Being Japanese

JDM Option: SMOKEY NAGATA’S MIDNIGHT 200MPH BLAST!

Delve into the world of psycho speed freak Smokey Nagata. Welcome to the world to 200+ MPH! A collection of top speed runs have been assembled to satisfy your need for speed. These hidden night time activities of high speed blasts on the world famous Wangan highway are all caught on tape! The notoriously infamous and known to be the ultimate speed freak, Chiba-kun shares with us his underground amateur footage of his nightly activities. Follow Chiba-kun as he follows around the top speed legends of the Wangan and Tomei highways. RE Amemiya's Mr. Amemiya and Top Secret's Smokey Nagata put Chiba-kun in the shotgun seat as they perform 200+ MPH blasts in various countries! Although the fun never ends, we can't get away with everything. Shocking footages of Chiba-kun getting busted by the photo radar, and Smokey getting thrown in a foreign country slammer are all included! The cops are ruthless towards speed freaks anywhere in the world!

Bancoco

A New Yorker journeys to the jungle in the Darien Gap of Panama to reconnect with an indigenous tribe he met and photographed 20 years ago. Their reunion highlights the profound power of photos and the human connection that transcends cultural barriers.

A Life Reimagined: The George Masa Story

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.

The Japanese Version

How the Japanese process American pop culture and make it their own -- a mind-bending odyssey through cultural mixing.

Once upon a time... "I, Daniel Blake"

The documentary, filmed in England in autumn 2020, sheds light on the genesis and background of the social drama.

The People and Their Emperor

Japan's Imperial system is said to have over 2,000 years of history. A closer look at the history reveals how the Imperial institution has shifted with the times, and with the people. At a time when there are only three heirs to the throne, a look is taken at what this could mean for the people of Japan and their Imperial system.

Out of State

Out of State is the unlikely story of native Hawaiians men discovering their native culture as prisoners in the desert of Arizona, 3,000 miles, and across the ocean, from their island home.

The Water Map

The Water Map is an essayistic journey through the ethnography and landscapes of the Region of Murcia. These places are in the process of disappearing due to the increasing and abundant agricultural exploitation. Water has marked the territory and the culture of the area, and with its disappearance, the memories of four characters fade away.

Professional Work Style: The Work of Voice Actor Hiroshi Kamiya ~ Searching for an Answer, Looking for a Voice ~

An NHK documentary that introduces top professionals who are active in the line. In this work, it adheres to Hiroshi Kamiya, who has had an overwhelming presence in the voice actor industry, for five months. We approach his days of struggle in a harsh world.

The Cove

The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.

Bruno & Bettina

Masao Adachi, the author and director of experimental works and pinku-eiga in the 1960s, was a member of the Japanese New Left that shifted from being a filmmaker to a guerrilla fighter. In 1974, he joined the Japanese Red Army in Lebanon, which worked closely with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Filmmaker Lutz Dammbeck met Adachi in Tokyo in 2018 and talked with him about a wide range of topics, including art, revolution, the influence of western avant-garde art and American underground; the Japanese Red Army; collaboration with secret services; the role of the Left after 1968; and the reasons for failures of leftist ideas and strategies.

The Nightingale Sings

The movie explores the origin of the Ukrainian language and persecution of those who defended its authenticity. Using examples of other countries, creators of the film prove that a nation cannot exist without a language.

Ainu Neno An Ainu

This documentary started as part of a photography project about the indigenous Ainu population in northern Japan, portraying people from tightly knit communities. They feel deeply connected by their culture and tradition. With gorgeous pictures, the directors explore how different generations of Ainu reflect on their identity after centuries of oppression.

Zombies: When the Dead Walk

Zombies are part of pop culture, but what are they? Where do they come from? To find real zombies we visit Haiti where Zombies are an integral part of the island's cultural and religious roots.

The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life

The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life poetically narrates the story of a community of Iranian Americans who have made the San Francisco Bay Area their home over the past five decades. The film explores Iranian immigration through turbulent histories of dissent, revolution, war, and separation, and the reinvention of identity in a new land and culture. The Dawn is Too Far highlights how Iranian students, activists, and artists have navigated displacement while drawing on and influencing Bay Area culture. This community offers a more nuanced story of the Iranian diaspora—the ways that this community enriches the region where they live, work, and build families. The Dawn is Too Far undermines the tired and overplayed news headlines that are dominated by narratives of enmity and mistrust between the government of Iran and the U.S., to offer a more humane understanding of the how people's lives and the sacrifices they make are part of the larger story of immigration.

Global Sushi : demain nos enfants mangeront des méduses

Hafu

A journey into the intricacies of mixed-race Japanese and their multicultural experiences in modern day Japan. For some hafus, Japan is the only home they know, for some living in Japan is an entirely new experience, and the others are caught somewhere between two different worlds.

Susanne Bartsch: On Top

Dubbed New York's "Queen of the Night," proto–club kid Susanne Bartsch has been throwing unforgettable parties for over 30 years and is still going strong.

The Soul of Bossales

The Soul of Bossales is an immersion in the heart of popular Haitian culture whose spirituality and creativity have been forged by a surge of freedom and identity affirmation. Foukifoura, Édris, Charlotte or Ramoncite, “Bossales” characters with committed artistic and political acts, give us the gripping story of a very harsh reality: material and health precariousness, political violence, neo-colonialism.

White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Steven Okazaki presents a deeply moving look at the painful legacy of the first -- and hopefully last -- uses of nuclear weapons in war. Featuring interviews with fourteen atomic bomb survivors - many who have never spoken publicly before - and four Americans intimately involved in the bombings, White Light/Black Rain provides a detailed exploration of the bombings and their aftermath.