The Yoshida School

Taira Clan Saga(ja)

Japan, 1137. The Taira family, a samurai clan, becomes involved in the disputes between Emperor Toba and the monks of Mount Hiei.

The Sunday Runoff(ja)

A comedy about how the world of politics really works! Tsutomu is a secretary for a member of the Japanese Parliament. After the latter suffers a heart attack, his daughter Yumi is chosen to fill his place in the next election because she seems easy to control. However, her unpredictable behavior soon throws the campaign out of control.

Tales of a Golden Geisha(ja)

Nayoko, a good-hearted geisha, brings luck to the men she sleeps with, even though most are scoundrels who don’t deserve it.

Beast Alley(ja)

Desperate to escape her grueling life caring for her paralyzed husband, Tamiko murders him and burns down their home to start anew. She is soon entangled in the dark web of an influential, elderly power broker, becoming his mistress and a pawn in his political schemes. As she descends further into a downward spiral of moral decay, Tamiko realizes that the freedom she sought is merely a new form of entrapment.

Bridge to the Sun(en)

Tells the true story of American Gwen Terasaki, who falls in love with, then marries a Japanese diplomat. When World War II breaks out, they encounter animosity and trouble from both sides.

The Politicians(ja)

Who will be the next prime minister? As two candidates start to compete, political game and brutal murder ensue. And the existence of secret love letters changes the situation.

Solar Eclipse(ja)

When bribe money from a rigged election funnels into a dam construction project, collusion, lust, greed and even murder are on the ballot.

Facing to the Clouds(ja)

A rookie newspaper journalist, Takema Sakaki, has a strong sense of justice. In the Diet Building he gets acquainted with a library worker, Reiko Nakafuji. Reiko's father was a member of the Diet who was assassinated six years ago. Through Reiko, Takema joins Tsūkai-kai, a group of young people who respect her late father's political ideas. With the assistance of Tsukai-kai, Takema eventually uncovers the political scandal related to postwar compensation which led to the murder of Reiko's father.

The Fixer(ja)

Political fixer Homei Yamaoka's misdeeds come to light, throwing Japanese politics into deadly confusion. But he's not going down without a fight.

She is going to be a Mayor on ◯/◯, the Movie(ja)

A documentary following the campaign of Satoko Kishimoto during the 2022 mayoral election in Suginami Ward

Campaign(ja)

Can a candidate with no political experience and no charisma win an election if he is backed by the political giant Prime Minister Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party? This cinema-verite documentary closely follows a heated election campaign in Kawasaki, Japan, revealing the true nature of "democracy."

Organized Violence II(ja)

Grandson of a Monster(ja)

The late Shinzo Abe was the longest-serving prime minister of all time, holding office for 2,822 consecutive days. While his hawkish foreign policy and "Abenomics" economic policies won him support, he also attracted public attention for his controversial words, actions and scandals. Nobusuke Kishi, a politician and the maternal grandfather of former Prime Minister Abe, was nicknamed the "Monster of the Showa Era" for his ability to manipulate the political and business worlds by walking the fronts and backs of society. The film explores the mysteries of his blood and upbringing that led him to adopt an extremely "forward-looking" political stance in order to realize his ambitions, which were imprinted in his childhood mind as his "grandfather's teachings". With black humor and satirical picture books, the film unravels who former Prime Minister Abe was and what he left behind for this country.

Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Hero(ja)

Yuji and Kosaku become involved with a brother and sister who want to drive a local yakuza gang member out of their neighborhood.

Pictures at an Election(ja)

“Pictures at an Election” (the title refers to Mussorgsky’s suite “Pictures at an Exhibition” featuring at the beginning of the film) is a 68 min. documentary that covers the campaigns of those candidates who tried to win one of the five seats in Tokyo during the Upper House election in 2007. It shows Japan’s electoral machinery in full steam and focuses on the question of how Japanese candidates try to appeal to voters. The documentary depicts different strategies and techniques, and presents a lively picture of political culture in Japan.

The Assassin(zh)

9th century China. Ten year old general’s daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her into the martial arts, transforming her into an exceptional assassin charged with eliminating cruel and corrupt local governors. One day, having failed in a task, she is sent back by her mistress to the land of her birth, with orders to kill the man to whom she was promised – a cousin who now leads the largest military region in North China. After 13 years of exile, the young woman must confront her parents, her memories and her long-repressed feelings.

Block 12(el)

English satellites who conduct research from space discover large oil deposit in the area of tho Old Mines in Cyprus. A big part of the area belongs to C... (he has bought it from his Turkish Cypriot colleague) who has retired there with his wife. The outbreak of a big economic crisis leads the two sons of the family to bankruptcy forcing them to move their families to the house. This whole situation is made worse when the Cyprus government keeps asking to buy the house, and our protagonist character stubbornly refuses. Moreover two English agents and the Turkish Cypriot heir, camp outside the house. The house is in a state of internal and external siege.

Hard Steel(en)

A steelworker rises through the ranks to become manager of three steel mills, but ruthless ambition overwhelms him.

The Snow White Murder Case(ja)

Beautiful Noriko Miki works at a cosmetic company. One day, Noriko is murdered. People begin to suspect her co-worker Miki Shirono might have killed her. Television begins to cover her story. A TV show interviews Miki Shirono's colleagues, family, people from her hometown. Rumors turn into fear. Is she a wicked a woman?

Gossip Over the Nile(ar)

Set against the backdrop of the 1967 Six-Day War, the movie adaptation of Naguib Mahfouz's novel follows the escapist, drug-fueled riverboat meetings of a group of frustrated Egyptians from various walks of life.

Tokyo Family(ja)

An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to find them preoccupied and self-involved.

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.

House of Bamboo(en)

Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.

Blood and Bones(ja)

In 1923, teenager Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island, in South Korea, to Osaka, in Japan. Along the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko, processed seafood products, in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees.

True Colors(en)

Two law school friends find themselves at odds when one becomes a Justice Department lawyer and the other goes into politics.

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.

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.

Come Sunday(en)

Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.

After the Rain(ja)

A group of travelers is stranded in a small country inn when the river floods during heavy rains. As the bad weather continues, tensions rise amongst the trapped travelers.

El Chicano(en)

A pair of twin brothers from East L.A. choose to live their lives differently and end up on opposite sides of the law.

Blood on the Sun(en)

Nick Condon, an American journalist in 20s Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world domination. Reaction from the understandably upset Japanese provides the action, but this is overshadowed by the propaganda of the time.

Home(en)

An ex-felon returns home from prison and must confront the demons of his past.

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.

Imperial Dreams(en)

A 21-year-old reformed gangster's devotion to his family and his future is put to the test when he is released from prison and returns to his old stomping grounds in Watts, Los Angeles.

Mindwalk(en)

On the French island of Mont Saint-Michel, Jack, a failed presidential candidate, Tom, his ex-speechwriter and Sonia, a physicist, engage in an intellectual conversation about politics, philosophy and life over the course of a single day.

Skin(en)

Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.

Hands of Stone(en)

The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.

Won't Back Down(en)

Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.

Return(en)

Back from a tour of duty, Kelli struggles to find her place in her family and the rust-belt town she no longer recognizes.

The Pumpkin Eater(en)

Jo, the mother of seven children, divorces her second husband in order to marry Jake, a successful but promiscuous screenwriter. Though they are physically and emotionally compatible, they are slowly torn apart.