News & Reports

We bring you a collection of film reviews by Laura MacGregor, a Canada-born university professor living in Japan who researches short films!

Red Heels by Alina Baitokova

From its opening moments, the film sets a quiet, isolated tone. A grandmother beats blankets on a clothesline while Jamal, a young girl in a red dress, sits by a stream, decorating her nails with red flower petals. Red (her favorite color?) stands out against the otherwise muted landscape.

Out of nowhere, Jamal’s citified mother, decked out in a fashionable dress and red heels, appears for a visit. The girl, shy at first, warms to this mother when she is presented with a pretty sweater, which she adores.

After a shared day of fun, mother and daughter go to sleep, the girl cuddled in her mother’s embrace. Morning comes and mother is gone. Grandma is nowhere either. Jamal heads to the stream, but there are no flowers. In this solitude, she stands alone. It’s a simple, moving story about connection, loss, and the quiet weight of absence.

The Parting Day

The Parting Day  by Hiroki Ogata

The parting day. The Japanese perspective on death and the experiences of the ones left behind. Reincarnation. Afterlife. The view from a crab’s eye. The view of life after death.

Accomplished director, Hiroki Ogata, with impeccable timing and pacing, has shaped space and time into a highly thought inspiring cinematic experience. You will part from this film at the end but it will linger with you long after.

Tokyo Tourism Paradox by Hiroki Yamaguchi

What does overtourism mean to you? Are you a victim or a perpetrator? Watch how James, a foreign tourist in Tokyo in 2040, searches for the “real” Tokyo, but instead, meets the paradox that people like him have created.

Generative AI seamlessly brings James’ quest to “life.” With captivating music (fed by Yuki Kaze algorithms?) and fauxstalgia protocols, the film will make you think about what lies ahead.

Tokyo Submarine by Ryosuke Takahashi 

Winner of the Cinematic Tokyo Competition Best Short Award/Governor of Tokyo Award
How a chance encounter gives a man a new outlook on life and finally have some fun along the way. Watching this film may do the same for you. It will definitely make you
feel happy. Don’t miss.

The Barber Shop by Diem Camille

Shibuya Diversity Program

Can a haircut define a person?

A young man, raised in foster care, hopes so, but as he waits his turn at a Black barber shop in Copenhagen for a new look that he hopes will make him “Black enough,” the people he encounters help him begin to see himself through a new lens lens. A film is about acceptance and being who you are.