Le Japon, l'empereur et l'armée

Diocles

Through both personal and political conflicts, the film tells the story of emperor Diocletian's rise to power and his complicated place in ancient Rome's court politics.

Quo Vadis

1951 · ★ 7.1

After fierce Roman commander Marcus Vinicius becomes infatuated with beautiful Christian hostage Lygia, he begins to question the tyrannical leadership of the despotic emperor Nero.

Tohoku Tomo

2014

A documentary film telling the story of true friendship and commitment to Japan’s recovery by the international community following the Great East Japan Earthquake. Many of these people dropped what they were doing and dedicated themselves to Japan’s recovery. Many of these them even took it upon themselves to establish non-profit organizations aimed at connecting with and rebuilding Tohoku and its communities.

Ryoukan-san

2003

An animated motion picture about a real-life Buddhist monk and renowned poet, Ryoukan who lived in 18th century Japan, during the Edo Period. Though born to a wealthy family in Izumozaki, Ryoukan chooses to abandon the easy life he would have inherited in order to understand the true meaning of life through the teachings of Buddhism. From his early adulthood, he undergoes a series of harsh training that demands a solitary and meager lifestyle. Throughout it all, he remains an extremely modest and humble person, a true humanitarian who accepts every individual for who they are while rejecting all worldly fame and wealth. Ryoukan found true peace in life through nature and spending time with children. His pure mind and affable personality have captivated many, and his legacy and the wisdom of his teachings live on today.

Dance of Darkness

1989 · ★ 9

The dark sensibilities and cultural resonances of Butoh, the radical Japanese dance movement, are explored in this multilayered work. Profoundly rooted in both traditional and contemporary Japanese culture, Butoh arose in a spirit of revolt in the early 1960s. Characterized by frank sexuality and bodily distortions, Butoh transforms traditional dance movements into new forms, stripping away the taboos of contemporary Japanese culture to reveal a secret world of darkness and irrationality.

Inu-Oh

2022 · ★ 7.3

A cursed dancer and a blind musician — both ostracized by society — become business partners and inseparable friends as their larger-than-life concerts propel them to stardom in 14th century Japan.

The Last Emperor

1987 · ★ 7.6

A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

Genji Fantasy: The Cat Fell in Love With Hikaru Genji

2019

The Tale of Genji Museum in Uji City, Kyoto will be airing a short film blending history and fantasy, the story follows a modern high school girl named Hana who is transformed into a cat and transported back in time. She travels 1,000 years ago to the Heian Era as portrayed in The Tale Of Genji, arguably the most famous novel in Japanese literature. Guided by the novel's titular character Hikaru Genji, Hana experiences firsthand the emotions that the author Murasaki Shikibu depicted in her novel. The short features scenes based on The Diary of Lady Murasaki and other historical materials, such as the real-life noble Fujiwara no Michinaga swiping early drafts of The Tale Of Genji because he could not wait to read chapters as Murasaki wrote them.

Miss Hokusai

2015 · ★ 6.7

A daughter is constantly overshadowed by her famous father, but she is determined to make her own mark in the world.

The Making of a Japanese

2024 · ★ 7.3

Intimately following 1st and 6th graders at a public elementary school in Tokyo, we observe kids learning the traits necessary to become part of Japanese society.

Jodhaa Akbar

2008 · ★ 7.3

A sixteenth century love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a Mughal emperor and a Rajput princess.

Two Portraits of MIYAGINO

2010 · ★ 7.8

In Edo-era Japan, a ukiyo-e artist languishes in his master’s shadow. Creatively stifled, he finds consolation in the company of a prostitute, and becomes entangled in a love triangle. A mystery emerges involving two portraits and the sudden disappearance of the artist Sharaku. Helmed by Cannes-selected director Tatsuji Yamazaki, the film employs kabuki-inspired sequences and stylised sets.