PROGRAM

Japan Cultural Expo Special Program

• Mom’s Celestial Robe of Feathers

  Japan / Drama / 21:29

  “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…

  

  Profile

  

  Kazuhiro Taira

  He made his directorial debut in 2014 with the film “Amboina Can’t Kill” & won the 15th TAMA NEW WAVE Un Certain Regard, Suspense NEWWAVE Award. In 2015 he wrote & directed “Yarazu no machi, Koza no Ame”, which was screened at the Okinawa International Film Festival. In 2016, he won the 3rd New Directors Film Festival Special Award for his film “Kugiuchi no ballad.” In 2020, he won the Runner-up Grand Prix in the Drama category at the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association Awards for his QAB special drama “Panauru ōkoku monogatari. ” In 2022, “Miracle City Koza,” which he directed and wrote, was released in theaters nationwide. He has also worked on several TV programs in Okinawa Prefecture, including “Tōgyū senshi waido” and ” Ryūkyū torauma naito,” as well as corporate promotions in and outside of Okinawa Prefecture.

• Tā Moko – Behind the Tattooed Face

  New Zealand / Non-Fiction / 12:14

  Maori face tattooing, tā moko, is a tradition that almost died out through colonization. Bernard and Sapphire are passionate about seeing Maori communities unite and heal through rediscovering their customs. This film follows their pain and triumph as they receive face tattoos of their own.

  

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  Mick Andrews & David Atkinson

  Mick uses film to tells stories with a heartbeat. His films have traveled to over 60 International Film Festivals and won Best Short Film at the Nantucket Film Festival.
  Dave spends much of his year travelling to developing countries making films about pain, loss and hope for non-profit organizations.

• Malanka

  France / Non-Fiction / 13:00

  Somewhere in the Ukrainian hills, near the Romanian border, Gigi celebrates Malanka, a pagan festival where bears are heroes.

  

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  Paul-Louis Léger

  Paul-Louis Léger is a director-photographer, he sometimes do advertisements for notorious brands and he directed short films.

  Profile

  

  Pascal Messaoudi

  Pascal Messaoudi is a director of documentary films and sound creations who is interested by the different forms of sound representations of the real.

• Kapaemahu

  USA / Animation / 8:30

  The hidden history of four mysterious boulders on Waikiki Beach—and the mystical transgender healing spirits within them.

  

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  Dean Hamer, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, & Joe WIlson

  Kapaemahu is a collaboration between Native Hawaiian educator and cultural practitioner Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Emmy and GLAAD award-winning filmmaker activists Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, and Oscar-nominated animator Daniel Sousa. Their works have screened in Berlin, Toronto, and Sundance, and touched hearts across the Pacific and around the world.

• TEZUTSU -fire flower town-

  Japan / Non-Fiction / 12:12

  Tezutsu hand-held fireworks have continued their tradition for 450 years in Aichi prefecture. How do the youths feel when experiencing this tradition for the first time in their lives?

  

  Profile

  

  Tatsuya Ino

  Born in 1988. After working as a production director for Toei CM, Tatsuya Ino started his film career as a videographer in 2012. With a small team, Ino is exploring ways to express the reality of a place and people with run and gun video production strategies.