A magical realist story of the legendary Okinawan hero Untamagiru participating in efforts to form an independent Okinawa before the island was returned to Japan in 1972.
Social & External
The people behind it
Kaoru Kobayashi
Giru
Jun Togawa
Giru's Sister
John Sayles
US High Commissioner
Chikako Aoyama
Mare
Rinsuke Teruya
Barber Musician
Tetsu gets into an argument with some Okinawa yakuza and is murdered by them. His brother Ryo comes to Okinawa shortly thereafter and teams up with Tetsu's girlfriend and Max an ex US soldier to extract revenge.
"There are many things that I don't like. The traffic jam on the way to Naha, my debt-ridden father, my best friend's boyfriend, milk, and my hometown, Shioya-wan. Why did my beautiful mother marry my father?" Ruri tried to escape from these thoughts as she faced an uncertain future. Then, one day, she learns of her mother's past, but…
In the closing days of World War II, Japanese-American Hiromi, a girl age 16, encounters an American deserter, Bob, and a Japanese soldier, Iwabuchi, living together in a cave on a small island in Okinawa. The two men are deserters from their armies; yet both vow never to harm another human being again. Hiromi looks after the deserters until another soldier appears and the peace of the cave is shattered. It leads to the death of three of them and a fascinating mystery that isn't solved until the present day.
Best-selling romance author Kim Jung-min travels to Okinawa, seeking inspiration and a much-needed break. From the very first day, however, his trip is riddled with unexpected complications, including a surprising coincidence: another traveler with the exact same name. Enter Kim Jung-min, a spirited webtoon artist who has arrived in Okinawa with a bold mission—to confess her feelings to someone special. Despite their contrasting personalities—he, meticulous and reserved, and she, optimistic and full of life—the two find themselves drawn together on a journey neither planned. As they navigate their misadventures, their paths intertwine in unexpected ways, leading them to confront their dreams, fears, and the possibility of a love story neither could have scripted.
Breathe In, Breathe Out centers on six, later seven, individuals who have gotten jobs harvesting sugarcane on a small Okinawa island. Each worker has their own unique personality as well as their own issues as they learn to work together...
Tomboy Yui (Mao Inoue) brings her 3 male friends along with her to see a live performance of local Okinawan rap group, “Workaholic”. Upon witnessing the crowd reaction, the boys decide to start a rap group of their own to impress chicks—while Toru (Hayato Ichihara) has the added motivation of impressing his older, more sophisticated love interest Nagisa (Ayumi Ito). With only 2 weeks to learn how to play instruments and prepare for their first show, the performance is predictably humiliating. In order to save pride they decide to give it another shot, but this time they ditch the instruments for a sampler and stay truer to themselves. Will Toru be able to capture Nagisa’s heart? Will Yui ever confess her love to Toru or will she just keep practicing her advanced pro wrestling techniques on him instead?
Summoned by his dying father, Miyagi returns to his homeland of Okinawa, with Daniel, after a 40-year exile. There he must confront Yukie, the love of his youth, and Sato, his former best friend turned vengeful rival. Sato is bent on a fight to the death, even if it means the destruction of their village. Daniel finds his own love in Yukia's niece, Kumiko, and his own enemy in Sato's nephew, the vicious Chozen. Now, far away from the tournaments, cheering crowds and safety of home, Daniel will face his greatest challenge ever when the cost of honor is life itself.
Jimmy Tong is an expert blackmailer and thief who specialises in white-collar crimes. With his side-kick, Jimmy steals a personal diary belonging to a Yakuza leader Ken Sato intending to use its details as a platform for blackmailing and to extort money. Sato agreed to the uneasy deal and made preparations to pay Jimmy his exorbitant demands only for Sato's girlfriend Jenny to betray him and make off with the money to Okinawa.
In post-WWII Japan, an American captain is brought in to help build a school, but the locals want a teahouse instead.
Masaki, a baseball player and gas-station attendant, gets into trouble with the local Yakuza and goes to Okinawa to get a gun to defend himself. There he meets Uehara, a tough gangster, who is in serious debt to the yakuza and planning revenge.
An Okinawan woman kidnaps the teenage son of a U.S. Marine convicted of raping her when she was a girl.
A group of teenagers grow up in Okinawa amid the protests and resistance against the presence of the American base in the island.
Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract music of pop star Lily Chou-Chou.
Screened as part of the "Local Origin Project" at the 6th Okinawa International Movie Festival (March 20–24, 2014). This film is one of the "Local Origin Movies" created to showcase the region’s daily life, folklore, industries, local products, and tourism information.
Set in the sun-drenched landscapes of Okinawa, this heartfelt coming-of-age story follows Teruya Yō, a teenager living with his cheerful single mother, Akane, and younger sister, Mai. Despite their modest life, the family is close-knit and full of warmth. When Yō falls for Lisa, a student at a local dance school, he joins her class—discovering not only his passion for dance but a talent that quickly blossoms. Encouraged by his mother, a former dancer, Yō begins to dream big. The arrival of Hiroki, a music producer and Yō’s estranged uncle, brings news that shatters Yō's hopes of reconnecting with his absent father. As emotions erupt, long-buried truths between mother and son come to light.
Abandoned after coming out, Shun befriends Mio just before he has to move. Years later, Mio returns with a confession. How will Shun feel?
Go Takamine's first theatrical feature is a pioneering work of Okinawan cinema, filmed almost entirely in Okinawan dialect. Taking place shortly before the resumption of Japanese sovereignty over Okinawa, Takamine’s film tacitly addresses the island prefecture's complicated history of occupation and feelings of dislocation through the story of a small community and its preparations for a wedding between a local girl and a Japanese teacher. On the periphery of these events is Reishu (Kaoru Kobayashi), who quits his job on a US military base and uses the extra time to catch snakes and play with ants – and get the bride-to-be pregnant. Takamine’s leisurely-paced film is full of uniquely Okinawan touches that mix in aspects of the island's folklore, accompanied by Haruomi Hosono’s spare and evocative score.
A teacher leads an unlikely team to a high school baseball championship in this sports drama. Managing a team on the verge of extinction, teacher Hiroyoshi rallies the squad on an underdog journey.
A love story about two step-siblings, Yota and Kaoru. Long ago, Yota's mother married Kaoru's jazz-playing father, effectively merging the two families. Unfortunately, Kaoru's father skipped town, and Yota's mother passed away, but not before imparting a dying wish to her young son to take care of Kaoru.
This drama depicts a boy's coming of age against the backdrop of Okinawa's food culture. Director Nakamura Ryugo was born in 1996. He made this film, his feature debut, when he was just fourteen years old. Okinawa has an old tradition of eating a goat for celebratory occasions. But that culture is starting to fade in urban areas. Yuto (Uehara Soji), a sixth grader living in Naha, spends his winter vacation in the countryside town where his grandparents reside. He receives a shock when he sees the goat raised by his grandfather killed by locals.
Jack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he’s got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he’s a goner.
A social butterfly who dies during her birthday week is given a second chance to right her wrongs on Earth.
Krissy Kringle receives a delivery intended for Santa Claus. A magical book that shows if a person has been naughty or nice. She uses the book's power to find out about those around her, which leads to some very unusual and unintended results. Krissy realizes that everyone has some good and some not so good in them.
Four tales unfold in Wes Anderson's anthology of short films adapted from Roald Dahl's beloved stories, "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar", "The Swan", "The Rat Catcher", and "Poison."
A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
A man, who once dreamed of becoming a punk rocker, is working as a low salaryman at a musical instrument parts company. He's secretly in love with his colleague. One day, he finds a little turtle on the rooftop, naming it Pikadon.
When the four Willoughby children are abandoned by their selfish parents, they must learn how to adapt their Old-Fashioned values to the contemporary world in order to create something new: The Modern Family.
Sam is a teenage royal rebel, second in line to the throne of the kingdom of Illyria. Just as her disinterest in the royal way of life is at an all-time high, she discovers she has super-human abilities and is invited to join a secret society of similar extraordinary second-born royals charged with keeping the world safe.
The film tells futurist, architect, and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller's incredible story through two teens hoping to get laid, become punk gods, and survive high school.
Dragon Cry is a magical artifact of deadly power, formed into a staff by the fury and despair of dragons long gone. Now, this power has been stolen from the hands of the Fiore kingdom by the nefarious traitor Zash Caine, who flees with it to the small island nation of Stella. Frightened that the power has fallen into the wrong hands, the King of Fiore hastily sends Fairy Tail to retrieve the staff. But this task proves frightening as a shadowy secret lies in the heart of the kingdom of Stella. Dragon Cry follows their story as they muster up all their strength to recover the stolen staff and save both kingdoms.
A young girl tries to fit in with a clique of popular middle school girls after moving into the guest house of one of their homes.
Two teenage girls travel across the U.S. in 1962, during the chaos of the Cuban missile crisis, in search of Eleanor Roosevelt.
When Toaster and the gang spark friendships with the playful animals at the veterinary hospital, they soon discover their new pals are about to be sent to a testing laboratory.
A 16-year-old girl takes her parents hostage after they miss her big jump-roping competition.
The Oscar-winning cat-and-mouse twosome--Tom and Jerry--returns with another adventure. When Tom and Jerry's irrepressible curiosity gets the best of them, the mysterious magic ring that Tom guards with his life ends up stuck over Jerry's head. Now, Jerry must find a way to free himself of the ring while fleeing Tom, who wants to remove the ring any way he can! Find out if the pair can conjure up a solution in this fur-raising, madcap escapade.
Amber, a mean popular girl who gets electrocuted and dies, is not allowed to enter into heaven unless she helps the least popular girl in school become Prom Queen within a week, but things do not go as planned.
A man in his mid-20s, still living at home with his mother and stepfather, puts all his eggs in one basket: the girl who works at his local coffee shop. The problem is, she has a serious boyfriend. As they become closer, the line between friendship and intimacy is blurred, and the situation forces both to examine where they are in their lives.
A young filmmaker in 1960s Paris juggles directing a cheesy sci-fi debacle, directing his own personal art film, coping with his crumbling relationship with his girlfriend, and a new-found infatuation with the sci-fi film's starlet.
A young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock causes chaos in the suburban town of Black Falls when jealous kids and scheming adults alike set out to get their hands on it.
