Poem of the Young Hearts
1969 · 55m · Documentary
An independently produced documentary about growing up as a blind youth in 1960's Japan. It focuses on a group of elementary level students being taught by Mr. Kawai at the Zoshigaya Branch of Tokyo Educational University. Filmed over 12 years, the documentary tracks these student's lives up through their young adulthood. It follows the journey of one student in particular, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, a young boy who eventually learns a passion for music and wants to become a recording artist. Expanded from director Hideo Hamada's documentary short "But We Can Gaze!"
More Like This
Rainbow Family
2022
Siblings Aru, age 3, and Kino, age 1, have 3 parents: father Fumino, who is transgender; mother Honoyo, Fumino's partner who gave birth to the children; and father Gon, a close gay friend who donated his sperm. The 3 are now raising their children together, struggling repeatedly to find their own way of being a family. This program covers their first 3 years of parenting. And it asks an important question: What does it take to be a family?
More info →
The Blind Storytellers
2014 · ★ 9
Li Shouwang is the leader of a blind storytellers team, learned storytelling at the age of 19. His childernare living hard in other cities. Li's money amost goes to his children's pocket every year. But with urbanisation, the storytellers have lost almost all their audience. As the conflict between the storytelling team and the village team intensified, his son, who was far away from home, became the only spiritual sustains... When he was excited that his son would be taking his family home for Chinese New Year, what's await is a sigh.
More info →Under a Bridge
1974
In this tape, Ko Nakajima and Video Earth Tokyo interview a homeless man. The subject is initially angry and frustrated, but gradually opens up and shares stories about his life. Under A Bridge was later broadcast on cable television.
More info →
A Life Reimagined: The George Masa Story
2026
In 1915 a young, charismatic Japanese man with a mysterious past entered into the Appalachian culture of Asheville, North Carolina, is suspicioned a spy, targeted by the Klan, but perseveres with a passion for photography and the mountains he adopts, bringing to life Great Smoky Mountains National Park & the Appalachian Trail.
More info →
This is Love
2024
This is Love tells the romance stories of 3 Nigerian LGBTQ+ couples and how they navigate romantic relationships in a conservative and hostile Nigerian environment. It is an attempt to humanize LGBTQ+ people in Nigeria by telling a story of how they find love amidst the risks and struggles. The cast includes a lesbian couple, a gay couple and a couple made up of a transman and a ciswoman. It covered conversations around acceptance, religion, health, the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act (SSMPA), and finding love. 2 out of the 3 couples wore masks and had their voices distorted. Aside from helping to conceal the identity of the cast, the mask and distorted voices are also symbolic of the double life LGBTQ+ Nigerians have to live for their safety and security.
More info →
Hypothesis of Barrier Agreed Upon
2025
a filmmaker setting out to capture the life of demolition worker, an immigrant whose close friends and fellow workers went missing. As the filmmaker attempts to do so, the production faces many symbolic and frustrating obstacles in between. Disheartened, the filmmaker departs the site—defeated, exhausted, and grieving the story they couldn’t tell.
More info →
Kampai! Sake Sisters
2019 · ★ 8
Sake is a traditional alcoholic beverage from Japan and is otherwise known as rice wine. Women were prohibited from entering the many large and small sake breweries dotting Japan for centuries. However, times have changed and women are present on the sake scene today. In several cases, they are integral to the Japanese brewery business. The documentary depicts women who are not only enthusiasts, but also leaving their marks on the evolution of this Japanese mainstay.
More info →
Paper City
2021 · ★ 8
Just after midnight on 10 March 1945, the US launched an air-based attack on eastern Tokyo; continuing until morning, the raid left more than 100,000 people dead and a quarter of the city eradicated. Unlike their loved ones, Hiroshi Hoshino, Michiko Kiyooka and Minoru Tsukiyama managed to emerge from the bombings. Now in their twilight years, they wish for nothing more than recognition and reparations for those who, like them, had been indelibly harmed by the war – but the Japanese government and even their fellow citizens seem disinclined to acknowledge the past.
More info →
David Against Goliath
2023 · ★ 1
Haunted by three unfinished films, a filmmaker seeks to demystify his relationship with failure through encounters with past collaborators.
More info →
A Day in Tokyo
1968
A Day in TOKYO in 1968, Nostalgic bygone era. Planned by Japan National Tourism Organization. Produced by Koga Production. This film was produced to explain Tokyo for foreign tourists.
More info →