Shuhei Kamimura

At Hekiyo Academy, all but one of the Student Council members are elected via popularity contests, and those seats are filled by the school's most beautiful girls! The lines between fact and fiction disappear at the STUDENT COUNCIL'S DISCRETION!

Japan around 1860: popular courtesan Asagiri will be freed soon from her service, yet she cannot imagine any other existence. Until one day at a local festival, Asagiri meets the young artisan Hanjiro by chance – an encounter that changes her destiny. With a strong performance by leading actress Yumi ADACHI and exquisite camerawork and production design, A COURTESAN WITH FLOWERED SKIN succeeds in recalling the golden age of Japanese erotic film.

A young Japanese man named Kota Tanaka (Osamu Mukai) works to raise money and then build an elementary school in Cambodia.

Based on the award-winning novel of the same name, this boldly erotic yet movingly tender portrait of a group of vulnerable, variously wounded people — a depressed housewife, her high-school-aged lover, and his best friend, who is struggling to provide for himself and his senile grandmother — whose intersecting lives yield both sorrow and a fragile, yet enduring, hope for a brighter future. (TIFF)

Set at the edge of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, with its beautiful scenic views, the film revolves around two women from different backgrounds who develop a friendship, and how they begin to influence and change each other’s lives.

At the strong insistence of his father, Ushimatsu Segawa conceals his origins from a “buraku” area of low-class “untouchables,” leaving his hometown to serve as an elementary school teacher where he excels and is loved by his students. But he constantly struggles with the secret of his low-birth status and is disturbed by all of the discrimination levelled upon his class. It prevents him from pursuing a romance with Shiho, whom he meets at the temple where he resides, but who descends from a samurai family.

The soldiers no longer know why they are at war, and when it even started. Daily and dutifully they march to the river and shoot at the opposite village from 9 to 5 – orders are orders after all. They’ve done so for decades. When private Tsuyuki is transferred to the marching band, people keep asking him what use music is in times of war.

Ai is a student at an all-girls' art high school. She is known to be extremely gifted in the arts, but the adults around her try to use her and her classmates are jealous of her. Ai suffers because of her situation, but doesn't have anywhere to escape. Her daily life becomes like a war and she begins to collapse.

Nobuto, a dedicated boxer, can't seem to win a match, while his friend Kazuki is becoming a rising star and may win the championship. Meanwhile, Kazuki is engaged to Chika, Nobuto's first love.

Sailor Marat carries a great burden. His whole village condemns him since his wife and many fishermen were washed off his boat in a mysterious sea storm. Ever since then the sea has vanished. One day, Marat returns to his village, obsessed by the idea of making the sea return and so the dead. He begins rebuilding his shipwreck in the middle of the desert, dragging it towards the endless horizon. Only his last close friend Balthasar, and Tamara, the sister of Marat's deceased wife, believe in him. Tamara, deeply in love with Marat, who repulses her, knows from a fortune teller that maybe not her dream but his might come true. One morning Marat wakes up by the sound of water - the sea has returned, ready to take what belongs to her...

34-year-old Michiyo Mabuchi (Kumiko Aso) and 26-year-old Yoshimi Tendo (Shota Yasuda) meet at a screenwriting class. Michiyo Mabuchi, who is called "Basyauma", works hard to become a writer, but can't see a future for herself as a screenwriter. Meanwhile, Yoshimi Tendo is a bigmouth who never tries hard at anything. These two people fall in love.

Haijima Ryu, the deputy editor of a travel magazine, works vigorously at a breakneck pace. He has conceived consecutive hit projects and the magazine’s circulation has even soared. The editor regards Ryu as a candidate to be the next editor and pins his hopes on him. But at home, Ryu’s wife Sae, who works part-time at the library while supporting the family as a housewife, is disgruntled that he cares only about his work. One day, Ryu breathes heavily, breaks out in cold sweat and is assailed by a deep sense of unease on the train. This is his first panic attack. A proud and vain man, Ryu cannot bring himself to confess his illness to his company and his family.

Natsumi is proposed to by Yamato, a man who aims to become a fisherman to succeed his father. Her grandmother Kiyo, who raised her since a young age, broke her legs and uses a wheelchair now. Kiyo lives in a facility where Natsumi visits to tell her about the wedding. Natsumi suggests the idea of Kiyo walking along the wedding aisle with her, which encourages the week Kiyo. With that mindset, Kiyo regains hope and try to get better with the help of Natsumi

Army surveying team attempted to scale Mount Tsurugi, a peak never before reached by humans, in order to map Japan. This behind-the-scenes documentary, was shot by director Osawa Yoshitaka and the renowned cameraman Kimura Daisaku, who made his directorial debut with this film. Filming took place in the secluded Tateyama mountain range, boasting an altitude of 3,000 meters and lasted over 200 days. The film vividly showcases the pride of the "activists" who risked their lives to tackle the gruelling two-year production schedule.

Takeshi (Takashi Tsukamoto), an Italian restaurant chef, and Ruri (Saki Aibu) could have been lovers, but Takeshi was too comfortable with their current relationship that he chose to stay best friends with her. Now, Ruri is engaged to another man and Takeshi is deep in regret. He runs through the night of Tokyo to tell her his true feelings before it’s too late, but right as he stands in front of Ruri, an unfortunate accident takes his life away. However, a twist of fate brings them back together once again in an ironic situation. "Eternal First Love" unfolds as a bittersweet story of an everlasting "first love."