Junko Emoto
Mirai Takatsuki is a seemingly normal teenager, but when he was a child his life was saved from a terrible illness thanks to magnanimous donations from the local community that paid for his medical bills. Ongoing media attention and the pressure to excel have prompted Mirai to have suicidal tendencies.
When theater director Naoko (Saori) holds auditions for the first production of her newly established all-female theater troupe, she is mesmerized by Haru (Arisa Nakamura), who barges into the old garage where they rehearse. Naoko chooses Haru to be the lead as she leverages her power as director to pursue the romantic connection that fuels her voracious creativity. However, as opening night approaches, jealous entanglements threaten the artistic and ideological aims of the project, as well as the relationship with Haru pulling Naoko from her womanizing ways. Based on her own semi-autobiographical novel Kokan, cult theater director and actress Junko Emoto makes her directorial debut in this playful drama relishing the toil and passion of a struggling creative life on and off stage. -JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film
This is an omnibus of six short films by six different directors, whose lead characters are unconventional women. They are "Hijoshi," females who live true to themselves and their desires.
Adapted from the bestselling Japanese autobiography of the same title, this gentle coming-of-age drama concerns an adolescent boy, Boku - Masaya, torn between the inherited recklessness of his father Oton and the inherited responsibility, wisdom and emotional strength of his mother Okan. Following a period of intensely rebellious behavior, Boku learns that his mom has contracted cancer; suddenly, his mother comes to live with him in Tokyo the entire emotional landscape of his life is altered.
There are no heroins, there are no heroes. The six girls in this film are victims of their own excess and lack of worth. The film is set in a Drug Rehabilitation Centre. The girls are rehearsing the play 'Death of Domomata' for the annual Christmas Eve recital. On the morning before the recital, Tobe, who plays the leading role, dies suddenly. How do the girls left behind manage to go on with the show and how do they cope with Tobe's death?
2nd House tells a story of a low income, white-collar worker named Koichi, who has a really bad relationship with his wife. Koichi doesn't have a strong status in the family and so he wanted to find a '2nd House'. He then meets up with Aki and they developed a strong love for each other.... It is a comedy love story full of joy and laugther for adults of all ages.
