Light Ahead(2010)

Love & Pop(ja)

Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates. Hiromi plunges deeper into this world to raise money for an expensive ring.

Teen Spirit(en)

A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.

The Colors Within(ja)

Totsuko is a high school student with the ability to see the 'colors' of others. Colors of bliss, excitement, and serenity, plus a color she treasures as her favorite. Kimi, a classmate at her school, gives off the most beautiful color of all. Although she doesn't play an instrument, Totsuko forms a band with Kimi and Rui, a quiet music enthusiast they meet at a used bookstore in a far corner of town. As they practice at an old church on a remote island, music brings them together, forming friendships and stirring affections.

Angel Guts: Red Classroom(ja)

When Muraki, a porn magazine editor, watches a blue film depicting a gang rape in a school, he becomes obsessed with the lead actress. Quite by chance, whilst looking to reserve a location for a shoot, he happens to encounter her at a love hotel where she works as a receptionist. Her name is Nami and she reluctantly agrees to speak with him, and confesses that it was her in the film. Then, Muraki tells Nami that he wants her to model for him.

Perfect Days(ja)

Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on finding beauty in the world.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus(en)

In 1958 New York Diane Arbus is a housewife and mother who works as an assistant to her husband, a photographer employed by her wealthy parents. Respectable though her life is, she cannot help but feel uncomfortable in her privileged world. One night, a new neighbor catches Diane's eye, and the enigmatic man inspires her to set forth on the path to discovering her own artistry.

Intentions of Murder(ja)

The neglected common-law wife of a Japanese librarian is repeatedly harassed by a young man with a heart condition who seduces her with the prospect of a better life.

The Piano Forest(ja)

Shuhei Amamiya transfers to Moriwaki Elementary filled with hope and ambition. But it doesn't take long before he gets picked on by the class bullies, and gets involved in a dare to play the mysterious piano in the forest. Igniting his meeting with an equally enigmatic child, Kai Ichinose, who seems to be the only one capable getting sound out of the thought to be broken piano.

Orange(ja)

A girl mysteriously receives advice from her future self and as a result her group of friends, along with a newly arrived, troubled classmate, learn how to be better friends and a better community.

When Marnie Was There(ja)

Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.

Sakuran(ja)

Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.

Café Lumière(ja)

In a distinctly contemporary Tokyo that looks backwards to the city’s disappearing past, Yoko is a writer investigating the life of a modernist composer of the 1930s. She is pregnant by a man she does not want to marry and has found a kindred spirit in a used bookstore owner who aids her research.

Pastoral: To Die in the Country(ja)

A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.

Nowhere Boy(en)

A rebellious teenager, future Beatle John Lennon lives with his Aunt Mimi in working-class mid-1950s Liverpool, England. Mimi's husband suddenly dies, and John spies his mother Julia at the funeral. Despite Mimi's misgivings, John intends to have a real relationship with his mother. Julia introduces him to popular music and the banjo and, though a family conflict looms, young John is inspired to form his own band.

Paprika(ja)

When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient's dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist can stop it and recover it before damage is done: Paprika.

Gracie(en)

A teenager faces an uphill battle when she fights to give women the opportunity to play competitive soccer.

Tokyo Decadence(ja)

A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie(ja)

Sakura Kinomoto, a Card Captor, wins a game of chance and is awarded a trip to Hong Kong, along with her best friend Tomoyo and her rival, Syaoran Li. It turns out that the ancient rival of Clow Reed, the creator of the mysterious and powerful Clow Cards, summoned them, and she's out for revenge. A battle ensues, and secrets are revealed about Clow Reed's shady past and Sakura's connection to him.

Suzaku(ja)

Depicts the life of a family in a remote Japanese timber village. Family head Tahara Kozo lives with his mother Sachiko, wife Yasuyo, nephew Eisuke and young daughter Michiru. Economic recession and failed development plans cause tragedy in the family.

Harmonium(ja)

Toshio hires Yasaka to work in his workshop. But then this old acquaintance, who has just been released from prison, begins to meddle in Toshio's family life.

All About Lily Chou-Chou(ja)

Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract music of pop star Lily Chou-Chou.

The Tale of Zatoichi(ja)

The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.

The Tale of Zatoichi Continues(ja)

Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love.

Japan Sinks(ja)

In the aftermath of a major earthquake, scientists predict that Japan will sink into the sea. As further disasters follow, politicians plead with other countries to take refugees, while scientists struggle to save Japan itself.

Anadina(es)

Just outside her apartment, Ana finds Dina, a naked, mysterious and confused young woman. Ana invites Dina in and calls a couple of persons so that they can meet her. Pamela and Raymundo, human traffickers, show up to negotiate the buying of Dina, who claims that she comes from the future and that she is actually on a mission to investigate how far human evil has grown in Mexico by the year 2015. The young woman provokes an unsolvable dispute between the traffickers, who end up dead.

Mera Lahoo(hi)

Brothers Dharam and Govinda live with their widowed mother. Dharam marries Pavitra while her lookalike sister falls in love with Govinda and this creates a misunderstanding between the brothers.

Sex, Party and Lies(es)

A youth group is preparing for what will be the summer of their life, including secrets, lies, sex, confusion, evenings and holidays.

The Way of Drama(ja)

The Way of Drama unfolds in the world of kabuki in Osaka, but also addresses the politics of popular culture and the rivalry between theatrical styles like those used by amateur actors to dramatise contemporary events.

Stoned(en)

A chronicle of the sordid life and suspicious death of Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones, who was found in the bottom of his swimming pool weeks after being let go from the band.

Gypsy(en)

Gypsy's mother Rose dreams of a life in show business for her daughters, but Louise becomes a huge burlesque star. Stage musical loosely based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee.

Artifice: Loose Fellowship and Partners(en)

Immersed in the underbelly of Brooklyn, NY, a bargain between two gangsters gets cuckoo when one of the gangsters hires a voodoo worker to overthrow his rival.

The Pledge to Megumi(ja)

A film depicting the story of Yokota Megumi who was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977.

Ucha Dar Babe Nanak Da(pa)

Shamsher Singh (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) is a pure-hearted, selfless and God-fearing man. The only sad part in his life is that he is childless. One day, while returning from a pilgrimage, he and his wife, Bansa (Tanuja), find an abandoned child. They decide to bring up the child and name him Gurdit. Later, the couple has a child of their own. Both siblings grow to manhood, loyal to each other until a woman drives a wedge between them.

Aderyn Papur... and Pigs Might Fly(en)

A boy living in underdeveloped Welsh village hopes for a better time of his homeland when seeing the two Japaneese businessmen with the apparent intentions to build a factory there.

Siew Lup(zh)

Mia, an ex-prostitute, is trapped in a loveless marriage with the abusive Quan (Sunny Pang, who also stars in Headshot in this year’s Festival lineup), a butcher who runs a roast meat shop. When she meets sensitive funeral director Wu, their passion for one another escalates into an affair. But the path to true love is fraught with jealousy, forcing someone to make a deadly move.

My Name Ain't Johnny(pt)

The true story of João Guilherme Estrella ("Johnny"), a young middle-class bon vivant who became a big-time cocaine dealer in Rio de Janeiro in the early 1990s.

Revenge of the Ninja(en)

A peaceful ex-ninja's life shatters when his son's kidnapping forces him back into violence amid an American-Japanese criminal drug war.

Ushijima the Loan Shark Part 3(ja)

Sawamura, a contract part-timer dragged into a multi-million yen internet business, and Kamo, an office worker who lavished money on a beautiful club hostess, arrive at Cowcow Finance, the office of black-market lender Ushijima.

Garantía personal(es)

Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice(ja)

Fearless Edo-period police inspector Hanzo Itami, nicknamed The Razor, has developed his own unique way of extracting information for his inquiries. His first adventure sees him investigating his superior officer's mistress, whom he suspects of having ties with a reputed criminal on the loose.