Children's Scary Story 2000

Color / 8mm. Awarded Special Jury award at 1988 Pia Film Festival

The small town of Yumetoi has been sealed off from the outside world for 20 years by a mysterious phenomenon called “Zon”. But more and more people, like Ippo and his girlfriend Remi, begin to wonder: What lies beyond “Zon”? Takuji SUZUKI’s experimental science fiction film will capture you with its surreal atmosphere, which is intensified by a unique combination of digital and analog images.

Unholy Women (Kowai onna), is a composite of three unrelated half-hour horror movies. A compilation of 3 separate short horror films (Rattle Rattle, Hagane, The Inheritance) written and directed by Keita Amemiya, Takuji Suzuki, and Keisuke Toyoshima respectively. The first segment, “Rattle Rattle”, tells the story of a young woman who is pursued by an evil other-worldly being. The second movie, “Steel”, concerns a young man who agrees to take the sister of his boss out on a blind date, drawing him into a world more frightening than he ever dreamed possible. The third and final episode, “The Inheritance”, is a supernatural tale of a woman and her young son, scarred by abuse and psychological trauma.

Made under the restrictions of "no zoom, pan, editing or post-sound," directors Shinobu Yaguchi and Takuji Suzuki skewer Japanese social conventions in 14 short episodes. In one segment a woman misreads an advertisement and arrives at a job interview dressed in a bunny suit. Another concerns a woman who hides to surprise her friends only to overhear their unkind appraisal of her hygiene. And another entitled "Grandpa from Hell" is a surreal yarn about a cult leader. Ranging from the humorous to the deeply bizarre, the film's static, minimalistic style makes such "Dogme 95" films as The Celebration (1998) look extravagant.

Haru works at a part-time job for a bookstore. Her dream is to become an illustrator and she also loves cats. One day, after a cat named Chibutomu disappears from the bookstore Haru canvasses the neighbourhood in search of Chibutomu.

A writer from Kamakura named Hiraoka Eisei is researching supernatural stories but finds himself revisiting memories from a previous visit to his wife’s home town. Ogura Kako,a shy local woman, is asked to help an actor from Tokyo practice speaking with Kyoto intonation and, after the lesson, he asks her to show him around Arashiyama.

A woman from rural Japan marries a struggling cartoonist in Tokyo. Their life is difficult before he finds success, but at least they're together.

Short film by Takuji Suzuki.