Sophia Magazine vol.8 / WINTER 2018

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Williams’ latest film project is an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s novel “The Trial.” Based on a novel by a Prague-born author of Jewish descent, directed by Williams a British-born filmmaker, and featuring a Japanese cast, it is truly a cosmopolitan and borderless endeavor. The film received its international premier at Paris’ European Independent Film CHRONICLESOF RESEARCHERS AT SOPHIA JOHNWILLIAMSProfessor, Department of English Studies#15Seeing Japan through a Century-Old Modern ClassicJohn Williams is both a professor in the Department of English Studies, and an accomplished filmmaker. His recent film adaptation of Kafka’s “The Trial” updates the story to a modern setting, and asks the audience to question the health of social and individual freedom in contemporary Japan. In his filmmaking classes Williams encourages students to find their own paths in the creative and collaborative process of transforming ideas into images.Festival, was released in Tokyo and Osaka in June and De-cember 2018 respectively, and will be screened in other Japa-nese cities and at further international film festivals in 2019. On the morning of his 30th birthday, a Tokyo banker wakes to find two men in his bedroom, who claim that he is under arrest. The basis for his arrest is unknown, but from that point onward everyone around him begins to treat him as if he is guilty; he finds it impossible to prove his innocence Film adaptation of “The Trial”10Research