Nominated Films and Special Screening

• 1Brassiere cat
• 2Pen & Magic
• 3Birth-The cycles of life-
• 4Gakushū tsukue
• 5Honey & Lemon
• 6Driving Lessons
• 7Aster School Days
• 8Living with leprosy
• 9Tiptoe
• 10What do I want to be born next?
• 11More Precious Than Gold: A Message From Olympic Medalist Hideko Maehata
• 12Ritsuko & Ken-chan
• Special ScreeningNourishing Japan

• 5 Sep. Sat. 13:30 Large Conference Room

Brassiere cat

• Animation
• Japan / 2020 / 4 min.
• Director: Mone Kurita
• Cast (Voice Acting): Kaito Kurita, Takashi Kurita

Story

Brassiere cat earns his living by working in an office. Deep down, however, he longs to be free and do as he likes. A word from a friend changes all that, and Brassiere cat starts being true to himself and living his own life.

Pen & Magic

• Animation
• Japan / 2019 / 6min.
• Director: Ayako Kishi
• Cast (Voice Acting): Hiroto

Story

A boy finds a magical pen. When he draws in a notebook with the pen, something happens.

Birth-The cycles of life-

• Animation
• Japan / 2019 / 11min.
• Director: Ayaka Kawasaki
• Cast (Voice Acting): Ayaka Kawasaki

Story

“Watashinari – Hahaoya no tsukurikata (My Own Way to Become A Mother)” is a segment of the omnibus film “Birth-The cycles of life-.” It is the story about a girl who, having grown up without knowing her mother, collects pieces of “Mother” to become a mother herself.

Gakushū tsukue

• Animation
• Japan / 2019 / 6min.
• Director: Tomoko Goza (two two two)

Story

The film depicts the growth of a boy from the perspective of his desk given to him as a gift when he starts school. When the time comes for the boy to fly the nest, the desk may see him off half happy, half sad, as a mother would.

Honey & Lemon

• Drama
• Japan / 2020 / 15min.
• Director: Keiko Umenoki
• Cast: Chie Tsuji, Akiko Kinouchi

Story

Single mother Misato watches over her high school daughter as she grows into womanhood. With her budding interest in wearing makeup, Misato’s little girl is no longer a child. She is growing up to be a sweet, caring young woman considerate of the well-being of the mother.

Driving Lessons

• Drama
• Iran / 2019 / 13min.
• Director: Marzieh Riahi
• Cast: Linda Kiani, Alireza Sanifar
• Subtitle Translator: Atsushi Noto

Story

According to the laws of Iran, Bahareh must have her traditional, chauvinistic husband accompany her to driving lessons so she and her instructor will not be alone.

Aster School Days

• Drama
• Japan / 2019 / 38min.
• Director: Mone Inada
• Cast: Teru Sugiyama

Story

A new student named Kanade Kikuhashi comes to school one winter day. His highly individual style with a strong interest in flowers gradually changes the attitudes of his classmates. Rather than preaching the importance of accepting diversity, this little gem of a film gently reminds us that it is okay to like ourselves with our different ways.

Living with leprosy

• Documentary
• Japan / 2019 / 26min.
• Director: Momoko Hatakeyama
• Cast: Kimie Yamauchi, Ko Morita

Story

Kimie Yamauchi developed Hansen’s disease and lost her fingers due to lack of proper treatment. Faced with the unsympathetic ways of the world, she chose to leave home to live at Tama Zenshoen Sanatorium. She was afraid of showing her disfigured hands and closed her mind against the world, but communications with nursery school children have revived her. She now wishes to spread accurate information about the disease.

Tiptoe

• Drama
• Taiwan / 2019 / 17min.
• Director: I-ju Lin
• Cast: Tang-Ning Chiang, En-Tzu Hsieh
• Subtitle Translator: Keiko Kato

Story

It has been almost a week since mother left home. The ten-year-old girl Jiajia and her seven-year-old brother Kai try to follow their mother’s daily routines while waiting for her to come back. Their father’s work is busy as usual. The grown-up world stays on its everyday orbit. Jiajia tries to maintain the usual daily lives with Kai, but it has not been easy for her. Through tiptoeing, trying so hard to keep mother’s routines, the strangeness and clumsiness of the attempts keep reminding her the stings of the mother’s absence, just like the over-grown fringe getting into her eyes.

What do I want to be born next?

• Drama
• Japan / 2019 / 25min.
• Director: Kozue Nomoto
• Cast: Ryoka Neya, Kanane Tenpaku

Story

Single mother Satomi is worried that her daughter Miyu is not like other children, but she has no one to turn to. With her own parents being reproachful and Miyu’s homeroom teacher bitterly complaining about her, Satomi grows increasingly frustrated and finds herself taking it out on the daughter.

More Precious Than Gold: A Message From Olympic Medalist Hideko Maehata

• Documentary
• Japan / 2020 / 21min.
• Director: Sugiyama Jogakuen University, Tochikubo Lab (Representative: Akari Ando, Serika Matsuura)
• Cast: Naoko Hyodo, Mieko Sugiyama

Story

At the Berlin Olympics 84 years ago, Hideko Maehata became the first Japanese woman to win a gold medal. This unique documentary made by the seminar students of Sugiyama Jogakuen University from which Maehata herself graduated sheds light on the dramatic life of Maehata as a reputed medalist and what it was that she eventually found more valuable than a gold medal.

Ritsuko & Ken-chan

• Drama
• Japan / 2020 / 31min.
• Director: Ayumi Omori
• Cast: Iriya Take, Kenta Oikawa

Story

Known as the island of Cross where Hidden Christians took refuge in the old days, Kuroshima Island lies off the coast of Nagasaki. Ritchan (Ritsuko) and Ken-chan lead a self-sufficient life there while harboring a secret of their own.

Nourishing Japan

• Documentary
• USA / 2019 / 24min.
• Director: Alexis Agliano Sanborn

Story

Embark on a delicious journey from farmer’s field to school classroom that celebrates how one country has re-imagined school lunch and food education.
At the heart of Japan’s 2005 Food Education Law are the incredible people whose daily work nourishes the next generation’s relationship to food, the earth, and one another.