Breakthrough for Change(2015)

The Broken Commandment(ja)

At the strong insistence of his father, Ushimatsu Segawa conceals his origins from a “buraku” area of low-class “untouchables,” leaving his hometown to serve as an elementary school teacher where he excels and is loved by his students. But he constantly struggles with the secret of his low-birth status and is disturbed by all of the discrimination levelled upon his class. It prevents him from pursuing a romance with Shiho, whom he meets at the temple where he resides, but who descends from a samurai family.

Bittersweet Rainbow(it)

Nicolò, 24, returns home after 7 years. Through a path made of affections and memories his love story with Claudio and the reason for his escape will come back to him.

Shin 信(ja)

Haunted by bad luck, two friends learn to trust in the world again and take their destiny into their own hands.

The Blue Hearts(ja)

Six directors picked a favorite song by Japanese punk rock band "The Blue Hearts" and made a short film inspired by the song.

Spark(ja)

Tokunaga is an unpopular comedian. He meets a senior comedian, Kamiya, who holds a strong faith in comedy. They struggle to move forward as comedians.

Flower and Sword(ja)

In the late 16th century, after the death of Nobunaga Oda, Hideyoshi Toyotomi takes power. The age of war is about to end, but Hideyoshi Toyotomi's rule makes life difficult for the people. Monk Senko Ikenobo is a master of flower arrangement. He prays for peace in the world and tries to give hope to the people with flower arrangement. He becomes good friends with Rikyu. Rikyu is a monk and a politician. He has the most profound influence on chanoyu. Rikyu is forced to commit hara-kiri by Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s order. Monk Senko Ikenobo challenges Hideyoshi Toyotomi.

The Dark Maidens(ja)

Set in an academy for daughters of the rich and powerful, this murder mystery involves six girls with a dark secret. Literature club chairman Itsumi Shiraishi, has fallen to her death from the school roof. Rumours soon circulate that one of the members of the literature club is the culprit. New chairman and friend of the victim, Sayuri Sumikawa, holds a meeting and asks each member to recount their whereabouts at the time of Itsumi’s death. Who is telling a lie and what really happened to Itsumi?

Cycle Lane(en)

Running late for a job interview, the last thing Christian wants is a heated argument with a frustrated cyclist...

Sweet-Smelling Movie: Be a Light to the World(ja)

A coming-of-age story about a high-school girl who wants to use magic, featuring the 11-member experimental band Vampillia

O Que Aconteceu com Catarina(pt)

Moon Garden(en)

A comatose five-year-old girl journeys through a dark industrial dreamscape, following her mother's voice on a transistor radio to find her way back to consciousness.

The Sea Is All I Know(en)

When an estranged couple come to the aid of their dying daughter, the experience sends them spiraling into spiritual crisis and brutal heartbreak.

Nothing in Return(es)

One summer, Dario flees the hellish environment of his home. Luismi, unconditional friend, a poor devil with pretensions of winning, and Antonia, an old woman who collects abandoned his motorcar furniture, become his new family. Three generations living together in a city too big to be alone.

A Certain Killer(ja)

A former soldier, reduced to working at a restaurant post-war, becomes a contract killer for the yakuza gangs he's in contact with.

The Refugee(ja)

A Chinese medical student named Gan Shosho finds himself cut off from his homeland as he is studying in Japan during the outbreak of the war. Despite his difficult circumstances, he finds love in the form of Sachiko and the two marry. They later travel to Nanjing to live a new life together where Sachiko and Shaochang cooperate with the Japanese-backed government. Their ultimate hope is to secure peace but their idealism is not enough to keep them together through brutal times and with the end of the war the two find themselves facing a divorce... --Osaka Asian Film Festival

Lady Samurai(en)

This is the story of Kaori Kawabuchi, a samurai sword performer, singer and motion capture actor. An inspiring woman keeping alive ancient traditions and spirituality in modern Japan.

The First Time(en)

With the coming of summer, three high school buddies--Kenny Leeds, Mike Decker, and Tommy Kingsley--anticipate their initiation into the pleasures of manhood. But Kenny is separated from his friends and sent to stay with his grandparents in Buffalo while his father, a widowed salesman, leaves on a business trip with his secretary-fiancée. Bored and alone in a strange city, Kenny writes his two friends letters about his adventures at "Rosie's," a fictitious brothel across the Canadian border in Niagara Falls. His lie quickly backfires.

The Tale of Genji(ja)

Genji, the son of the emperor, is the talk of the Kyoto nobility for his charm and good looks, yet he cannot stop himself from pursuing an unobtainable object of desire: his father's young and beautiful bride. Following the tragic consequences of his obsession, Genji wanders from one affair to another, always seeking some sort of completion to his life.

Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai(ja)

A tale of revenge, honor and disgrace, centering on a poverty-stricken samurai who discovers the fate of his ronin son-in-law, setting in motion a tense showdown of vengeance against the house of a feudal lord.

Ge.hen'nah(en)

A drama set in a small rural town in Lebanon about Yvette who is past 30, unmarried, devoutly religious and still living with her parents. Today, she is preparing to go to a retreat. It's a dream come true for her. However, as the bus approaches, a fight breaks out between her parents. She tries to intercede, but her father's rage is overwhelming. Is she able to calm her father and go to the trip? How far would you go to protect your mother?