About Us
Not That Films is a new international film organisation based in Tokyo, working across internationalfilm distribution and production, curatorial projects, subtitles and access services for the film industry and the arts.
Not That Films is the sister company to UK based film organisation, Day for Night, seeking to expand upon the work led by founder of both companies, Sonali Joshi, with a greater international dimension. Not That Films exists to champion and broaden access to fresh and distinctive films and moving image culture for international audiences, representing in particular work by emerging talent from across Asia and the Global South more broadly.
Drawing inspiration from a certain determined 4 year old constantly expressing strong views in relation to the world around her led us to reflect on how we could ‘think’ and ‘do’ film differently. And so Not That Films was born.
After years of festival hopping and island hopping in Japan, Tokyo became our playground and we couldn’t think of a better place to make ours and Not That Films’ home. Founder and Director, Sonali Joshi, brings her vast experience as a curator of Asian cinema and her extensive expertise in subtitling and access to Not That Films, providing a strong platform from which to further Not That Films’ mission of broadening access to moving image culture and the arts to filmmakers, producers, film festivals, cultural organisations and diverse audiences in both Japan and internationally.
Sonali Joshi
Sonali Joshi is a moving image curator, distributor, writer and subtitler and Founder/Director of NotThat Films and independent UK film distribution and access company Day for Night. Her interests are largely focused on the cinemas of Asia and the Global South. She holds an MA in Media & Communications (Goldsmiths, University of London) and PhD in Cinema Studies (University of Glasgow).
Throughout her career, she has always sought to champion underrepresented areas of moving image culture, particularly in relation smaller film industries and collectives, films by people of diverse backgrounds and about diverse communities, and women in front of and behind the camera. Sonali first discovered cinema at the spectacular 1930s Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle (UK) where she grew up, being taken to watch classic Indian films there from a young age. However, her real introduction to the seventh art came as a teenager when she first saw François Truffaut's Les Quatre Cent Coups.
Sonali began her career in film exhibition at Cornerhouse (now HOME, Manchester, UK). She went on to work in film distribution in Paris, before head the foreign-language subtitling department of a former London based post-production house. She founded Day for Night in 2006, working with filmmakers, producers, cinemas, festivals, distributors and audiences, with the aim of offering broader access to more diverse moving image culture.
Sonali has succeeded in attracting a vast array of clients, including British Council, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Institute for Contemporary Arts, London Film Festival, MUBI, Royal OperaHouse, Science Museum, Tate, Whitechapel Gallery (UK), Anti-Archive (Cambodia), Cobra Films (Belgium), Coccinelle Films (Germany), Electric Eel Films (Thailand), Idéale Audience (France), L’Immagine Ritrovata (Italy), Museo d'Arte Orientale Torino (Italy), and Wa Entertainment (Japan) as well as many filmmakers and producers from around the world.
Her curatorial projects have included “India at 70” (2017) and “Urban, Natural, Human – architecture and landscape in Japanese moving image” (2021), both funded by British Film Institute, and Aperture: Asia & Pacific Film Festival, funded by Arts Council of England.
Sonali regularly gives guest lectures at universities around the world. She has served as Industry Reviewer for National Film and Television School (UK) since 2022, where she has also given guest talks, as well as at London Film School and other UK universities, Institut national d'histoire de l’art(Paris) and University of Otago (New Zealand).
Sonali’s published work includes articles on François Truffaut, Jean Eustache, Japanese cinema, cinema and architecture, and cultural activism. She is currently co-authoring a book chapter onwomen in leadership in the creative industries. She has been invited to participate on various film festival juries including International Film Festival Rotterdam. In 2018, she produced a short film by Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk (Bhutan), The Open Door, which premiered at Locarno Festival.
Chonpel Tsering
Chonpel Tsering is a former representative of HH the Dalai Lama at the Office of Tibet, London(2014-2018) with vast experience in event and project management, leading teams delivering high-profile events at Glastonbury Festival and The Royal Albert Hall in London as well as other cultural events including film festival and other screenings. Prior to this role, he was in charge of press at Office of Tibet (2009-2014), having also worked for various Tibet related NGOs in the UK and India in the preceding years.
Since 2019, Chonpel has been a director of Day for Night and is in charge of strategy and business development. He holds an MSc in Global Governance, (Birkbeck, University of London).
With his strong background in international relations, Chonpel brings a distinct international dimension to the work of Not That Films, and leads on strategy and international business.