Podtalk: Mark Schilling, Japan Cinema World Expert, at Asian Pop-Up Cinema, Sept. 17-23, 2022

CHICAGO – It’s Japan’s turn at the Asian Pop-Up Cinema (APUC), and the guest emcee is Mark Schilling, an American from Tokyo who in the 1980s began his journey as a world expert in Japanese cinema. For more info on this weekend, click JAPAN CINEMA [24].

Born in Zanesville, Ohio, Mark Schilling arrived in Tokyo in 1975 and has lived there ever since (he relates the story in the Podtalk below). He has been reviewing Japanese films for The Japan Times since 1989 and has reported on the Japanese film industry from 1990 to the present, first for Screen International and currently for Variety. His articles on Japanese films and culture have appeared in a wide range of publications, including The Asian Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Interview, The Japan Quarterly, Kinema Junpo and the Japan editions of Newsweek, Time, Vogue and Premiere.

Schilling was the author or contributor to over 40 books, his latest is a compendium of his writings since the year 2000, entitled “Art, Cult and Commerce: Japanese Cinema Since 2000.” Schilling has been a program adviser to the Udine Far East Film Festival, Europe’s leading showcase of Asian popular cinema, since 1999. He will moderate all the in-cinema screenings at the Wilimette Theatre in Wilmette, Illinois.

Mark Schilling (right) Talks to Patrick McDonald
Photo credit: Sophia Wong Boccio for AsianPopUpCinema.org

Season 15 APUC screenings will pop up in downtown Chicago and the north suburbs – including Niles and Wilmette – and select films will be available for online streaming. The festival’s presentations in theaters during the weekends will feature films by region: Japan (September 17 - 23, Wilmette Theater), South Korea (September 24 - October 2, AMC Niles 12), Taiwan (October 22-23, Illinois Institute of Technology) and Hong Kong (October 29 - November 6, FACETS Chicago and AMC New City 14).

For a calendar of films and dates, click SEASON 15 CALENDAR [25]. For ticket info, click SEASON 15 TICKETS [26]. To download the PDF version of the program, click SEASON 15 PROGRAM [27].

In a Podtalk with Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com, Mark Schilling of the Japan Times tells of his remarkable journey with Japanese cinema, including a preview discussion of this weekend’s must-see “Popran” …

[29]	By PATRICK McDONALD [30] Editor, Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [29]