Satoshi Kohno

My Small Land

Sarya lives between three worlds: Having fled from Turkey to Japan, her small family tries to maintain their Kurdish traditions. On the other hand, Sarya, who arrived when she was five, feels at home in Japan. But then, the family loses its refugee-status. Life becomes unpredictable and their days in Japan seem numbered. A haunting story about the balancing act of finding your place in the world.

Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Border 1: Ghost Pain

The story is set in 2027, one year after the end of the fourth non-nuclear war. New Port City is still reeling from the war's aftermath when it suffers a bombing caused by a self-propelled mine. Then, a military member implicated in arms-dealing bribes is gunned down. During the investigation, Public Security Section's Daisuke Aramaki encounters Motoko Kusanagi, the cyborg, wizard-level hacker assigned to the military's 501st Secret Unit. Batou, a man with the "eye that does not sleep," suspects that Kusanagi is the one behind the bombing. The Niihama Prefectural Police detective Togusa is pursuing his own dual cases of the shooting death and a prostitute's murder. Motoko herself is being watched by the 501st Secret Unit's head Kurutsu and cyborg agents.

Tombstone of the Fireflies

Set during World War II, the film follows a young brother and sister as they attempt to survive the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe City.

Still Walking

A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.

Yamazakura, The Cherry Tree in the Hills

Based on a short story written by Shuhei Fujisawa (who also wrote Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade, Love and Honor), the film depicts the uneasy life of Noe Isomura (Rena Tanaka) with the difficult family she has married into after her former husband passed away. One day as she tries to brake off a branch of a cherry tree, she is aided by a samurai who she does not recognize but who recognizes her. He turns out to be a former suitor that she never met named Yaichiro Tezuka (Noriyuki Higashiyama) and who teaches swordsmanship to the local samurai. Meanwhile, the powerful new chief retainer of the village enacts land policies that threaten the survival of the local farmers.

The Blossoming of Etsuko Kamiya

In Kagoshima, in the final days of World War II, an offer of marriage comes to Etsuko Kamiya, who lives with her brother and his wife. The offer comes from Nagayo, but Etsuko is attracted to his friend, Akashi.

Nightingalo

A horror film starring six popular gravure actresses. Five girls from a nursing school visit a seaside dormitory to spend their summer vacation, and one after another, mysterious incidents occur to them. There is a rumor that a woman was once a victim of a medication test at this dormitory...

Hana

In a poor district of Edo lives a young samurai named Soza. He has been sent by his clan to avenge the death of his father. He isn't an accomplished swordsman however, and he prefers sharing the life of the residents, teaching the kids how to write etc. When he finally finds the man he is looking for, he will have to decide whether he follows the way of the samurai or chooses peace and reconciliation.

More Painful than Rain

Ayami, who works in the marketing department of an advertising agency, is about to turn 30 and is beginning to think that she would rather live her life for work than marriage. Just then, she meets Kurasawa, who works at the same company, and they soon find themselves drawn to each other.

Breathe In, Breathe Out

Breathe In, Breathe Out centers on six, later seven, individuals who have gotten jobs harvesting sugarcane on a small Okinawa island. Each worker has their own unique personality as well as their own issues as they learn to work together...

Sorry

Twelve year old Sei has hit puberty and is quickly becoming sexually aware, sometimes not as privately as he'd like; erections in school and other inopportune times plague him. He talks about it with his school friends, Kinta and Nyanko, in between their feuding over the affections of classmate Yumi, but can't figure out what to do about it.

No Problem 2

Kimura wins a trip to Hong Kong, but once he arrives, he is mistaken as a hitman and is assigned to kill Yumiko, the female successor to the Ota Group conglomerate. When Kimura falls for his target instead, he must learn kung-fu from a local (Yuen) to fight off the yakuza assassin "Invincible" assigned to finish the job.

Quartet

"Quartet" tells the story of four young musicians as they form a string quartet and pursue fame.