“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.”
Category: Youth
461 Days of Bento: A Promise Between Father and Son (2020) review [Camera Japan Festival]
“A heartwarming narrative that does not only affirm that food is what brings people together, but also that the very act of preparing food, in many cases, functions as an expression of love.”
Between Us (2021) review [Camera Japan Festival]
“A great narrative that celebrates the energetic art of Japanese drumming in pleasing way.”
Remain in Twilight (2021) review [Camera Japan Festival]
“Matsui delivers another masterpiece that will long linger in the spectator’s mind.”
It’s a summer film (2021) review [Camera Japan Festival]
“A highly entertaining film that offers a nostalgic and touching dive into youthful passion and romantic feelings and lighthearted celebration of indie-filmmaking and often-forgotten beauty of post-war period films.”
Georama Boy Panorama Girl (2020) review [Fantasia Film Festival]
‘Seta’s poetically composed narrative blows a fresh breeze into the ‘traditional’ Japanese romance genre.’
Town Without Sea (2020) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“A visually engaging narrative about the nature of happiness and the importance of desire that is highly relevant for Japanese youth.”
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.”
The Great Yokai War – Guardians (2021) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“A pleasant and truly satisfying ride for the whole family.”
Dreams of Fire (2021) review [Fantasia Film festival]
“McKie’s film is not only the best dance-film of recent years but might very well be one of the best Japanese films to be released this year.”
Tokyo Revengers (2021) Review [Fantasia Film Festival]
“An exciting blend of satisfying violence, tensive moments, surges of pleasing lightheartedness, and touching emotional moments.”
Follow The Light (2021) review [Fantasia Festival 2021]
The narrative might not offer anything new at a thematical level, but stands out due to his refusal to spell things out and, instead, imply certain subjective truths via elegant and naturalistic poetic moments.
Sasaki In My Mind (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
“Uchiyama delivers a great and finely composed narrative that explores the ephemeral character of relationships that find their sole strength in the imaginary, in the thirst for gaining pleasure.”
Wonderful Paradise (2020) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
A great experiment of the absurd, but its full potential to satisfy the spectator is hindered by its somewhat lackluster composition.
The Promised Land (2019) review [Nippon Connection 2021]
A beautifully composed and highly relevant narrative about destructive kinds of social violence, a social violence against the Otherness present in the community and an ostracizing violence to turn the once-trusted other into an unwanted Otherness.
