Discover Movies

Should the trees in the city always disappear whenever reconstruction takes place? The project, which began with memories and records, leads to meeting various people from different fields to explore practical ways to preserve trees. The film follows the whereabouts of the trees that once lived on a green island in a ruin of concrete until they eventually vanished.

Kyogen performer Nomura Mansai's speciality, Sanbaso, is said to be the oldest form of Shinto ritual in Japan's performing arts. On the occasion of his 50th birthday, Mansai took up the challenge of fusing tradition and technology with the help of media artist Daito Manabe and others to see how he could delve deeper into this "Sanbaso" and see if a new form of expression was possible. The programme will take up the challenge of fusing tradition and technology. The programme follows the trajectory of the project and explores the roots of what "Sanbaso" is all about.

Legendary Peking Opera master, Yuling Fang, emigrates to New York where he works in a nail salon. Realizing there is no one to inherit his legendary skills, he decides to mount an amateur production in order to keep alive the vanishing world he loves.

The film portrays 13 female villagers and students engaged in anti-development movement in 2010 and 2011 to recount a beautiful story of transformation, solidarity, and courage.

Shot on high-definition video during the 1998-99 "One Earth" tour of Japan's celebrated Kodo drummers, this illuminating documentary explores the lives and philosophy of the Kodo group, who beat taiko--the signature drums of their art--to express the universal language of Kodo, a word derived from ko (or "heartbeat") and do (a reference to a childlike purity of spirit). "To beat taiko is to face yourself," says leading player Ryutaro Kaneko, expressing Kodo's goal of a complete merging of mind, body, and spirit in the act of drumming. Made up of 42 members (20 of whom actually perform on stage), the Kodo group is seen training (four months each year, with eight months of touring) at Kodo village on the Japanese island of Sado, where the group had its origins in the early 1970s before officially naming itself "Kodo" in 1981.

In China the marriage ritual is not a matter of a boy and a girl who are in love with each other and want to officially confirm their relationship. The protocol consists of six stages that must be completed according to the rules: the proposal, the negotiations, the engagement, the cognisance of the birth dates of the betrothed couple to ratify the marital relationship, a visit to the fortune-teller for the most favourable wedding date, and finally the wedding ceremony. MARRIAGE follows a marriage broker during the extensive, complicated and relentless negotiations for two marriages, somewhere in the southwest of China, between Jian and Qiong, and between Yu and Zhao. In addition, the film depicts the daily life in the villages, which is filled with manual labour on the land (the men) and around the house (the women). The film ends with the wedding celebrations, when the bride is carried across the mountains to her future husband’s house in an adorned, closed palanquin.

The movie tells the story of Zhang Guo-Zhong, who since 2010 has measured the world with his feet, backpacked all over Southeast Asia, driven into Europe four times, held a variety of cultural activities along the way, and extended the tentacles of China's cultural exchanges with foreign countries to the streets and lanes along the way, which has led to the enactment of a monumental legend!

Thai shockumentary on people who eat strange and exotic foods. Well known in Thailand for shocking young viewers with scenes of animal slaughter and repulsive food. First of the 3 Shocking Menu films.

In Comedy Family Style, stand-up comic Helen brings her son to Beijing to connect with their roots. He wants Wi-Fi and boba—she wants gratitude. Between culture clashes and punchlines, they confront the gap between love and perception, asking: How do we know we matter to the people we love.

This film is like a person standing naked in the middle of a square, covered in wounds, holding up a sign that says “Free Hug.” Many people come to embrace him, and he embraces many in return. Yet this does not mean that those who embrace him are unscarred—it is only that they are clothed. — Director Zhang Yu

The future of fashion is here and it’s being ushered in by Yuima Nakazato, currently the only active haute couture designer in Japan. Embracing innovative scientific technologies and meshing them with older material techniques, Yuima is determined to move clothing away from mass production and toward respect for the individual and our environment. While designing sculptural haute couture for the runway, Yuima dreams up his visionary and socially-aware practice through research and experience of environmental and production issues happening all across the world — this time in Kenya, where the scale of textile waste is a harbinger of the urgent need for conservation and social change.

Following six young volunteers in the tsunami-devastated Arahama district in Sendai.

Multimedia artist Jiang Zhi's first feature film. Our Love is a half-documentary, half-narrative telling the stories of Xiang Xiang, Ping Er and Raorao. Xiang Xiang is pretty and attractive, Ping Er smart and funny, Raorao honest and passionate. Physically speaking, they are male; but psychologically they are not. Issues such as homosexuality, transsexuality, and cross-dress are all touched upon in the film. Those who are different from heterosexual people are by no means perverts; their presence throws light on the ignored violence which has been taken for granted in the heterosexual world.

During the Joseon Dynasty, hair that was black and rich, like mud, was a prerequisite for a beauty, while the hair of a woman who was short and stiff was described as negative and ugly. In 1920, the new woman was called Modan (毛斷). Short hair had a strong meaning for women to challenge the established system. Now in 2019, women also cut their hair. It is a movement that rejects the social definition of “feminine”, escaping “Corset” movement.

A Japanese documentary covering the WACK Audition Camp 2017 from idol group BiSH's perspective.

This documentary traces Shanghai’s experimental music scene through Shanghai Community Radio founders, with sound and music framing both the city’s fragmented underground and the challenges of censorship in 2020.

This documentary captures the Lanling Theatre Troupe's 1985 production of Nine Songs on 8mm film, following the troupe's rehearsals and actual performance and meticulously capturing the vibrant energy of Taiwan's experimental theater movement.

"Talad Phian​ Yindee" area is an old area of ​​Phatthalung Province. It has historical importance both in terms of space and connection with people and communities in the past.​ and through various stories and events​ Both in terms of architecture that was destroyed by a big fire. or in the context of common points in the area​ and the ways of the people in the community, including the Tom Yum Kung incident and the large COVID outbreak in Phatthalung The documentary explores the area and its people to look back at its glorious past​. and look to the future regarding the restoration and creative use of space.​ that the community participates in development to lead to the creation of creative art. Open space for expression of all voices in the urban community.

A document of the Nihon Gen'yasai Sanrizuka, a two-day experimental festival held in support of the Narita Airport Struggle, in 1971.

An elderly woman decides when to reveal her decision about the inheritance after her passing.

A documentary about the 10 years of the Hyegwang Blind Orchestra, composed of visually impaired people, founded in 2011. Unlike many films about the disabled which mainly focus on topics of survival and human rights, the documentary focuses more on art and how it brings change to life. The self-esteem and the possibility of communication with the outside world of persons with disability in a tight-knit environment, under the gaze of prejudice gained from encountering music that changed their lives. Rather than focusing on the difficulties of life for people with disabilities, the film narrows the gap between the disabled and non-disabled communities and focuses on the growth of both disabled and non-disabled people through musical exchanges. Music is a great bridge that connects two worlds, and the process of understanding each other's world through art in different physical situations is sometimes solemn and sometimes beautiful.

"Goze" drawn by painter Shinichi Saito. One of the few remaining blind women in the snowy Niigata region, a traveling entertainer who played the shamisen and sang, visited villages and left a record of living on the mercy of others.

In 1956, the U. S. Naval Medical Research Unit No.2 built a pure white building in Shuilin Township, Yunlin County, and began a seven-year research project. The building was white, clean and bright, so that local residents call it the "American White House." The various things in the research process made the residents quite curious and suspicious of this mysterious building. The adults even reminded the children not to approach it. However, Taiwan didn’t know much about this project. After the project ended, all relevant materials were taken to the United States and stored at Johns Hopkins University. So the team went to America to find research materials and bring them back to Taiwan. The director’s father was one of the members of the research project then. Therefore, the shooting process is not only to dig out the past, but also to evoke the youthful memories of those elders.

A documentary following the lives of people in Mishima, a small island off the coast of Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Commissioned for S-AIR’s 2020 residency programme, Letter from Sapporo (2021) is a collage film offering a glimpse of daily life in the Japanese city of Sapporo. The film is the product of approximately 16 participants capturing material with their smartphones. Focusing on moments of stillness, intimacy, labour and humour, disparate material is wedded into a compelling and coherent whole by Quaintance’s subtle editing, original music and vivid sound design.

On October 3rd, 2016, I went on a journey with my college roommate to revisit the places I once passed by back in 2009.

How do these people live, how do they endure the confinement and pain of the country's borders ? Under the splendor of the landscapes we can feel the constant threat of a cold war In the heart of Caucasus. The villagers have learned to live with the sound of reports, while knowing that the next bullet may be for them. Scenes from ordinary life, in a country where the threat of war may never be forgotten: yet a feeling of life prevails: resident forever, forever. This film talk about the current state of the world and humanity with respect to imposed violence, in a set of border areas.

What is Cosplay? Well, Cosplay is short for costume play, and it occurs when thousands of anime fans crowd a convention center dressed as their favorite anime characters. This encyclopedia gives Western anime fans a detailed experience of this slightly bizarre phenomenon. Features characters from series like Magic Knight Rayearth, Sailor Moon, Sorcerer Hunters, and Evangelion.

Documentary about sculptor Liu Huanzhang.

Camp Life: Fulton vs Inoue is a Top Rank Boxing special on ESPN+ that goes inside the training camps of Naoya Inoue and Stephen Fulton before their huge title fight.

Biography of Kaneko Yanagi, alto singer, 1892-1984

A documentary film that explores the effects of air pollutants contained in smog on the body and raises the issue of air pollution. Selected for the Japan Industrial Film Competition Industrial Film Award and the Science and Technology Film Festival.

In 1987, Su Ping-kun was found guilty of armed robbery and attempted murder, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In the era of Martial Law, he endured abuse and torture from the authority. In 2000, Su received a presidential pardon but still remained guilty in Taiwan's legal system. He refused to have a tainted name and continued fighting for over 30 years, just to clear his name.

An update to the story of Minamata disease, going up to 1976

West Estate spotlights the severe housing problems in Hong Kong, taking the spirit of resistance outside of the protest. The damaged walls in the cage-like tenements reflect the many forms of social injustice as well as Hongkongers’ widespread sense of rootlessness. Connecting three stories from different households like puzzle pieces, the film depicts people’s despair over issues of family, sexuality, love, and freedom.

Explains Heo Jun’s Dongui Bogam [동의보감] which is an important book in traditional Korean medicine. Heo Jun [허준] was a court physician during the reign of King Seonjo of the Joseon dynasty in Korea.

Every three months, a Chinese single mother, Xue takes a 10-hour-journey from Hong Kong to her hometown in Fujian, China with one hand dragging her heavy luggage and another hand holding her child. She has to extend her visiting visa to stay with her family, which migrated to Hong Kong when she was 8. In 1980s, the Chinese local government would let the family migrate except one child, so they would send money back. The tragic starts from here.

Japanese cyber youth cultures have developed through the imaginative and novel use of technology. Underlying social, cultural and economic trends are examined such as Japan's unique, isolated island culture, the post-economic boom recession and changing attitudes towards the role of the corporation in work and career attitudes.

One day, he sent me a roll of film. He asked me to develop the images he had taken during his long journey. But when I developed them, there was nothing on the film. Was it my mistake? Or his? Through the images he keeps sending, I begin to notice noises — things that were invisible before.

We encountered the dogs on the forays through Pristina’s streets. At night, we melded into the canine throngs, shadowing their movements until they dispersed and vanished. The residents imparted a saga of these dogs: in the late 1990s, as Serbian troops and Albanian insurgents clashed, domestic dogs were cast adrift on the battleground streets. Ever since, Pristina has been a tableau of roaming dog packs, with sporadic human-dog confrontations.

The Chinese government provides the villages in the mountains of Sichuan (China) with films. The main character of this film is a projectionist who, 37 years ago, used to carry his old projector on foot and bicycle. He would display a small screen across the road or between trees in front of a farm... It's the same today except that he rides a motorcycle, carries a large screen and that the films travel two thousand kilometers from Beijing to Chengdu by satellite, before he picks them up on his motorcycle. Up in the mountains, people bring a stool out on the road and watch. That story takes place in Beijing and the beautiful mountains covered with bamboos above Chengdu

Two Uigur brothers and a friend are in love with parkour, a kind of extreme sport. Regardless of opposition from their worried mothers, the boys train themselves to be the best in an upcoming parkour event in Beijing while managing to iron out additional difficulties. They lose the game, but eventually they learn much more about their true selves.

An international project that spans across Korea, China, and Japan, Lash challenges viewers to think fundamentally about the human existence and humanity. The three chapters titled “Messenger,” “Message,” and “Messiah” feature workers of a Chinese sex doll factory, a politician dreaming of innovating the Japanese political system with AI robots, and a middle-aged Japanese man living with a sex doll.

With Afghan Spring, Noriaki Tsuchimoto widened his focus to the international arena. Working in collaboration with his compatriot, Hiroko Kumagai, and Afghan film-maker, Abdul Latif, he examined society and politics in Afghanistan af the time of the Soviet withdrawal. The film now serves as a valuable record of a culture partially destroyed soon after by the Taleban regime.

As the Labour Day Holiday is approaching, Ling Xiuzhen and her thirty-year old grandson decide to visit their long time no-seen hometown, Zhujiajiao, a place known for its riverfood. There is where she founded a traditional style Chinese restaurant time ago, which was transferred to her son after she retired. It's been a while since Ling Xiuzhen hasn't visited Zhujiajiao. In the recent years she has been living in Shanghai with her busy grandson, holding a monotonous life. But there are times where she leaves her routine for a second to wonder about the future, especially regarding whether her grandson would be willing or not to take care of the restaurant, following the family tradition. Ling Xiuzhen and her grandson. Two cities afar. Two generations yearning to build a bridge between them.

Informally known as Baseco Compound, Port Area in Manila is the biggest urban poor community in the Philippines. Children living in the Baseco compound are left behind in abject poverty without proper care and education. WMC, the missionary community led by Shin Seung-cheol, goes to Baseco Compound and provide warm food and medical care while teaching children skills like baking. This documentary features their journey of hope and compassion.

Part 2 of the short documentary about the GROPER TRAIN film series

A Beijing drifter at his age of 30, with post-graduation finished, happy wedding and good future, stopped by cancer diagnosed all of a sudden. At the same year his father, a farmer was faced with wife’s hurt and father’s death. In the conversations, the father and son would share their stories and the thoughts of life, death, fate, dream and some around it.

Tobishima used to be a prosperous sea transportation hub in the Sea of Japan, but now it is a quiet island with a small and aging population. The only junior high school student in the island will graduate this year, and his school, Tobishima Elementary and Junior High School, will be closed at the end of this school year. This film captures the daily lives of the various people living on Tobishima and follows the activities of those who are struggling to maintain the community and connect the island to the future while facing the harsh reality of the situation.