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One of the rare occasions where a filmmaker explores the horror and thriller genres through short storytelling, Mai Nakanishi‘s latest effort, “Confession,” was shot by cinematographer Akiko Ashizawa, known for her long-standing collaboration with Kiyoshi Kurosawa on works such as the Un Certain Regard 2008 winner “Tokyo Sonata.”

Confession is screening at Nippon Connection

The story begins with a priest reciting the Lord’s Prayer inside a Christian church. Suddenly, a woman appears behind him, urging him to turn around and telling him she wants to make a confession, right there, in the very place they both sit. She proceeds to recount her years in elementary school, when she was relentlessly bullied. Unable to confront her trauma, she found a disturbing outlet by crushing caterpillars in her hands. As the bullying escalated, so too did her violence.

Mai Nakanishi crafts a haunting work that excels particularly in its atmosphere. Several elements contribute to this effect.

“Idol is Dead” is a tongue-in-cheek horror movie, written and directed by virtually unknown Yukihiro Kato and starring the unconventional Idol group BiS, founded in 2010 by former solo artist Pour Lui. The film was released in 2012 on the occasion of their second album – also called Idol is Dead – and major record label deal with Avex Trax and was conceived originally to be included – with the CD – in a special edition. Later, in 2014 will be followed by “Idol Is Dead: Non-chan’s Propaganda Major War” another similar, film + CD operation.

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Riu (Pour Lui) works reluctantly in the provincial hostess bar Takasaki, whose motto is “Even behind the eyes we are smiling”. Dolled up and grumpy, she ponders about her failure to become an Idol and her not so good plan B as a singing hostess. One night, on the way back home with her drunk colleague Tsunko (Misa Wada...

Integration and second opportunities are only two of the ideas that director Daihachi Yoshida has included in his multifaceted latest movie. Based on Tatsuhiko Yamagami and Mikio Igarashi’s manga Hitsuji no Ki (羊の木), “The Scythian Lamb“ won the Kim Ji Seok award at the 2017 Busan International Film Festival and subsequently has been well received in many important Festivals.

Scythian Lamb is screening at the 17th New York Asian Film Festival

The title itself is cryptic and opened to many interpretations; the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary (Agnus Scythicus) is a legendary zoophyte of Central Asia, believed to grow sheep as fruit. The sheep were connected to the plant by an umbilical cord and grazed the grass around the plant. When the food was gone or – in other versions of the legend – when the cord was severed, both the plant and sheep died. An intriguing and slightly disturbing myth, just like the tone of the movie.