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1-13 of 13
- MENTAL is a feature-length documentary that observes the complex world of an outpatient mental health clinic in Japan, interwoven with patients, doctors, staff, volunteers, and home-helpers, in cinema-verite style. The film breaks a major taboo against discussing mental illness prevalent in Japanese society, and captures the candid lives of people coping with suicidal tendencies, poverty, a sense of shame, apprehension, and fear of society.
- Psychiatrist Masatomo Yamamoto has dedicated his whole life to his patients. Now over 80 years of age, he tries to bid a farewell to them and his work. Soda's sequel to Seishin (2008) is a loving look at care and aging.
- The daily lives of people and stray cats who live in the yard in front of their home in Okayama City, Japan, offers glimpses of the meaning of peace.
- 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."
- Late at night, a Japanese businessman enters a pizza shop and observes strange but typical New Yorkers, eating their pizza in their own queer ways. The businessman makes fun of them, believing he is the only one that is normal person there. However, it soon becomes apparent that he is no less strange than them.
- Forsaken by the era of modernization of post-war Japan, Ushimado, a town so beloved by film director Shohei Imamura that he set two of his films there ("Black Rain", "Dr. Akagi"), is rapidly aging and declining. Its rich, ancient culture and the tight-knit community are also on the verge of disappearing. Portrayed in black and white photography, this latest observational documentary by Kazuhiro Soda ("Campaign", "Mental", "Oyster Factory") poetically depicts the twilight days of a village and its people by the dreamlike Inland Sea.
- The film depicts various kinds of people working in the Big House, the Michigan University's football stadium which can hold more than 100,000 people, as well as the spectators and other people surrounding the Big House. The camera shows the people on "as-is" base, for example marching band practicing before the game and kitchen staff preparing meals for press coming to see the game.
- In response to the Fukushima disaster, Yama-san is running an election campaign with an anti-nuclear message. But unlike last time, he has no money, no machine, no nothing. Does he even stand a chance? On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced one of the most calamitous nuclear disasters in history. But in two national elections following the accident, the pro-nuclear Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) achieved landslide victories, gaining control of the two parliaments. Why? 'Campaign 2' by Kazuhiro Soda observes a small local election right after the disaster and gives insight into this difficult question, presenting a microcosm of Japan's political-psychological landscape.
- Theatre 1 (Observational Film Series #3) is a feature length documentary, which closely depicts the world of Oriza Hirata, Japan's leading playwright and director, and his theatrical company, Seinendan. By depicting them, the film leads the audience to revisit fundamental but timely questions: What is theatre? Why do human beings act?
- James is a photographer and who takes pictures on the streets of New York City. One day, he encounters a blind man standing on a lonely street. James feels drawn to the man's mysterious aura and snaps several photographs of his alluring face. However, later, while reviewing the pictures, he discovers that he missed the most crucial moment. One that will never return.
- Jon and Jelena, a young couple, have recently begun co-habiting in a small apartment, deep in the heart of East Village. When Jon's distant cousin James visits New York City and moves into the couple's tiny apartment for a week, his habits conflict with Jon and Jelena's structured life, and James is left feeling like an unwelcome stranger. He leaves their apartment to face the jaded city, floating from block to block, street to street, not quite knowing if he will survive the cruel Manhattan twilight.
- In the Japanese town of Ushimado, the shortage of labor is a serious problem due to its population's rapid decline. Traditionally, oyster shucking has been a job for local men and women, but for a few years now, some of the factories have had to use foreigners in order to keep functioning. Hirano oyster factory has never employed any outsiders but finally decides to bring in two workers from China. Will all the employees get along?
- Oriza Hirata is Japan's leading playwright and director, who runs his own theatrical company, Seinendan. Theatre 2 (Observational Film Series #4) examines the dynamic relationship between theatre and the society through depicting Hirata's activities. In order for his art and his not-so-commercial company to survive this highly capitalistic modern society, what kind of strategy does Hirata have and practice?