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A short documentary film about the making of Masaaki Yuasa's "Kick-Heart."

Anamizu Town, Ishikawa Prefecture, is located in the center of the Noto Peninsula. The population is below 7,000, and the town is in the final stage of population decline, with both young people and the elderly declining. Motoyuki Takii, a former junior high school teacher, lives in a marginal village on a rough road from the center of the town, which is promoting compact cities. Since 2020, he has been publishing a handwritten newspaper, "Tsumugu," and has been sounding the alarm about profit-driven policies and the town's future. The town's traditional fishing method, "Muramachi Yagura," overlooks the calm Anamizu Bay. Patience can be said to be a part of the townspeople's character, but Takii writes, "If we do nothing, nothing will change." The Ishikawa TV crew will highlight the raison d'être of local media through the eyes of the townspeople, highlighting the distorted relationship between the town hall and the town council, where inertia and favoritism are rampant.

Skiers enjoy a variety of slopes. Paper film, celuloid source unknown.

This documentary started as part of a photography project about the indigenous Ainu population in northern Japan, portraying people from tightly knit communities. They feel deeply connected by their culture and tradition. With gorgeous pictures, the directors explore how different generations of Ainu reflect on their identity after centuries of oppression.

“Fang Sir” is an elderly Taiwanese immigrant living in New York City. He has been obsessed with filmmaking for more than 40 years. Since making his last award winning short film in 1989, he hasn’t directed any more films. Now in his late 60s, he wants to make his “last film” in NYC, and a group of young Chinese filmmakers decide to help him make his dream come true.

In the world of computer games, there are players earning fight money as a PRO. They are sponsored by digital tool companies or beverage companies, and tour around the world to earn money in tournaments. This film goes over the days of Pro Gamers in Japan, USA, France and Taiwan.

A MAKING OF 天国にいちばん近い島/ The Island Closest to Heaven, narrated by Harada Tomoyo.

"Politics and religion are not allowed here. We only talk about women." But after a few glasses of Kaoliang liquor, CAO's rules are naturally forgotten. Every night for 30 years, CAO would sit in front of his house and have a few drinks, and it has become a place for older men to gather. After retirement, their conversations are full of conflicts between old and new values and "masculine" topics. CAO and his buddy LAI chit chat about their inner feelings that have to be spilled out.

Every December to January, almost a hundred squid fishing boats from Ch'ien-chen Fishing Harbor in Kaohsiung will sail from East 120 to West 60 to work at Falkland Islands in the South West Atlantic. The sailing takes 35-40 days and crew members named it "waterway." January 1st, 2015, a 65 meter long, 11 meter wide fishing boat began its journey to Falkland island. This is a documentary about 60 crew members from south-east Asia to work far away from Taiwan.

Third installment of the series documenting director`s mother dementia, here the central focus becomes death and how to prepare for it.

In the rural Liangshan Mountains, 14-year-old Qihuo and her friends embark on a road trip to find a skirt for her traditional menarche rite of passage.

A college student, along with her peers in Japan, rally to change the country’s hostile immigration laws that have incarcerated asylum-seekers in deadly detention centers. Meanwhile, over a century since the 1923 massacre of Korean people during a massive earthquake in Imperial Japan, young activists today take on the torch to seek justice under a government that continues to deny this history. A filmmaker documenting these young activists on the ground begins to excavate the underlying history of discrimination that connects the massacre of a hundred years ago and the draconian refugee system in Japan. Through the process of listening to voices from the past and present, the landscapes in Tokyo begin to echo the unfinished business of the nation’s reckoning with its colonial history.

The names of the two ‘fathers’ encapsulate Korea's contemporary history. The older priest is known as ‘Father Gang’, symbolizing his fight against corrupt authority. The younger priest, on the other hand, is known as ‘Father Red’ for his advocacy of Korean reunification and for crossing the armistice line. These two figures were pivotal in challenging Park Chunghee's authoritarian regime, participating in the pro-democracy movement against military rule, advocating Lim Sukyung's visit to North Korea, protesting against U.S. military bases, addressing the Yongsan disaster, and standing up against the Jeju Gangjeong village incident. Their church provided solace to the vulnerable and marginalized.

At 4:30 AM, Mom is preparing for a huge meal all by herself. In charge of the eatery at the construction site of the Incheon Airport Terminal 2, Mom easily makes a meal for hundreds of construction workers, but her labor is not easy to watch for her filmmaker son.

Twenty-something Peng Tian returns to China after studying in London. He feels adrift. His friends are enjoying themselves, his father wanders around chanting advertising slogans, while his mother expounds her inevitable plan for his brilliant future: boss, father, business owner. Sprawled on the couch, he tries to resist the demands of a rapidly evolving Chinese society.

Through an intimate journey involving the filmmaker and her aunt, we see what remains and what is transformed with the passing of time.

Umei and Haluwey embarked on an artistic journey much later in life, exploring the realms of art, acting, and ethnic song-singing. Now, they have even started to write songs. This is a chronicle of two mothers pursuing their dreams. By taking a series of courses, they come to embrace their inner beauty, struggles, and self worth. Through songwriting and creative expression, Umei and Haluwey take a profound introspection of their lives, telling their stories as daughters-in-law, wives, mothers, and daughters.

Author Han Kang mourns everything that fades and perishes in the world, including her sister, who died just two hours after birth. Her mourning transcends writing; she composes music, sings, and even holds rituals for the dead at times. This documentary spotlights Han Kang as a unique artist who communicates with the world through diverse forms like art, music, and documentary. "Han Kang Chronicles: A Tale of Seven Lives" sensuously captures her literary world through dance and theater.

A television special broadcast to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Super Sentai series.

A filmmaker and rapper duo revive Michel Gondry’s “Be Kind Rewind” protocols - a set of filmmaking “rules” with which groups of strangers can conceive, shoot, and screen a film in just two and a half hours. Against the grim backdrop of the stringent Shanghai lockdown, the event soon turns into a sanctuary for individuals to forge collective dreams.

INNER EAR INFLAMMATION can be regarded as the answer to the title of my first music documentary, ARE WE REALLY SO FAR FROM THE MADHOUSE? Both films were shot on the spur of the moment; the difference between the two is that ARE WE REALLY SO FAR FROM THE MADHOUSE? was made specifically for Yang Haisong, whose music I had regrettably never used even though he had suggested it many times, while INNER EAR INFLAMMATION is 100% ruthless contraband. The shooting and production were completed in a very short period of time, but this doesn't mean it was sloppily done. In fact, INNER EAR INFLAMMATION is by far the least regrettable of all of my works to date, including the feature films. -Li Hongqi

Documentary commissioned by the Communist Party of China which argues that Nikita Khrushchev "lit the fire of nihilism" by criticizing predecessor Joseph Stalin in his 'On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences' speech, weakening the image of cohesive socialism in the U.S.S.R.

Documentary that teases apart the life of model Masako, who also acted in films including Ring and died at the age of 50, through interviews of people who knew her well. Directed by Masako's husband Ooka Daisuke, who is a film producer.

Hong Kong barrister, labour and democratic movement activist and feminist human rights defender Chow Hang Tung was awarded five international prizes in 2023 in recognition of her steadfast spirit and sacrifice in safeguarding democracy and human rights of Hong Kong and China. Since 2021, Chow was repeatedly arrested due to her Hong Kong Alliance leadership as well as June 4th commemorative activities.

Kamiki Ryunosuke's journey of self discovery, set in famous European cities such as Paris, Mont-Saint-Michel and Barcelona. A grand journey through France and Spain.

Footage shot during Japanese Army Lieutenant Nobu Shirase’s second Antarctica expedition.

Nine individuals living in South Korea, with varying ages, genders, and occupations, yet all ordinary people. Across 81 fragments of daily life, inner voices of solitude, anxiety, and hope whisper softly.

A group of Taiwanese who were born before World War II still insist on writing poetry and haiku in Japanese language. Director HUANG Ming-chuan has been documenting them for 22 years since 1994. Unlike Korea, another previous colony of Japan, Taiwan retains emotional and cultural ties with Japan even after the War. Over 40 years, these poets and writers get together discreetly under the ban of speaking and publishing in Japanese. More than half a century later, despite aging, they remain using Japanese in the final years of their lives. This film gathers memories of local Taiwanese who have been ruled by several colonial powers since the Dutch arrived on the island in late 17th century. And the path to obtain their own voice became a long way struggle, and so as the national identity.

A documentary following the filmmaker, Shu Qiao, who went back to his hometown of Shuangjing, a rural village in Hunan Province. He interviewed the elders in his village who lived through the Great Famine during 1959-1961. His main purpose was to gather the names of those who suffered and died during the famine and to ask the village to donate money for erecting a monument in their name

Since childhood, Song Jiale has dreamed of becoming a girl and aligning her body with her identity. Leaving her village at 14, she worked in cities but couldn’t escape her gender dysphoria. For three years, she traveled between Shanghai and home, gathering documents and seeking her family’s acceptance for surgery. Rejected by her father and relatives, she decided to proceed on her own. In the hospital, she found solidarity among other transgender people, sharing care and hope through their transformations. But upon returning home, she faced rejection and hostility, leaving her to confront new uncertainties about her future.

An experimental film edited from footage of the Japanese countryside.

This work tells the story of the daily lives of two ticketing cinema staff during two incidents that sparked the birth of democracy in Jakarta in 1998 and Gwangju in 1980. They never experienced it directly or went onto the streets to face the soldiers, yet the stories they heard and the voices that reached them felt like an endless war film replaying in their minds.

In 1984, LIU Ruo-yu left Taiwan and went to the United States to learn how to act from Jerzy GROTOWSKI. LIU returned to Taiwan and founded U Theatre in 1988. By visiting masters from various places, they learned traditional skills such as Tai Chi, drums, stilts, Taoist rituals, etc. Through constant physical training, meditation, drumming, and martial arts, LIU established his training and performance methods. In 1998, U Theatre performed Sound Of The Ocean at the Avignon Festival in France. It is now more than 30 years since U Theatre was founded. Where will it go next?

An experimental documentary film produced and directed in 2014. The film’s title also translates literally into Eight Trigrams in Chinese. In the Asian culture, Eight Trigrams refer to the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. However, in contemporary China, when people talk about Eight Trigrams, they mostly refer to someone gossiping. The film is about a steel mill worker listening to gossips and her fantasies. The Director wanted to express the view that all things in the world are connected. Truth may be an illusion. Fiction could be real too.

Ep1. The Martyr and the Left: Under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, construction workers were branded as “construction gangsters,” forced to endure a period of hardship. Ep2. Purple Ribbon: Wearing purple jackets and holding purple light sticks, the families of the victims of the October 29 Itaewon Disaster stand out on the street. Ep3. Dream, Breath: “I” keep waking up from dreams of being chased, a recurring cycle that haunts me day after day. Ep4. Breaking the Silence: Chai-han, who once said their dream was to become a human-rights activist, gradually grows distant from that dream after entering university. Ep5. Dancing Volunteer: After the December 3 martial law was declared, Park Pyeong-hwa felt compelled to return to the square. Ep6. Beyound the Impeachment: We interviewed a diverse group of people who came to the square after the December 3 uprising.

The sequel to Naomi Kawase's Katatsumori. The film revisits Kawase’s relationship with her "grandma", capturing their love and attachment towards each other.

In a village in Thailand, Pomm works in a care center for Europeans with Alzheimer's. While she is separated from her children, she helps Elisabeth during the final stages of her life, as Maya, a new patient, is on her way from Switzerland.

Fifteen chapters unfold across the Bunun villages of Litu and Wulu in Taitung, Taiwan, and the surrounding mountains and forests. Children dream of chasing — or being chased by — spirit animals; elders recall lives shaped by snake and bear myths; strange encounters emerge in the habitats of birds.

Zhang Hong is an eternal hustler coming from a poor family in China and who is blind. While his spouse aspires to a peaceful life he still want to "make it". Working now as a blind masseur, the 45-year-old wants to climb Mount Everest as he hopes to finally turn his luck around. Physical challenges, financial constraints, and concerns from his family are dilemmas on the road to his dream.

A regular Wednesday night in Tokyo's subway. The train is filled with more and more people...

The Giant Panda is a mammal native to central-western and south western China and is a true member of the Ursidae (bear) family. The Panda's closes ursine relative is the spectacled bear of South America. The Giant Panda is among the worlds most adored and protected rare animal and is one of the few in the world whose natural inhabitant status was able to gain UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries located in the southwest Sichuan province and covering seven natural reserves, were inscribed onto the World Heritage List in 2009. Discover the beauty and wonder of these great panda's and their fight for life.

Lim Jaechun, who worked as a factory worker for 30 years and was suddenly laid off, spent 10 years in a tent as a sit-in. Director Lee Soojung calls her ‘sister J’. 10 years into the fight for reinstatement, Jaechun now writes, plays guitar, and sings while living in a tent. She says her personality has changed after 7 years of being laid-off from “originally timid” to being very lively. Sister J deals with a struggle for reinstatement, but it is actually a film about a single person, as stated in the title. This documentary brings artistic vitality to the ‘4,464 days’ Sister J spends on the site, with lines and music driven from the forms of the play into the cinema.

Documentary Of AKB48 : Show Must Go On is the 2nd AKB48 documentary. The movie feature various moments of 2011, such as Team 4 formation, Maeda Atsuko winning the 3rd Senbatsu Election, first dome concert in Seibu Dome and the Dareka no Tame ni Charity Project.

Documentary series on the students of reform schools in Beijing. Originally edited into a six-episode TV series and later a 90-minute feature film version was made.

A feature-length documentary that witnesses twenty-seven survivors of the Battle of Okinawa break their silence to testify the truth about the tragedy of “gyokusai,” forced group suicide, of Korean “military laborers” and “comfort women” brought from Korea. Just how were Okinawa citizens pressured and forced to commit group suicide in the final hours of the Pacific War, and what led to the near complete destruction of Korean military laborers and comfort women? Twenty years in the making since 'Song of Ariran -voices from Okinawa' (1991), Park Soo-nam’s third documentary returns to the subject of Korean military laborers and comfort women in Okinawa.

A documentary of taiwanese writer Lai He.

In 2000, in the era of inter-Korean reconciliation, 63 non-converted prisoners were repatriated to the North, and a 2nd repatriation movement was launched in 2001 but failed again and again in later years. As of 2022, the average age of the surviving secondary repatriation applicants is 91.

Ting-ying was diagnosed with a brain tumour. After years of pain, she wrote to Dignitas, a Swiss assisted dying organization, for help. Through 93 letters, she navigated her way toward assisted death, torn between love from her family and partner, and the unbearable pain.

This film traces Arizona’s desert as it is reshaped into a hub for data centres and semiconductor manufacturing. Moving through altered waterways, the film exposes tensions between technoutopian visions and drought-stricken ecologies. Guided by offscreen voices and Tohono O’odham poet Ofelia Zepeda’s ‘Cloud Song’, ancestral knowledge counters the rise of industrial ‘cloud’ infrastructures.

Maïto, a 14-year-old Krump dance prodigy from suburban Tokyo, navigates the pressures of school and a demanding career. Through the raw energy of his dance, he channels his unspoken emotions and the silent sacrifices of his mother in this intimate family portrait.

Bookended by 8mm footage of a circling bird of prey, most of the film surveys Seven Hells’ landscape — spring water boils, mud pool bubbles rise and rupture, thick curtains of steam briefly part to reveal hints of buildings, walls and walkways.

Digitizing union newspapers in the quiet of a dark room, a filmmaker reflects on their relationship to labor.

A documentary film about windsurfing, and how Robby Naish got into it.

Conversation between director Kiyoshi Kurosawa and filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi, recorded in 2022.

A collection of gorgeous footage of Balinese landscapes shot with reckless abandon, set to a gamelan soundtrack.