かもめ食堂

On a quiet street in Helsinki, Sachie has opened a diner featuring rice balls. For a month she has no customers. Then, in short order, she has her first customer, meets Midori, a gangly Japanese tourist, and invites her to stay with her.

Sit With Me and Do Nothing for a While

A woman meditates on her life in an 80-minute unbroken zoom shot.

Black River

An observational documentary, shot on high-contrast black and white 16mm film, about a largely undeveloped river in southeastern North Carolina that is home to the oldest trees east of the Rocky Mountains.

仕掛人・藤枝梅安2

The main character, Baian Fujieda, is a dark hero who has two faces: one as a skilled acupuncturist who saves lives, and the other as a criminal who buries evil that cannot be kept alive for the sake of others. Popular writer Shotaro Ikenami's historical novel series of the same title, on which the film "BAIAN The Assassin, M.D." is based, is a blockbuster bestseller with a total of over 6 million copies in print and has been made into a timeless entertainment film many times in Japan. Many famous actors have played the role of Baian, including Ken Watanabe. The year 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Shotaro Ikenami's birth. In the anniversary year of 2023, a new "BAIAN The Assassin, M.D." is born.

芝居道

The Way of Drama unfolds in the world of kabuki in Osaka, but also addresses the politics of popular culture and the rivalry between theatrical styles like those used by amateur actors to dramatise contemporary events.

Alchimie au rhodium

Encore

The audience is consensually prompted to gaze into the small, condensed universe of someone experiencing a fascinatingly destructive egomania. Here, they recognize behavior once thought to be beyond eccentric, yet today somehow normalized - perhaps sprouting from a modern culture of self-centered ideology? We witness in this character the downfall of self-idolatry; the frequent cause and occasional side effect of pathological narcissism; self-hatred. The struggle between loving oneself more than anything, while simultaneously desiring perfection, threatens to upend the film's eerie dreamworld. However, a brief brush with self-awareness only serves to solidify the character's self-obsession. An existential crisis half-realized - drowned in the shallow waters of Narcissus' well.

memory file 01

Vide-Uhhh!

Produced using a VHS VCR and a digital camcorder, Vide-Uhhh! is an experimental piece, showcasing the VCR recording itself as Jesse England takes it apart, messes with key components and even attempts to break it.

碁盤斬り

Kakunoshin Yanagida (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) was a samurai, but he was forced out of the Han due to a false accusation. He then lived in poverty with his daughter Kinu (Kaya Kiyohara). Despite being poor, he never gave up his pride and honor that he held as a samurai. Even when playing the board game Go, which is his hobby, he always plays in a fair manner. Because of a case, the truth behind the false accusation is revealed. Kakunoshin Yanagida is shaken and filled with rage. He decides to take revenge, even if it means he will be torn from his daughter.

I Should Call Her

An overly anxious man mysteriously finds himself unable to leave a bathroom.

Blue Suns

A walk in the woods become a metaphoric journey in Chloé Leriche's short film. As a solitary figure moves through the forest, the texture of stone, the movement of water, all the infinite pageantry of the natural world is captured in its richness and detail. With the help of an orchestrated soundscape and composed cinematography, Blue Suns catches the miracle and mystery of this world as it unfolds.

Chelicera

A neurodivergent man is stuck in the web of an abusive relationship, unable to free himself from his lovers grasp.

溺れるナイフ

Natsume Mochizuki works as a teen model in Tokyo, but she learns that she has to move to her father's hometown of Ukigumo. She is in a desperate situation because she can't do the things she wants to do in Ukigumo. One day, she meets Koichiro Hasegawa. He is the successor of the Hasegawa family. His family is wealthy and is respected in the area. Natsume Mochizuki and Koichiro Hasegawa become attracted to each other, but something changes their fate.

バトル・ロワイアル

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.

クローゼット

In Tokyo, lonely patrons pay to sleep ("soine") with someone. Massage, cuddle, sleep… for comfort and nothing more than the warm embrace of another. Tasuku, a young man fresh out of a relationship, starts a new job as one of the cuddlers. He's nervous and reticent, but soon finds himself with a procession of clients, male as well as female. In his unique position as their companion, he finds himself privy to the true selves they keep closeted. Tender performance and contemplative writing elevate an exploration of the human need for comfort and tenderness, while learning to be true to oneself.

Dernière St-Valentin

Flags of Our Fathers

There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This is the story of three of the six surviving servicemen - John 'Doc' Bradley, Pvt. Rene Gagnon and Pvt. Ira Hayes - who fought in the battle to take Iwo Jima from the Japanese.

裸の島

A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops.

蜘蛛巣城

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.