Content from SIGLO

Documentary filmmaker Makoto Sato offers this reflection on the life and career of Edward Said, the deeply influential literary and cultural critic, Columbia University academic, and outspoken advocate for displaced Palestinians, of whom he was one. Exploring the landscapes of Said's childhood and how they influenced his philosophy, this film features rare footage of Said and interviews with many of his colleagues, including Noam Chomsky.

Kanao, a courtroom portrait artist, observes crimes, scandals and the decline of Japanese values without passing judgement. As he and his wife endure the tragedy of their first child’s death, hope slowly unfolds and their love story flickers to life once again.

Ryoko Matsumura is a popular writer in her 50's. She also knows that she has Alzheimer’s. Ryoko Matsumura begins to teach at a university. She meets a young Korean man in his 20's. They become attracted to each other.

When a gold ingot and a severed human head are discovered in a small provincial town, the rush to solve the curious case wavers between tragic and darkly humorous.

Naoya and Katsuhiro are boyfriends, new in their relationship. Things are uneven at first—Naoya is open and free while Katsuhiro is cautious and closeted—but nothing compares to the chaos that arrives when Asako, a troubled woman with a history of psychiatric problems, abortions, and casual sex, asks Katsuhiro to conceive a child with her.

In the ever-changing landscape of redeveloping Shibuya, Tokyo, Ren works as a delivery driver for moth orchids. Haunted by the childhood loss of his mother, Yumiko, to suicide, he has long been estranged from his father, Hajime, a landscape designer. One day, during a routine delivery, Ren unexpectedly comes face to face with Hajime…

Kageko, a teacher in a small mountain village with a thriving Japanese paper industry, is visited by a former student, who proposes a plan to manufacture counterfeit money. She initially refuses, but eventually decides to join the project for the sake of the poor children in the village and her own mentally handicapped child.

Tells of the childhood of two nine-year-old twins in a rural village in Japan after World War 2. Includes the boys relationships with their schoolteacher mother, civil servant father, elderly landlord, a rough new boy at the school, and three mysterious spirits in the form of old women.

Kenzo was behind bars for killing a gangster. Upon his release, he goes to live with his son, whose marriage is on the rocks. His 14-year-old granddaughter Tamako is ostracized when she discovers that her grandfather is a murderer. Kenzo soon helps defend Tamako from bullies at school. When Tamako stands up for herself, she comes to believe that she has inherited some of her grandfather’s great strength. Eventually, an associate of the man Kenzo killed comes looking for revenge, along with the dead man’s son.

On April 1, 1945, the United States military launched its invasion of the main island of Okinawa, the start of a battle that was to last 12 weeks and claim the lives of some 240,000 people. This film depicts the Battle through the eyes of Japanese and American soldiers who fought each other on the same battlefield, along with Okinawa civilians who were swept up in the fighting. The film also depicts the history of discrimination and oppression forced upon Okinawa by the American and Japanese governments. Carrying up to the current controversy over the construction of a new base at Henoko, the film explores the root causes of the widespread disillusionment and anger expressed by many Okinawans. This ambitious documentary was directed by the American John Junkerman, long-term resident of Japan and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker. Okinawa: The Afterburn is a heartfelt plea for peace and an expression of deep respect for the unyielding spirit of the Okinawa people.

Set on a remote island in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, this human drama depicts the strange shared life and family rebirth of two fisherman brothers and a manga artist from Tokyo.

Former delinquent Hiroe leads a dreary existence. She meets a boy named Tatsutoshi whose younger sister was killed in a road accident and tries to cheer him up by creating a fake ritual to bring the dead back to life. To turn her deception into reality, she takes Tatsutoshi on a journey to the seaside.

This documentary compiles a series of Noam Chomsky's interviews and lectures that address the events of 9/11.

This documentary records the lives of people in a mountain village surrounding the kozo (paper mulberry) tree, a raw material used to make Tosa washi paper.

The world after WWII is largely defined as nuclear age. The nuclear energy has been sold as “peaceful” use of atoms, while in essence it is the same as nuclear weapons. The film visits the people and land damaged by pursuit of atomic power both as weapons as well as sources of energy around the world and questions the future of nuclear age.

The film follows the last 4 years life of Grandma Hashima, the last existent from colonial Taiwan, who knows the secrets of "Green Jail," the notorious coal mine before World War II on Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan.

Noriaki Tsuchimoto, a documentary filmmaker known for his series films on Minamata disease, travelled to Afghanistan in 1988 for the production of the film "Afghan Spiring", during which he developed alcoholism. In 1996, after several years of hospitalization and treatment, he accepted a long interview with his close friends, cameraman Koshiro Otsu and producer Tetsujiro Yamagami.

38 years after the Pacific War, 84 victims of a mass suicide ordered by the Japanese military were uncovered in a cave in Yomitan village. This film contains the testimonies of some of the survivors, the story of a sculptor leading bereaved family members in creating a statue of peace, and the resistance of a group of girls against the raising of the Japanese flag at the high school graduation ceremony.

Interviews about Japan's deployment of Self-Defense Forces in Iraq collected from Middle Eastern intellectuals, cultural figures, and Palestinians living in refugee camps in March 2004.