Ryota Bando

Hiroto, a kind and earnest older brother and his autistic younger brother, Michito, led an ordinary life together -- until one day, a five-year-old boy appeared at their doorstep claiming to be their nephew. This boy, who refers to himself as "Lion," says he is the son of Hiroto and Michito's sister, who they believed was dead. However, she was actually alive only to vanish again, entrusting her young son to the brothers' care. The trio develop a strong camaraderie as they seek to unravel a thicket of lies and a grand scheme of love, surrounding the mysterious sister.

A psychologist looking to find out how her brother disappeared goes to a cursed town called Howling Village and finds out dark and shocking truths.

Aki, Ryo, and Yuta grew up on a tiny Japanese island with Fureru, a small yellow hedgehog with mysterious powers. Now in their 20s and chasing a fresh start in Tokyo, the trio tries to build new lives while keeping their unusual companion out of sight. But as Fureru's powers awaken, buried emotions and old tensions reemerge, pushing their friendship into unpredictable new territory.

Synanthrope—a quiet burger joint with eight ordinary young employees. That is, until it falls victim to the most inexplicable robbery. Now, what was once unremarkable grows increasingly off-kilter… ©Kazuya Konomoto, "Synanthrope" Film Partners

Master filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa won the Silver Lion (Best Director) at the Venice Film Festival for this riveting, gorgeously crafted, old-school Hitchockian thriller. The year is 1940 in Kobe, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. Local merchant and amateur filmmaker Yusaku (Issey Takahashi, Kill Bill) senses that things are headed in an unsettling direction. Following a trip to Manchuria, he becomes determined to bring to light the things he witnessed there, and secretly filmed. Meanwhile, his wife Satoko (Japan Society’s 2021 Honoree Yû Aoi) receives a visit from her childhood friend, now a military policeman. He warns her about Yusaku’s seditious ways and reveals that a woman her husband brought back from his trip has died. Satoko confronts Yusaku, but when she discovers his true intentions, she is torn between loyalty to her husband, the life they have built, and the country they call home.

Yukisuke is attracted to a girl Koyomi, who runs a small stand of taiyaki pastry that he often buys. Koyomi is hospitalized, however, by a car accident on a rainy day after they go out together, and wakes up with short term memory loss, where she cannot remember anything beyond the present day. Yukisuke tries to live close to her as before but the lack of collective memory starts to stagger him.

Follows the lives of two very different students—one carefree and charming, the other unhappy and lonely—as they try to make it through high school.

Determined to revive her startup's dwindling success, an innovative young CEO hires a middle-aged, traditional businessman to join her hardworking team.