Focusing on female empowerment, we’ve selected short films depicting the “Beauty of Japan” from the perspective of female directors.
Miyuki Matsuda and Taichi Saotome / 29:00 / Japan / Dance Movie / 2021
In ancient Japan, dolls were made as a token for people to bring happiness. The etymology of “inori” comes from “i” for breathing, and “nori” for life. In other words, prayer is about breathing and living. Breath that pumps the heart, to breathe, to struggle with oneself, and to proclaim your conduct to heaven. Beautiful dolls materialize from the repugnant side of human beings. This doll is both a symbol of God and of one’s wishes. Dolls dance fervently in the beauty of nature in the four seasons, and through the life of flowers in the breeze, the life in water, the life in fire, and in payer, expresses the ancient Japanese people who dedicate themselves to traditional festivals.
Tune SUGIHARA / 13:45 / Japan / Animation / 2014
Higashiyama, the home of the foxes, has become an illegal dumping ground. This results in the decrease of small animals, which the mother fox relied on as prey to feed her children. The fox comes down from the mountains in search of food to feed her children, and comes upon a human village. This story is told in the Ainu language, which has been deemed a critically endangered language by UNESCO.
Ema Ryan Yamazaki / 19:00 / USA Japan / Documentary / 2020
An emotional journey into the fateful history of The Rickshaw Man, which despite being chopped down by two governments, remains an irreplaceable work of humanist cinema from Japan’s darkest period. Narrated by Lily Franky
Hiroki Inoue / 19:56 / Japan / Drama / 2021
“I don’t like to be told I’m beautiful.”
Before going to Tokyo from her hometown of Mishima, Fukushima Prefecture, Kyoko stopped by at Tsuchiyu Onsen and was handed an “old woman’s skin.” This allowed her transform herself into an old woman, enabling her to find out what’s truly in the heart of the man she cares about …