Kamome Diner (Ruokala lokki)

Written and Directed by SCA Alumna Naoko Ogigami

Based on the novel by Yoko Mure

Produced by Mayumi Amano

 

The stunningly shot, über-stylish Kamome Diner, a tale of three Japanese women afoot in Helsinki, pays tribute to the quirky cinema of Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki. Sachie, from Japan, opens a Japanese eatery near the Helsinki harbor. The specialty of the house is onigiri (or omusubi) rice balls. Her only customer, day after day, is a geeky Finnish boy obsessed with Japanese anime. Two other Japanese women, each with personal issues, begin helping out, and the number of customers increases. The diner, it seems, attracts only patrons with problems, all finding comfort in Sachie’s conversation and tasty cuisine. The film’s mouth-watering attention to food will have your racing to your favorite okazuya after the screening. Kamome Diner conveys the topsy-turvy sensation of being a stranger in a strange land and presents food, no matter how alien, as the center of community and cultural understanding.

 

Provided courtesy of Nikkatsu Corporation. Not rated. Running Time: 102 mins. In Japanese and Finnish, with English subtitles.

 

Visit the Official Website: http://www.nikkatsu.com/movie/official/kamome-movie//english.html

 

The School of Cinematic Arts invites you to an exciting free screening series featuring a dynamic selection of new feature films by SCA alumni and faculty throughout 2016. All screenings and events will be free of charge and open to the public, although we do ask for an electronic reservation for each screening, which can be made through the website for each individual screening.

 

In 1975, the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences established the East Asian Studies Center (EASC) in order to provide dedicated leadership, coordination and support for the growing interdisciplinary education, research activity, and community outreach concerning East Asia. In addition to being an academic department, EASC has been recognized as one of the nation's leading centers for the development of East Asian area studies and is among a small group of elite colleges and universities to be designated a National Resource Center for East Asian studies by the U.S. Department of Education. Today, over 90 USC faculty are affiliated with EASC.

 

This screening is free of charge and open to the public. Please bring a valid USC ID or print out of your reservation confirmation, which will automatically be sent to your e-mail account upon successfully making an RSVP through this website. Doors will open at 6:30 P.M.

 

All SCA screenings are OVERBOOKED to ensure seating capacity in the theater, therefore seating is not guaranteed based on RSVPs. The RSVP list will be checked in on a first-come, first-served basis until the theater is full. Once the theater has reached capacity, we will no longer be able to admit guests, regardless of RSVP status.

 

The USC School of Cinematic Arts is located at 900 W. 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90007. Parking passes may be purchased for $12.00 at USC Entrance Gate #5, located at the intersection of W. Jefferson Blvd. & McClintock Ave. We recommend Parking Structure D, at the far end of 34th Street. Metered street parking is also available along Jefferson Blvd.

 

Name: Alessandro Ago

Email: aago@cinema.usc.edu