Remember that tsunami that devastated the coastal cities of northeastern Japan? No? It was only four weeks ago, but already it’s nearly vanished from the American psyche. Probably because we’re now fixated on our war in Libya and we can only handle so much tragedy at once — ironic considering we have 24-hour-news cycles on multiple TV stations devoted only to reporting and pontificating upon the days’ events.
But, I digress. The aftermath of the Japanese tsunami has cost tens of thousands of lives and endangered even more with the ensuing nuclear situation. For a while, nearly every charity on the planet was requesting donations with the promise that your contributions would go to help those in need in Japan, but then there was some controversy about whether or not your money would actually go there. And here’s where Synapse Films steps in.
For the month of April, Synapse is going to donate $1 for each sale of a Japanese film from their catalog to the Japan Society’s Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. So you can feel good about helping out your fellow man by picking up some flicks for yourself.
Synapse Films’ relationship with Japan goes back for many years from the outrageous to the more outrageous. Tetsuro Takeuchi’s rock n’ roll zombie horror classic “Wild Zero,” rocks the mic, and the house, while Kazuo Gaira Komizu’s “Battle Girl: The Living Dead in Tokyo Bay” shows us a world where punk gangs rule the streets during a zombie invasion. From the surreal “Horrors of Malformed Men” to the sensual “Nikkatsu Roman Porno Trailer Collection,” Synapse Films hopes to further bridge the divide between east and west and offer horror fans a chance to get away from overdone and dull Hollywood stereotypes for action-packed incredible Asian cinema. From pinky violence to manga adaptations, Synapse Films brings the land of the rising sun home to you.
Jump right over to Synapse Films’ Asian Cult Cinema section and help out in the best way we all can: by buying shit for ourselves.