Takashi Watanabe

In a town that seeks to attract minorities, the Koga family has lived for many years with a deaf father and brother. One day, a Kurdish family moves into the town, and a small misunderstanding leads to conflict between the two families. Called upon to mediate are Natsumi, the only hearing member of the Koga family, and Hiwa, the only one in the Kurdish family who speaks Japanese. As the two begin to develop feelings for each other, tensions between their families only deepen. Then one day, a doodle drawn by Shun, Natsumi’s younger brother, escalates the small clash into an issue that involves the entire town.

A documentary about the efforts to rebuild the Kusano Shrine in Fukushima after it's destruction during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

Post-war Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. Adults who are swayed by the US military stationed in the country and swayed by US intentions cannot afford to care about children who should be protected. The war orphans, who had no choice but to survive on their own, were used to shining shoes for American soldiers, picking up cigarettes, and sometimes committing crimes. However, at some point, they came across a "cleaning" job. They work hard instead of committing crimes and earn money by being appreciated by people. The orphans begin to regain their smiles through experiences that make them feel like they should be alive. The children started to have a modest dream of "renting a house and living" with their own earnings, but they were attacked by an even harsher reality...

A comedy about how the world of politics really works! Tsutomu is a secretary for a member of the Japanese Parliament. After the latter suffers a heart attack, his daughter Yumi is chosen to fill his place in the next election because she seems easy to control. However, her unpredictable behavior soon throws the campaign out of control.

Tourists, foreigners and outcasts converge on the streets of Osaka in this sprawling ensemble drama by Japan-based, Malaysia-born filmmaker Lim Kah Wai. His eighth feature explores the lesser-known aspects of the Asian melting pot city through the eyes and experiences of a dozen characters who struggle to find their place in society: among them a Nepali refugee with dreams of opening a restaurant, a Burmese student struggling to make ends meet while working two jobs, and a Taiwanese sex tourist who travels to meet his favorite adult video actress.

A mystery which blurs the line between fantasy and reality. When unsuccessful teen novelist (Matsu Takako), is troubled with her latest novel, her editor is chief (Kamiki Ryunosuke) helps her write a mystery set in "A Christmas Carol" in which the Scrooge (Fumiyo Kohinata) is murdered.Just as she's about to go to sleep, relieved that she's finally finished writing, she realizes, "He's not the killer! He's not the murderer!. Just as she is about to contact her editor to rewrite the story, an incident occurs in real life.

Hana, a high school girl raised in a foster home since her mother’s arrest ten years earlier, has grown into the home’s de facto oldest sister. When an 8-year-old girl arrives after suffering abuse at the hands of her mother, Hana takes her under her wing.

A busy career-woman (MEGUMI) and her mother (Miyoko Asada) have complex feelings upon learning that the estranged, abusive father of the family has been hospitalized with dementia. -JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film

Teiichi Akaba is a student at a prestigious private male high school known for producing important politicians and bureaucrats. His dream is to become the prime minster and make his own country. To help achieve his dream, he wants to become elected as his school's student council president. The elected student president receives privileges and a better chance for promotions later in the political & bureaucrat world. A power struggle takes place surrounding the student election.

Mika works as a nurse by day; by night she entertains covetous men at a girls' bar. Shinji is blind in one eye and ekes out a living as a construction worker. Young and grown-up at the same time, they both lead a lonely existence, but somehow their paths keep miraculously crossing under the Tokyo sky.

This is the fourth movie starring a tiger boy named Shimajiro.

Sora Ando (Ryousuke Ikeoka) plays soccer for his high school. He decides to quit the sport and focus on studying. Before his last soccer game, Shiki Wakamiya, a national female soccer team player, appears in front of him. She gives him some advice. After his final game, Sora Ando hears of Shiki Wakamiya’s death and her past. He decides to play soccer again and his attitude influences those around him.

Shimajiro, who helped an injured baby whale Kuu-chan, takes care of Kuu-chan who wants to return to her mother and keeps her in touch. In order to return Ku-chan, who was about to be sent to the aquarium, to her mother, Shimajiro rides on her back and sets out on a journey toward the southern sea.

A man kills someone on the battlefield and rescues someone in the devastated district.

In Sennan, Osaka, which was one of the largest concentrations of asbestos in Japan, laborers worked in a harsh environment and supported Japan's economic growth. The film begins in July 2008 with the activities of the plaintiffs' lawyers in the Sennan asbestos lawsuit, and continues through the winter of 2013.

Shimajiro to Fufu no Daibōken: Sukue! Nanairo no Hana (しまじろうと フフの だいぼうけん ～すくえ！七色の花～?, Shimajiro and Fufu's Great Adventure: Save the Seven-Colored Flower!) is a 2013 Japanese children's live action/anime film. It's the first film to feature the character Shimajirō. The film is directed by Isamu Hirabayashi and was release on March 15, 2013.

Two eight-year-old boys compete in a game of childish bravado. Ken is a Ninja, Nito a child soldier from the Congo who was forced to kill his own mother. Their naïve game addresses cruel realities, and they talk about their differences and what they have in common. Accompanied by contrasting graphics, the film explores the types of acts of which humankind is capable.

Part-time worker Hazuki lives with her younger sister, high school student Koharu, and their mother Sawa. One day they receive word that their estranged father is on his deathbed, so Sawa asks Hazuki and Koharu to visit him and take one last photo to remember him by.

A master of Japanese animation, Gisaburo Sugii talks candidly about his career and creative process in this rare and exciting piece of film.

2011 Japanese film