehouse Hackney at 8pm, with a Q&A with the director.
Thursday 29 October
PIGS AND BATTLESHIPS at the ICA
Shohei Imamura, Japan, ICA, London, 6:30pm
The ICA's Shohei Imamura season continues with PIGS AND BATTLESHIPS at 6:30pm. It is one of the six films in Radiance's RADICAL JAPAN: SURVIVAL AND DESIRE box set, alongside THE INSECT WOMAN (ICA, Saturday 31 October, 1:30pm) and INTENTIONS OF MURDER (ICA, Sunday 1 November, 2pm). The box is out on 16 November, £74.99, and you can reserve your copy on the Terracotta store.
RADICAL JAPAN: SURVIVAL AND DESIRE, six films by Shohei Imamura, out 16 November
Also on Thursday: GHOST TOWN with a Q&A at Picturehouse Finsbury Park, 8pm, presented by We Are Doc Women, and POSSIBLE LOVE at the ICA at 8pm. The Leeds International Film Festival also opens, running to 15 November.
Friday 30 October
FrightFest Halloween begins
ODEON Luxe West End, London, 30 and 31 October
FrightFest Halloween runs for two days at the ODEON Luxe West End, with nine films across Friday and Saturday. We have not been able to confirm which films are East Asian, so see frightfest.co.uk for the line up and tickets.
Saturday 31 October
Halloween: RINGU on the big screen
Hideo Nakata, Japan, Phoenix Cinema, East Finchley, London, 5pm
Japanese Film Club presents RINGU at the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley at 5pm, with English subtitles. Hideo Nakata's 1998 horror, about a reporter who watches a cursed videotape and is told she has a week to live, helped start the J-horror wave. If you would rather watch at home, the RINGU 4K UHD is on the Terracotta store, £24.99.
RINGU, directed by Hideo Nakata, Phoenix Cinema, Saturday 31 October, 5pm
The rest of Saturday: PERFECT BLUE in 4K at Prince Charles Cinema at 10am, THE INSECT WOMAN at the ICA at 1:30pm, and at 8:30pm DOUBLE VISION, Chen Kuo-fu's 2002 Taiwan and Hong Kong thriller, at the Garden Cinema, with a video introduction by James Mudge, part of their Made in Taiwan season. For J-horror at home, the J-horror collection has RINGU, CURE, AUDITION, JU-ON and DARK WATER.
Sunday 1 November
INTENTIONS OF MURDER, ALL OF A SUDDEN and PERFECT BLUE
ICA, Cambridge and Prince Charles Cinema
INTENTIONS OF MURDER, 2pm, ICA, is the last of this week's Imamura screenings. ALL OF A SUDDEN, Ryusuke Hamaguchi's film that played in competition at Cannes, screens at 3pm at the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge on the last day of the Cambridge Film Festival. PERFECT BLUE returns to Prince Charles Cinema at 6:05pm.
ALL OF A SUDDEN, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge, Sunday 1 November, 3pm
Coming up
Monday 2 November: London Korean Film Festival opens. The 21st edition runs 2 to 16 November, opening at BFI Southbank at 6:15pm with THE JOURNEY TO GYEONG-JU and a Q&A with director Kim Mi-jo and actor Lee Jung-eun. The closing gala is TRISTES TROPIQUES on Monday 16 November, with director Park Hoon-jung. Full details at koreanfilm.co.uk.
Monday 2 November: the GODZILLA MINUS ONE steelbook arrives. The four disc GODZILLA MINUS ONE steelbook is £38.99, just before GODZILLA MINUS ZERO opens in UK cinemas and IMAX on Friday 6 November, with Genesis showing it from Thursday 5 November.
Friday 6 November: RAISE THE RED LANTERN returns in 4K. Zhang Yimou's 35th anniversary restoration opens in UK cinemas, with the Garden Cinema from Saturday 7 November and Curzon Bloomsbury on Thursday 12 November.
Early to mid November: Scotland Loves Anime is due in Glasgow, London and Edinburgh. Check lovesanimation.com for the dates and programme.
Monday 9 November: new on the Terracotta store. K-POP DEMON HUNTERS from Criterion, THE BLADE SPARES NONE and THE HURRICANE from Arrow Video, and VIOLENCE VOYAGER from Third Window Films. Reserve your copy in the preorder collection.
Support the venues keeping East Asian cinema on the big screen.
Terracotta Distribution is a specialist UK retailer for East Asian cinema on physical media, with knowledgeable curation, direct customer service, and carefully chosen stock you won't find on the high street. If we missed your screening, let us know and we will add it next week.
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