New York Japan CineFest: Program 1

Highlighting some of the most exciting new voices in cinema, New York Japan CineFest presents two nights of short films by emerging Japanese and Japanese-American filmmakers.

The first night's program is followed by a reception. 

Click here to check out Program 2 on Thursday, June 6, 2019.

Program 1: 

Formal Warrior Suit Ranger 
Dir. Shinichiro Ueda. 2018. Japan. 10 mins. 

Five men and women in suits confront villains who are disturbing the city. They are The Suit Rangers. They are properly dressed for both their occupations and their fight with the villains.

Albatross Soup 
Dir. Winnie Cheung. 2018. USA. 7 mins. 

Albatross Soup is a delightfully fluid animation that complements a chorus of voices attempting to investigate a puzzling suicide: a man gets off a boat, he walks into a restaurant and orders albatross soup. He takes one sip...pulls out a gun, and shoots himself. So...why did he kill himself?

OFUKU 
Dir. Sayoko Akutsu. 2016. Japan. 15 mins. 

OFUKU has been searching for her mother since the Edo era, 360 years ago. Eventually, she meets Tomiko, an aspiring actress, who is plagued by one misfortune after another. Together, the cook up off-the-wall ideas to rescue Tomiko from a financial crisis instigated by her money-grubbing boyfriend.

Minidoka 
Dir. Megumi Nishikura. 2019. USA. 14 mins. 

Young Seattle-based activist Joseph Shoji Lachman, who is fourth generation half-Japanese, sees parallels between his own family’s history and the Trump administration’s attempts to ban Muslims, refugees, and immigrants. In order to understand the ordeals his family endured during World War II, Joseph travels to the Minidoka concentration camp in Hunt, Idaho. 

AYESHA 
Dir. Seiji O'Hara. 2018. 6 mins. Courtesy of Kadoma International Film Festival.

There was a small planet in the middle of the broad universe. Everyone there is paying attention to one thing: seeing their planet from the outside, from images captured by a drifting astronaut. 

DONNY THE DRONE 
Dir. Mackenzie Sheppard. USA. Japan, USA. 11 mins. 

Donny the Drone has just been named the “Person of the Year” by World Times magazine. Donny takes the stage to dramatically tell his story of how he came to have real human emotions. His anecdotes are portrayed with highlights from his world-spanning adventures that have shaped who he has become. 

A Banal Man 
Dir. Kurumi Hakamata. 2018. Japan. 11 mins. Courtesy of Aichi International Women’s Film Festival.

I could not bear a child. So I made robots instead. But people hated and rejected them. I made up my mind to get even with the person responsible for destroying the robots. Anyone who would want to kill my beautiful children must surely be a monster.

Dream
Dir. Tekkou Nogami. 2017. Japan. 8 mins. 

What if there was one day you could go back to before you go to heaven? When would you choose? Who would you spend it with? What would you say to them? From the border of heaven to that day, he goes back to one summer day to tell his true love his thoughts.

Co-presented with Mar Creation