Short Movie Time: Bath House of Whales (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]

Introduction Mizuki Kiyama’s graduation short film Bath House of Whales is a creative reworking of her memories of accompanying her mother, a person of Korean descent living in Japan, to the public baths. Bath House of Whales (2019) was also screened at the Pia Film Festival, where it won the special jury prize.

Spaghetti Code Love (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“Maruyama’s narrative speaks powerfully to the spectator’s subjectivity – his fears and hopes – and enables his evocation of a glimmer of hope that remains present in this dark depressive modern relational mess to positively impact his audience.”

The Goldfish Dreaming Of The Sea (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]

“Ogawa’s thoughtful lyricism that gives the emotionality of the performances their power to touch the spectator and enables her exploration of the difficulty to separate from one’s mother and the need for such separation to happen for subjective growth to resonate so vividly with the audience.” 

Blind Bombing, Filmed by a Bat (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2020]

 Introduction Kota Takeuchi is man of many creative talents, but whatever he does – be it painting, filming, or sculpting – it is related to historical or contemporary topics. He is most renowned as being the representative of the man of the iconic webcam performance Finger Pointing Worker (2011). In his latest short, he explores…