The University of Virginia will screen a series of Japanese films as part of a new weekly film festival hosted by U.Va.’s East Asia Center and Asia Institute, as well as the nonprofit Japan Foundation.

The 2012 Japan Film Festival kicks off on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Newcomb Hall Theater with the 2005 Uchida Kenji film, “A Stranger of Mine.” The film screenings will continue at the same time each Tuesday through Dec. 4, and are free and open to the public.

The festival is a chance to experience Japanese culture through films that are not widely available in the United States, said Haruko Yuda, the Japan Outreach Initiative Coordinator in the Asia Institute, who organized the event. The Asia Institute is a unit of the College of Arts & Sciences.

“I hope these films will provide people who don’t know much about Japanese culture the chance to learn more,” Yuda said. “I think it could be a great opportunity to get interested in Japan.”

The festival will continue on Nov. 13 with “Dog in a Sidecar,” followed by “Hanging Garden” on Nov. 27 and “The Matsugane Potshot Affair” on Dec. 4.

More information is available here. Direct questions to harukoyuda@virginia.edu or 434-924-7172.