Child of Kamiari Month

A year after losing her mother, a young girl learns that she must journey across Japan to the annual gathering of gods in the sacred land of Izumo.

Air Doll

A life-size, inflatable sex doll suddenly comes to life one day. Without her owner knowing, she goes for a walk around town and falls in love with Junichi. She starts to date Junichi and gets a job at the same store where he works. Everything seems to be going perfectly for her until something unexpected happens.

Snakes and Earrings

While alone in a nightclub, straight-laced Lui meets sensitive but troubled punk kid Ama. Mesmerized by his split tongue, she becomes obsessed with body modification and soon wants the same treatment. After Ama's heavily-tattooed friend Shiba pierces her tongue, Lui finds herself inexorably drawn to both men – and to her growing list of desires, she now adds a tattoo.

Blazing Famiglia

"Blazing Famiglia" centers around a family of former teenage gangsters. Tetsu Hino (Yoshimi Tokui) was once the leader of the most feared motorcycle gang in the Kanto area. Now, Tetsu Hino is middle-aged man who is looked down upon by his rebellious son Shuhei (Kento Hayashi). One day, Tetsu and his old biker gang gather together again after the daughter of a member is assaulted. Tetsu, worried about his day to day life, nevertheless regains the passion from his biker days. Tetsu then finds out that Ken Igarashi (Jun Murakami) is the man be...

Stolen Identity: The Last Hacker

Genius hacker and murderer Urano escaped from prison and fled to South Korea. Urano was hired by a South Korean anti-government organization to set a trap targeted for the Korea-Japan summit meeting. Sumin is assigned to watch over Urano but is intimidated by his frantic behavior. Urano distrusts her, but gradually their feelings begin to change a little.

11.25 The Day He Chose His Own Fate

On November 25th 1970, a man committed ritual suicide inside the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Defence, leaving behind a legacy of masterpieces and a controversy that echoes to this day. The man was Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's greatest and most celebrated novelists. With four members of his own private army - the Tatenokai - Mishima had taken the commandant hostage and called upon the assembled military outside the Ministry to overthrow their society and restore the powers of the Emperor. When the soldiers mocked and jeere...

The Millennial Rapture

Sennen no yuraku is set in a small community called “Roji” where Kenji Nakagami—one of the most famous novelists in Japan—drew the absurdity and passion of life since its inhabitants have been living and dying. There were beautiful men in “Roji” who struggled to live with the blood of the Nakamato Clan, blood called “noble yet unholy.” Oryu, a midwife, has watched all those men growing up, living and dying... She is now aging old and starts to talk with the dead men souls of the Nakamoto Clan...

Our Homeland

From the late 1950s through the '70s, more than 90,000 of the ethnic Koreans in Japan emigrated to North Korea, a country that promised them affluence, justice, and an end to discrimination. KAZOKU NO KUNI tells the story of one of their number, who returns for just a short period. For the first time in 25 years, Sonho is reunited with his family in Tokyo after being allowed to undergo an operation there. Sonho’s younger sister Rie is at the centre of the film, and is not hard to recognise as the director’s alter-ego. In her documentaries DE...

Parasite in Love

A man named Kengo Kosaka is germaphobe, Due to his disorder, he is also a lonely young man. Meanwhile, high school student Hijiri Sanagi has Ommatophobia. Both Kengo Kosaka and Hijiri Sanagi do not expect to find love with another person.

A Blue Automobile

Richio, a young DJ, is as emotionally non-existent as no other man on the planet. He uses his tough exterior to avoid attachments to people and society.

Brahman

A documentary of the 4-man, hard rock band, BRAHMAN, as they celebrate their 20th anniversary in 2015. Rooted in "stillness and motion," the four members channel human beings' unlimited depth of thought, anger, and sadness into sound. It is also said there is a divine perfection to their overwhelming performances. This is the first time the members of such a band display their human side.

Hokusai Up Close: Paintings from the Freer Gallery of Art

In 2018 Japan’s NHK television network was given unprecedented access to the Freer Gallery of Art’s collection of works by Katsushika Hokusai so they could film the details of paintings using a state-of-the-art 8K video camera. The resulting documentary is hosted by actor Iura Arata and features commentary from the James Ulak, former curator at the National Museum of Asian Art, and Tim Clark, former curator at the British Museum. The film’s intended premiere in April 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic. We are proud to finally screen it. E...

Undercurrent

Kanae's husband disappeared without a trace while on a union trip. Though usually headstrong and independent, the woman becomes plagued with worry over what happened to him, and is unable to move on with her life. Thus, Kanae decides to hire a private investigator, and keeps running the public bathhouse to the best of her abilities. As he tries to figure out the truth about her husband, Kanae must deal with the stress from a work-intensive job, meddlesome neighbors, and recurring nightmares in which she is drowning.

Dare to Stop Us

In Spring 1969, 21-year-old Megumi Yoshizumi goes to Wakamatsu Production. The company makes films popular with young people. Pink film director Koji Wakamatsu gathers there with young talented people who are all fascinated with movie making. When they are not making movies, they spend their time smoking, drinking alcohol, scouting for actresses and looking for material for their next film. When filming begins, everybody immerses themselves into the production and will do everything on the filming set from running, shouting to acting.

Stolen Identity 2

A couple of months have passed since the serial murder case. A new dead body is found in the same area. Detective Manabu Kagaya tries to find the truth. He goes to see serial killer Yoshiharu Urano in prison.

The Ex-idol, Stuck in Life, Decided to Live with a Complete Stranger

Akiko (Mai Fukagawa) is a former idol, but now lives an ordinary life. She works at a company and keeps reminding herself that she is happy and to have a fulfilling day. One day, she walks to work and falls down. She becomes stuck and unable to move. Akiko breaks down mentally and decides to quit her job. Now, Akiko doesn't have a job, a boyfriend, and only 100,000 yen (~$700 USD) in her bank account. Her friend then tells her that she should move in with 56 year old salaryman Sasapon (Arata Iura), who lives alone in his house in Tokyo. When...

Chicken Phoenix

Childhood friends Sota, and Rakuto are on a journey to find the Phoenix, which shouldn't exist. As adults, there remains a dark shadow over each of them as their lives have progressed, thus they seek a bit of escapism in their travels. Parallel to their own story, is the mysterious bride. Not to mention a deserted youkai snack bar in the underworld, a gang from an SM Castle, an agricultural rapper, a young man on a bike trip, a monk peaching about enlightenment, the owner and operator of an empty movie theater, and more that the duo meet on...

Tokyo Cowboy

Brash businessman Hideki (Arata Iura) convinces his Tokyo bosses he can turn a profitless Montana cattle ranch into a premiere-performing asset. However, when his Japanese Wagyu-beef expert fails him, Hideki is poised to fail unless he identifies a missing element that's key to the transformation: himself.

September 1923

Based on the murder of nine street peddlers in the aftermath of the Great Kanto earthquake.

Photograph of Memories

A frustrated young woman returns from Tokyo to her hometown in Toyama where she meets an old woman who lives alone. There she slowly finds purpose in life by taking "photographs" that spin memories instead of ghosts.