MYSELF WHEN I AM REAL
MYSELF WHEN I AM REAL Read More »
Period Film
KOKUHO
An unexpected box office sensation in Japan, KOKUHO is the long-gestating passion project of director Lee Sang-il, whose previous work is familiar with HIFF audiences like HULA GIRLS and the Japanese remake of UNFORGIVEN. Born from his 15-year fascination with kabuki and the onnagata tradition—men playing women on stage—Lee adapts Shūichi Yoshida’s serialized novel into
DIAMOND DIPLOMACY
Spanning 150 years of history between the United States and Japan, DIAMOND DIPLOMACY reveals how the shared love of baseball became an enduring bridge between two nations. Anchored by the stories of Japanese pitcher Masanori “Mashi” Murakami—the first Japanese player in Major League Baseball—and American Warren Cromartie, the film traces how sports intersect with racism,
BEFORE THE BRIGHT DAY
BEFORE THE BRIGHT DAY, the poignant directorial debut of emerging Taiwanese filmmaker Shih-Han Tsao, captures a young man’s turbulent coming-of-age against the backdrop of the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis. Chou, labeled a “B-class loser” by his teacher, yearns for more than his uneventful adolescence—especially with Min, the girl he likes, placed in the elite A-class.
BEFORE THE BRIGHT DAY Read More »
ARMY ON THE TREE
Adapted from an unfinished work by acclaimed dramatist Hisashi Inoue, ARMY ON THE TREE is inspired by real events on the Okinawan island of Iejima in the final days of World War II. Inoue, whose plays often examined the legacy of war and the shared responsibility of ordinary Japanese citizens, conceived the story as a