Social & External
The people behind it
"Heart of the Country" is the story of Shinichi Yasutomo, the extraordinary principal of a rural elementary school in Kanayama, central Hokkaido, Northern Japan. Yasutomo is a man driven by his vision for learning and his passion for educating the heart as well as the mind. The film follows Yasutomo, his teachers and staff, students and their families over the course of one entire school year. The film is also the story of the families of Kanayama. Parents and elders of this once impoverished town embrace Yasutomo's vision, but not without wary glances back to the past. This small community, bound together by love for its children, is also defined by its journey through the cultural upheavals of postwar Japan.
A son films his elderly mother as she cares for his ailing father on his deathbed.
The Real Story of Fake Democracy. Filmed over three years in five countries, FREEDOM FOR THE WOLF is an epic investigation into the new regime of illiberal democracy. From the young students of Hong Kong, to a rapper in post-Arab Spring Tunisia and the viral comedians of Bollywood, we discover how people from every corner of the globe are fighting the same struggle. They are fighting against elected leaders who trample on human rights, minorities, and their political opponents.
How the Japanese process American pop culture and make it their own -- a mind-bending odyssey through cultural mixing.
A 49 minutes documentary on the footsteps of 87 years old "Grandma" Kuniko Shiiba, perpetuating a 4000 years traditional and sustainable form of agriculture. Shohei SHIBATA followed her a whole year through the forest and its medicinal plants, fire spirits and mountains.
In Japan, more than four million young people survive by taking on precarious jobs. They are called “freeters”. The film gives voice to these “discard-after-use” workers, who regard their situation with both lucidity and desperation, as well as to ex-freeters who have become activists in the fight against exclusions.
Pelican, a bakery located at Asakusa, Tokyo, becomes crowded every morning. There are only two types of bread sold. It looks ordinary but meet a bakery that has been loved for 74 years with a taste you won't get tired of even if you eat it everyday!
A 3 hour Japanese documentary & Live gig video of the Osaka Noise/Weirdo Rock scene in 1994. Includes Boredoms & side projects (UFO or DIE, Hanatarash, Concrete Octopus), Masonna, Incapacitants & lots more! Yamatsuka Eye gives an interview in his apartment and plays a toy guitar in his bath tub.
This documentary started as part of a photography project about the indigenous Ainu population in northern Japan, portraying people from tightly knit communities. They feel deeply connected by their culture and tradition. With gorgeous pictures, the directors explore how different generations of Ainu reflect on their identity after centuries of oppression.
A documentary film telling the story of true friendship and commitment to Japan’s recovery by the international community following the Great East Japan Earthquake. Many of these people dropped what they were doing and dedicated themselves to Japan’s recovery. Many of these them even took it upon themselves to establish non-profit organizations aimed at connecting with and rebuilding Tohoku and its communities.
A history of baseball in Japan told by three Journalists from different parts of the world .
All food can be adulterated. More discreet than a drug cartel, more elusive than arms dealers, criminals have taken over food. Olive oil, fish, meat, spices, no department escapes their juicy traffic. A jackpot estimated in Europe at 30 billion euros enriches a new kind of mafia every year. Organized crime is selling altered products in restaurants, supermarkets and all food shops in the European Union. Their secret is to replace an ingredient with a cheaper one. Who are these new traffickers? What are their methods of operation?
A Day in TOKYO in 1968, Nostalgic bygone era. Planned by Japan National Tourism Organization. Produced by Koga Production. This film was produced to explain Tokyo for foreign tourists.
The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.
Documentary about a stay in Japan.
A group of friends come up with the brilliant idea of testing the non-existent drink known as "Tea Coffee".
A modern geisha travels through Japan trying to find a job as entertainer, and ends up by finding love and a job as ama, a pearl diver.
Samurai Japan won the 2023 World Baseball Classic for the first time in 14 years, and went all the way to the final undefeated. In addition to the never-before-seen footage of the team, the film also includes interviews with Manager Hideki Kuriyama, players, coaches, and team staff. What is the truth behind the glory and the suffering of the people involved?
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented.
The Adamant is a unique day-care centre. A floating structure located on the Seine in the heart of Paris, it welcomes adults suffering from mental disorders, offering the kind of care that grounds them in time and space and helps them to recover or keep up their spirits. The team running it tries to resist the deterioration and dehumanisation of psychiatry as best as they can.
Alexander McQueen's rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen's own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
The film is based on interviews with 2,000 women from 50 countries, and covers the status of women all over the world. The topics covered include forced marriages, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, acid attacks, motherhood, sexuality, menstruation, education and the professional success of women.
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
Vulgar, taunting texts blow up the phones of a teen and her boyfriend. Who's sending them — and why? This twisty documentary reveals the shocking answer.
In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.
A non-narrated documentary following the lovesome lives of four infants from birth to their first birthday. The babies featured are two from rural areas: Ponijao from Opuwo, Namibia, and Bayar from Bayanchandmani, Mongolia, as well as two from urban areas: Mari from Tokyo, Japan, and Hattie from San Francisco, USA.
Film adaptation of French economist Thomas Piketty's ground-breaking global bestseller of the same name: an eye-opening journey through wealth and power.
Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
SEDUCED AND ABANDONED combines acting legend Alec Baldwin with director James Toback as they lead us on a troublesome and often hilarious journey of raising financing for their next feature film. Moving from director to financier to star actor, the two players provide us with a unique look behind the curtain at the world's biggest and most glamourous film festival, shining a light on the bitter-sweet relationship filmmakers have with Cannes and the film business. Featuring insights from directors Martin Scorsese, 'Bernando Bertolucci' and Roman Polanski; actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain and a host of film distribution luminaries.
Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimetre film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.
After another 7 year wait, director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born children from Seven Up! and 7 Plus Seven. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.
An intimate portrait of the small shops and shopkeepers of the Rue Daguerre in Paris, a picturesque street that has been the filmmaker’s home for more than 50 years.
Legendary journalist Gay Talese unmasks a motel owner who spied on his guests for decades. But his bombshell story soon becomes a scandal of its own.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Unravel the case of Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt, whose child abuse arrest with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke exposed a twisted tale of manipulation.
