FAREAST Udine festival opens lid of Shin Toho Treasure box

The twelfth edition of FAREAST Film Festival has opened the lid of a treasure box containing vintage New films produced in the 50s and 60s, from the defunct SHIN-TOHO ("New Toho") film company, an off-shoot of the major TOHO-TOEI, created in 1947 to make genre films which the latter would distribute.

The studio was one of six functioning during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema in the 1950's and employed some of the most famous directors like Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Yasuhiro Ozu.

As the studio produced many different genres films, this reveals many cult features featuring ghosts, vampires, primitive tribes and  other Japanese totems as well as musical comedies and melodramas, including the B-movie type which were very popular.

Stylishly turned  out, the 15 titles in the retrospective, of rare countenance, shown for the first time outside Japan, will be dedicated to genre movies, noir crime thrillers, horror,action and esoteric themes, which laid the framework for ensuing works in Japan in later years for the sure entertainment of those attending the Udine Fareast Festival this year.

 ShinToho only lasted 14 years but when it collapsed, its films were scarecely seen again, especially outside Japan.Together with the retro of LUNG KONG vintage films, FAREAST Udine Film Festival has managed to reunite some of the most prestigious films of Shin Toho's sensational production.