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Considering his output, including “Noroi: The Curse,” “Grotesque,” “A Beast in Love,” and “Safe Word”, Koji Shiraishi has become synonymous with extreme Japanese cinema in more ways than one, while boasting a filmography approaching one hundred titles. In his latest short, he returns to his J-horror roots with “Red Spider Lilies: The Ascension,” which screened at Busan Shorts and most recently at Fantasia. It draws on the concept of shuky·nisei—a buzzword in Japan referring to second-generation followers of a religion, who adopt their parents’ beliefs without question.

The piece immediately sets its tone, as a terrified woman in white lies sleeping on a tatami mattress inside a traditional Japanese house until a massive nail suddenly impales her eye. She is introduced as one of three sisters: Kotoko, the victim; Nana, seemingly the responsible one; and Ami, with a childlike demeanor. The next day, a rushed call from Nana...

“Lonely Glory” is the second feature film by Nihon University graduate Sakon Keitaro. The family drama follows his debut feature “Tokyo Butterfly”, which was in the Official Selection at the Florence Film Awards 2020.

Lonely Glory is streaming as part of Jff+ Independent Cinema

Due to harassment accusations, Haruka, played by Kokoro Morita, loses her high-raking position at a venture company. Haruka returns home, where she finds herself struggling with her sister and two brothers about the future of her late parent's house. She wants to sell the house to start a new business, but the other siblings oppose the idea and are eager to continue the small restaurant located on the ground floor.

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Backed by the production efforts of “Tokyo New Cinema”, Keitaro Sakon shines a light on the critical situation of local Japanese businesses. The subject of family drama offers a wide range of comedic...

It has been 50 years since the island of Okinawa was placed back under Japanese administration. And it is almost 70 years since Central Park Avenue in the city of Koza was bestowed its famous name. Koza's story is closely intertwined with the US military, which shapes the life of the islanders. Here the cultures, American nonchalance and cosmopolitanism intersect with the Japanese way of life and ancient Okinawan customs. A unique blend of East and West in the world. The Rise and Fall of Park Avenue and the 10 Rooms focuses on this cultural melting point. Four perspectives on the mysterious city of Koza, four very different stories, shaped by the people who go about their daily lives on this street, with their small and large worries. (Source: Japan Film Fest Hamburg 2023)

Directed by Tsukasa Kishimoto (Okinawan Blue), this movie premiered last year in Okinawa and will screen at the Japan Film...

Tsukasa Kishimoto's “The Rise and Fall of Park Avenue and the 10 Rooms” is fairly standard for an ensemble piece in that it offers a variety of genres across its short stories, centred around a fashionable location. However, working with a limited budget means that this lacks what most films of this type aim for: style and glamour. So, does it have enough substance?

The Rise and Fall of Park Avenue and the 10 Rooms is screening at Japan FilmFest Hamburg

Set around Koza Gate Street, Okinawa, the story revolves around a boutique hotel, where locals come and go at the bar, or even rent a room: A hard-luck musician has his dreams realized and crushed in an instant; a singer returns home from Tokyo for a school reunion; a gambling addict plays without limits; and two corrupt police get in too deep. The hotel has ten rooms, though we will...

The feeling of being trapped, like love, knows no gender. Japanese director Momoko Ando explores this complexity by interspersing unexpected displays of magical realism with a curious reading of romance and sexuality in her directorial debut “Kakera – A Piece of Our Life,” an official entry to the Raindance and Stockholm international film festivals in 2009.

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“Kakera” is based on the manga “Love Vibes” by Erika Sakurazawa. It focuses on Haru, a college student stuck in an an affair with a man who dominates all aspects of their relationship. The monotony of their arrangement gets broken when she meets Riko, a bisexual prosthetist whose blunt approach at life and love gives Haru an opening to leave her boyfriend and their cycle of toxicity.

Haru and Riko are each other’s opposites, both in the inside and the outside. While Riko dons herself in grays and browns, Riko...

[This review initially appeared when the film screened at Germany's Nippon Connection and with the film appearing this weekend at the Shinsedai Festival in Toronto we present it again now..]

If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...

A moment here to say a very public well done to Shinsedai Festival organizers Chris MaGee and Jasper Sharp. The complete festival lineup and schedule have been announced today and it's a stellar, diverse lineup of titles. Here's the announcement of the second block of titles:

The anticipation has been building for the past few weeks, but now we are very proud to announce the full line-up and screening schedule for the 2nd annual Shinsedai Cinema Festival taking place at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto. Joining the already announced screenings of Kenji Mizoguchi's silent classic "The Water Magician" (with live musical accompaniment by Toronto's Vowls), the Canadian Premiere of Gen Takahashi's police epic "Confessions of a Dog" and the Toronto Premiere of the ward-winning concert documentary "Live Tape" are:

Kakera: A Piece Of Our Life (Toronto Premiere/ Opening Night Film): Haru (Hikari Mitsushima) is a...

[Our thanks go out to Chris MaGee and Marc Saint-Cyr at the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow for sharing their coverage of the 2010 Nippon Connection Film Festival.]

If there is one "buzz" film at this year's Nippon Connection it would have to be Momoko Ando's same sex romance "Kakera: A Piece of Your Life". The debut film by the daughter of actor/ director Eiji Okuda (Shoujyo, ) and TV personality and essayist Kazu Ando got its international premiere at last year's Raindance Film Festival in London in September, was quickly snatched up by UK distributor Third Window Films shortly after, and by the end of the year it was being included on a number of Top Ten Best of 2009 critics lists. When any film is so quickly showered with ovations I always get a little suspicious, and going into a film festival I always prioritize my "must-see" list not by buzz, but by films that I may never get a chance to see again, so with that in mind "Kakera" was somewhere on my "maybe" list -...

A lesbian love story from Japan. By Xan Brooks

Kakera is an off-kilter lesbian love story, laid out in crisp, formal compositions. Riko (Eriko Nakamura) is a self-possessed prosthetics engineer who likes girls "because they feel better"; Haru (Hikari Mitsushima) the wide-eyed student who submits to her attentions. Their ensuing romance is woozy and languid and, like many romances, drags on a shade beyond its natural lifespan. Even so, writer-director Momoko Andô conjures up a lovely sense of everyday strangeness - so much so that when Riko throws up a water bottle that turns into an owl, I found myself nodding along as though this were the most natural thing in the world.

Rating: 3/5

DramaWorld cinemaXan Brooks

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