Battle of Okinawa in Color

By mid-1945, Hitler is dead and the war has ended in Europe. Halfway around the world, however, the fighting is still going strong on a small island in the Pacific. Okinawa was the site of the last battle of the last great war of the 20th century, with a casualty rate in the tens of thousands. Through it all, military cameramen risked their lives to film the conflict, from brutal land combat to fierce kamikaze attacks at sea. See the footage they captured and experience this intense battle the way the soldiers saw it -- in color.

Aunt Iki

Sigrid Koetse, award-winning actor and grande dame of Dutch theater, lived most of her life in the public eye and was always surrounded by a crowd of admirers. With this short documentary, filmmaker Wytse Koetse shows how his aunt spends her days nowadays, lonely in her Amsterdam home.

BABYMETAL LEGEND - 43 The Movie

In April 2023, SU-METAL (vocal, dance), MOAMETAL (scream, dance), and MOMOMETAL (scream, dance) entered a new stage as the new BABYMETAL, and since then, they have embarked on their largest-ever world tour, "BABYMETAL WORLD TOUR 2023-2024," visiting 25 countries including Japan. The 98 performances, excluding festivals and guest act appearances, recorded a total audience of over 280,000 people.

The Pageant

Every year since 2011, a unique beauty contest has been taking place in Haifa. The contestants are female survivors of the Holocaust. In the midst of this flashy spectacle, their personal traumas remain as deep as ever. There are many things about this contest that are controversial: it is organized by the right Zionist organization, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, and the dubious contest itself rises the public indignation of various speakers, including other survivors.

The Visit and a Secret Garden

Little is known about the figure of Isabel Santaló, an old artist, today fallen into oblivion. But occasionally some visitors come to her flat. Through them and the voice of Antonio López (Dream of Light, Víctor Erice), the only painter who remembers her, we shape a multifaceted film. This is a cinematic portrait, which well into the film takes a surprising turn. A film that reflects on memory and oblivion, art and the creative process; posing the question of what it means to be an artist and a woman.

Tee: The True Spirit of Okinawan Karate

Director Miho Niikura examines the modern practice of tee (Okinawan karate), and its attractiveness to Westerners—some of whom travel thousands of miles to study the venerable martial art in its birthplace, Okinawa.

Old Women's House

This film is focused on elderly women spending their last years of life in a nursing home in Krakow. The discreet heroine of the film is an elderly lady whose check-in is recorded by the camera. Thanks to this, we gain access to intimate situations, for example a sudden acceleration of the heartbeat in the middle of the night. The camera follows the women around the clock, starting from their morning prayer.

The Art of Movement

A sensual and insightful film about three elderly dancers from Budapest. Irén, Éva and Ágnes - all between 90 and 100 years old - were once part of the early modern dance movement in Hungary. Taking the role of a dance student and dialogue partner Boglárka retraces how each of the elderly dancers transformed their lives and movement practices in order to survive the major socio-political changes of the last century. The film takes us into a personal and bodily encounter with three very different personalities and their relation to their past and present. Returning to the stage and performing in their private rooms, Irén, Éva and Ágnes reveal us an incredible richness of experience stored in their bodies. A choreography of memories.

OKINAWA PHILADELPHIA

An Okinawan photographer, Mao Ishikawa was 33 years old when she crossed the ocean to Philadelphia in order to photograph the life of her friend, Myron Carr, a former US marine whom she met during his service in Okinawa in the 1970s. The subsequent photo book, “Life in Philly”, is filled with raw and vivid images, capturing the atmosphere and the culture of the predominantly African American neighborhood of downtown Philadelphia in the late 80s. This film looks back on those days, bringing Myron to remembrance as Mao and his surviving family try to find the missing pieces.

Men of the Deeps

Acclaimed documentarian John Walker catches the legendary Cape Breton Miner’s singing group The Men of the Deeps just as the last mines on the island are shut down. Featuring ravishing cinematography of Cape Breton, and plenty of music, Men of the Deeps is a deeply touching portrait of a culture that still survives despite the ultimate end of an industry, and a tribute to the men and the songs that kept things moving on the Island for almost two hundred years.

Friends

About an elderly woman in a country house, spending time with her only companion, a goat.

80.000 Schnitzel

Battering, breading, frying – Berta has prepared thousands of schnitzels in her old cast-iron pan over the years. This 83-year-old landlady’s life on the family farm with adjoining guest house in the Upper Palatinate has been marked by constant hard work. A life that her granddaughters Monika and Hannah never wanted to lead. Now, the deeply indebted farm is on the brink of collapse. Despite having an academic background and contrary to her intentions, Monika, in her early thirties, decides to give up her modern life and save the family business. The two women join forces and give themselves a year to sort out the farm’s problems.

Behind Time, Time Comes

“Behind time, time comes” interlaced with folk songs, narrates the rhythms of rural life, where time and its weight, shape and define the landscape, as well as the lives that compose it. Accompanying the reminiscences of a group of women from the parish of Dornelas, Sever do Vouga, Portugal.

Olairon: Las entrañas de Bilbao

Standing Army

Standing Army, directed by Enrico Parenti and Thomas Fazi, is an award-winning documentary film about the global network of U.S. military bases, the impact that these have on local populations, and the military-industrial complex that lies behind it.

Which Side Are You On?

The documentary features the British miners and their family experiences told through songs, poems, pictures and words.

Okinawa: The Afterburn

On April 1, 1945, the United States military launched its invasion of the main island of Okinawa, the start of a battle that was to last 12 weeks and claim the lives of some 240,000 people. This film depicts the Battle through the eyes of Japanese and American soldiers who fought each other on the same battlefield, along with Okinawa civilians who were swept up in the fighting. The film also depicts the history of discrimination and oppression forced upon Okinawa by the American and Japanese governments. Carrying up to the current controversy over the construction of a new base at Henoko, the film explores the root causes of the widespread disillusionment and anger expressed by many Okinawans. This ambitious documentary was directed by the American John Junkerman, long-term resident of Japan and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker. Okinawa: The Afterburn is a heartfelt plea for peace and an expression of deep respect for the unyielding spirit of the Okinawa people.

La mamie patineuse du lac Baïkal

From Okinawa with Love

An Okinawan photographer, Mao Ishikawa spent her early 20s working as a barmaid in establishments catered specifically to African American GIs stationed in Okinawa. “There was love,” as the tagline reads, her photography book, 『Red Flower – The Women of Okinawa』 captured the diaristic intimacy of friendships, love affairs, and wild nights shared amongst her social circle of that time.

Maura

84-year-old Maura is the guardian of a very particular tradition in danger of extinction. She is a singer of amorfinos, verses full of humor that will disappear forever with her departure.