A Normal Life. Chronicle of a Sumo Wrestler

The diary of Takuya Ogushi, a 18 years old Japanese, who begins his new life as a sumo wrestler.

The Giants

We follow the epic lives of sumo legends who made it from humble beginnings in Hawaii, to becoming the first foreigners to rise to the highest ranks in sumo. Starting with Takamiyama who paved the path for Konishiki, Akebono, and Musashimaru who soon followed and ignited sumo fandom around the world. As diplomats for the sport and Japanese culture, these 600 pound outsiders share their hero’s journey from a small Hawaiian village, to having God-like adulation from fans across the world.

Luca

The fascinating story of Luca Prodan, Italo-Scottish Idol of Argentina's mythical Sumo Rock Band, and innovator of Latin American rock. His past as a pupil in Gordonstoun, Scotland's elitist college. His rebellious adolescence and fatal flirtation with heroin. His London years in the heart of the Punk explosion, and miraculous 're-birth' in dictatorship-ridden Argentina. South America's Ian Curtis... with a twist.

The Story of Sumo

Sumo wrestling is the national sport of Japan dating back over 1500 years. The huge but graceful wrestlers proceed with precision and great formality through the elaborate ceremonies and ornamentation. That doesn't stop crowds from going wild as the two huge wrestlers dressed only in loincloths battle each other. There is nothing crude about the fight; it proceeds in a series of infinitesimal moves made with as much power as the individual wrestler can summon. When one wrestler's foot is out of the ring, or any part of his body touches the ground, the other has won. A bout rarely lasts even a minute. Japanese schoolboys learn Sumo as their North American peers learn hockey and baseball.

Maïnoumi, une saison dans la vie d'un lutteur de sumo

National Geographic: Inside Sumo's Ultimate Clash

We meet the highest ranked sumo wrestler, Mongolian Asashoryu. and delve into the hidden culture of this ancient sport. Sumo. More than a sport in Japan, it's a religion. Its history goes back 2000 years, with time-honored Shinto rituals and ceremonies originating from the ancient martial art called "Tegoi". Crashing into this tradition-bound world is Mongolian "outsider" Asashoryu. He's a rule-breaker. A rebel. And much to the chagrin of the sumo-crazy Japanese, he's their reigning champion. To add insult to injury, the Americans are even beefing up to join the sport. And now, for the first time in nearly 15 years, Japanese Grand Sumo is coming to ground zero of the outsider invasion. Hawaii - birthplace to Sumo's first foreign-born grand champion, Akebono. Asashoryu is not any Sumo wrestler. He's the "yokozuna" - or highest ranked. The Muhammad Ali of Sumo. With permission from...

Memoirs of a Geisha

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

Sumo

When Shiva finds an unconscious stranger on the beach, he unknowingly begins a journey that leads to Japan's sumo rings. With truth and loyalty, he helps his friend reclaim his identity and honor, showing that bonds of the heart can rise above borders and power.

Summer Days with Coo

A small, lone Kappa miraculously survives over 200 years into modern day Japan, when he is found by young Koichi. Coo, who is secretly adopted by Koichi's family, searches with his new human friend for unpopulated places in hopes of finding any remaining of his kind.

A Matter of Size

Four overweight friends from the Israeli city of Ramle are fed up of dieting and the dieting club they belong to. When Herzl (155 kilos), the main protagonist, loses his job as a cook and starts working as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant in Ramle he discovers the world of Sumo where large people such as himself are honored and appreciated. Through Kitano (60 kilos), the restaurant owner, a former Sumo coach in Japan (who is supposedly hiding from the Yakuza in Israel), he falls in love with a sport involving "two fatsos in diapers and girly hairdos". Herzl wants Kitano to be their coach but Kitano is reluctant - they first have to earn their spurs. "A MATTER OF SIZE" is a comedy about a ‘coming out’ of a different kind - overweight people learning to accept themselves.

The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine

In the wake of the social unrest caused by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, two female sumo athletes, Kiku and Tokachi, and an anarchist group called the Guillotine Society, spark an unlikely connection.

Ushi Must Marry

Ushi Hirosaki has to marry according to Japanese tradition before her 30th birthday. Because time is running out, her family decides she has to marry a huge sumo wrestler. A rather unfortunate combination, so Ushi wants to look for a nicer candidate herself. She travels halfway around the world to find her dream husband. Along the way she does valiant efforts, for example to learn table manners and to lose her Japanese accent.

Secret Society

Daisy is the love of Ken's life - she is also large... and very pretty... and on the dole. But Ken is a dreamer, all his dreams to make a fast buck ending up where they started - as dreams. With the rent unpaid, the bailiffs at the door and Ken's dreams in tatters, Daisy sets out to bring home the bacon and gets a job in the local factory. There she meets Marlene and half a dozen other large women who are all united in a secret passion - Sumo wrestling! Ken doesn't know what's hit him.

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank

A hard-on-his-luck hound finds himself in a town full of cats in need of a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain's wicked plot to wipe their village off the map. With help from a reluctant mentor, our underdog must assume the role of town samurai and team up with the villagers to save the day.

China Town

Three childhood friends Mathukutty, Binoy and Zachariah re-unite in Goa to fight a Casino don who was responsible for the deaths of their fathers.

My Dick Was Penetrated

Manila city. Fernando Suzuki noticed the popularity of sumo in Japan and decided to make a profit by holding sumo classes locally. They are recruiting young people who want to succeed as sumo wrestlers in Japan. Philnando can't stop smiling at the unexpected number of applicants. They immediately start a training camp, but it is difficult to teach sumo to young people who have never tightened a mawashi, let alone how to step on a shiko. As Fernando watched the sweaty young men take a shower, he noticed one of them, Enrico. He immediately called her to his room...

Wakanohana: The Story of the Devil of the Dohyō

A film about sumo wrestler Wakanohana Kanji I. He was nicknamed "Devil of the dohyo" due to his excellent fighting spirit and endurance.

Children Hand in Hand

Animal Sumo

It’s sumo time! Plenty of animals come together for a rousing set of battles in the ring, but only one will prove victorious. Will it be the duck, the monkey, or maybe even the elephant that will win the day? Only time and skill will tell!

The Feeling of Being Close to You

This autobiographical film documents an attempt at healing the trauma of touch between mother and child, as the filmmaker and their mother talk openly for the first time about the intergenerational trauma and abuse within their lives. Present day phone conversations are juxtaposed with archival VHS footage, creating a connection between the past and a re-write for the future.

East of Main Street: Asians Aloud

In celebration of Asian Heritage Month, HBO presents a collection of perspectives from a diverse group of Asian Americans.

Main Street

A small town in Spain, October 1955. Isabel, a 35-year-old dreamer who feels like a failure because she is not married yet, becomes the new target of a group of soulless pranksters.

Brent Weinbach: Appealing to the Mainstream

Brent Weinbach is weird. In this show, Brent attempts to adjust his quirky personality so that he can fit in with the world around him, which would be valuable to his career as a comedian and entertainer. Through an absurd and abstract discourse, Brent explores the ways in which he can appeal to a broader, mainstream audience, so that ultimately, he can become successful in show business.

Maine-Ocean Express

"Maine-Ocean" is the name of a train that rides from Paris to Saint-Nazaire (near the ocean). In that train, Dejanira, a Brazilian, has a brush with the two ticket inspectors. Mimi, another traveler and also a lawyer, helps her. The four of them will meet together later and live a few shifted adventures with a strange-speaking sailor (Mimi's client).

Disney Presents: Main Street Electrical Parade - Farewell Season

Catch the spark after dark at Disneyland Park. And say farewell to one of the Magic Kingdom's most celebrated traditions - The Main Street Electrical Parade. Where else, but in The Main Street Electrical Parade, could you see an illuminated 40-foot-long fire-breathing dragon? And hear the energy of its legendary melody one last time? It's unforgettable after-dark magic that will glow in your heart long after the last float has disappeared.

Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?

Dr Samir is an absolute charmer when it comes to women, but he poses as a married man to keep them at bay. Love becomes a three-ring-circus for him after he ends up tangled in his web of lies with his girlfriend Sonia and pretend wife Naina.

East of Main Street: Milestones

The Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple had an opportunity to take part in an episode of East of Main Street, an HBO documentary series that has been produced for the past three years to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. This year’s episode, Milestones, focuses on how different groups of Asian Americans mark the milestones throughout their lives.

Liberation: Direction of the Main Blow

This five part epic war drama gives a dramatized detailed account of Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany during world war two. Each of the five parts represents a separate major eastern front campaign.

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu

Rahul and Riana meet each other for the first time, get drunk, and awake the next morning to find that they have gotten legally married to each other.

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream

From 1970-1977, six low budget films shown at midnight transformed the way we make and watch films.

Ni Main Sass Kuttni 2

A vengeful mother-in-law locks horns with her daughter-in-law in a twisted tale laced with dark comedy, political intrigue, and chilling thrills.

Main Atal Hoon

Statesman and poet Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee's eloquence and vision shaped India's destiny. A look at his remarkable life as he led his country through a challenging period of change and development as the 10th Prime Minister of India.

Maine Pyar Kiya

After Suman's father leaves her in the care of another family while he travels abroad, she falls in love with Prem. However, in order to for them to marry, Prem has to prove to Suman's father that he is not the same as his own dad.

The Shop on Main Street

In a small town in Nazi-occupied Slovakia during World War II, decent but timid carpenter Tono is named "Aryan comptroller" of a button store owned by an old Jewish widow, Rozalie. Since the post comes with a salary and standing in the town's corrupt hierarchy, Tono wrestles with greed and guilt as he and Rozalie gradually befriend each other. When the authorities order all Jews in town to be rounded up, Tono faces a moral dilemma unlike any he's known before.

Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara

Once known for his intellectual prowess, a retired professor (Anupam Kher) begins experiencing memory gaps and periods of forgetfulness. But while he tries to laugh it off, it soon becomes clear that the symptoms are a sign of a more serious illness, prompting his grown daughter (Urmila Matondkar) to move in as his caretaker. Meanwhile, as his mind regresses, he recalls a traumatic childhood memory involving the death of Mahatma Gandhi.

Laurence Anyways

The story of an impossible love between a woman named Fred and a transgender woman named Laurence who reveals her inner desire to become her true self.

Main Aurr Mrs Khanna

Three people, each having different aspirations from life, are caught in a tangle of emotions and don’t know the way out. There’s a husband and wife with love eroding from their life. And there’s a single, happy-go-lucky dude who falls in love with the wife.

Werckmeister Harmonies

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

Test

San Francisco, 1985. Two opposites attract at a modern dance company. Together, their courage and resilience are tested as they navigate a world full of risks and promise, against the backdrop of a disease no one seems to know anything about.

Next Exit, Main Street

In an effort to discover the depth of the country's polarization, four recent college graduates decide to travel across the United States gathering stories encompassing the spectrum of life in America. Their goal is to find the human stories behind the nation's social and political schism, proving that Americans are not tied together by political identity, geographical location or belief systems, but primarily by love, hope and dreams - universal truths.