Satoko Yokohama
Ito Soma (Ren Komai) has talent for playing Tsugaru-shamisen. The music is native to Aomori Prefecture and involves the traditional folk instrument Tsugaru-shamisen, which is a plucked three-string instrument. Ito Soma learned to play Tsugaru-shamisen from her now deceased mother. Due to her strong Tsugaru dialect and her shy personality, she has a hard time playing in public and also experiences difficulty in social settings. She doesn't have any friends. To change herself, Ito Soma begins a part-time job at a maid cafe.
Takuji Kameoka is a 37-year-old bachelor whose occupation is a “miscellaneous actor”. His only interest is drinking. One day he falls in love and his boring life begins to change. The film is based on the book “Actor, Takuji Kameoka” by Akito Inui, a five-time nominee for Japan’s most prestigious literary prize, the Akutagawa Prize. Satoko Yokohama, a much-admired up-and-coming newcomer, directs the film and we can immediately tell that she is a special talent, with a unique understanding that flows through to her actors and crew.
The Mikami family lives within the foot of Mount Iwaki. The Mikami family makes a living by running an apple farm. Eldest daughter Rinko is a middle school student who keeps running away and coming back home with her boyfriend Kenichiro. Rinko’s mother Mayumi has difficulty raising her kids and the apples. One night, before Rinko's birthday, Rinko's father Tamao brings a horse with a ribbon as her birthday present. Tamao actsas he pleases. The mother suffers from his impulsiveness. To borrow money, Rinko comes back home after a long time away from home. There, Rinko sees the horse.
A short film about a childlike wife and her husband's love. With mundane conversation and familiar scenery, each day passes without any changes. But, in fact, every day is full of small adventures and nothing is the same as yesterday.
Nakagawa shot “Coming Future” on the nights of December 24 and 25, 2010 in Shibuya, making it his location for an idealized Bohemia in the heart of Tokyo. Interesting interviews/discussions with Kenji Murakami, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Kenji Onishi, Tetsuaki Matsue and more... By far the most interesting sequence is with Kenji Onishi (“A Burning Star”). Wielding a super-8 camera, Onishi documents his own interview, taking random shots of street-life and buildings. He leavens his monologue with statements bordering between cliché and outré. “A movie that aims to make a message is boring.”
Youjin is a quirky young man living in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Yojin has a difficult time sitting still and can't focus on extended conversations. His life revolves around farming his grandmother's vegetable garden. Yojin experiences a new kind of feeling when he meets a pretty young lady named Machiko. The feelings are strong enough that he feels the need to be with her and gain her affection.
This wild and outrageous Japanese film by Satoko Yokohama tells the story of a 16 year old girl named Yoshiko, who lives all alone since her mother died and father entered the hospital. There isn't much opportunity in a small town for a teenage girl to make a living, so Yoshiko gives recorder lessons to the neighborhood kids - but when she learns that some of her pupils have caught the eye of a local pedophile, she takes up a part-time job as a vigilante! Her plans to do right by her odd array of students include brutal emasculation, but at the end of the day, the sweet young thing never forgets to reward her precious tykes with treats.
