‘Why You Can’t Be Prime Minister’: A Sisyphean slog toward the top office
Shinzo Abe has been with us for so long now, it’s easy to forget that there was a time when Japan’s premiership seemed to rotate as frequently as the membership of AKB48. Junya Ogawa was one young hopeful who thought he had a shot at ...
'Zero': Practicing kindness in life and in love
In Japan, people with mental illnesses have long been stigmatized, marginalized and isolated from broader society. In 2009, documentary filmmaker Kazuhiro Soda released “Mental,” a film about Masatomo Yamamoto, an elderly psychiatrist in Okayama Prefecture who respected his patients as individuals and built close ...
'Mishima: The Last Debate': Careful revival of a battle of wits
It was the title match of the decade: the rumble in the academic jungle. On May 13, 1969, literary titan Yukio Mishima strutted onstage in front of a 1,000-strong audience at the University of Tokyo to debate with representatives of the All Campus Joint ...
Netflix to air Naomi Osaka documentary series
Two-time Grand Slam singles winner Naomi Osaka will be featured in an upcoming documentary series to air on Netflix, and the project has the backing of one of global sports' most prominent individuals. The Uninterrupted, the media brand founded by NBA superstar LeBron James and ...
New Stephen Curry documentary takes look at Japan's grassroots hoops
Do yourself a favor. Set aside 30 minutes to watch a short documentary. Actually, that's enough time to watch it twice. Do it twice. You'll come away with an even greater appreciation for the crisp cinematography, lively action and compelling insights more by absorbing ...
Yayoi Kusama: The underdog story of a Japanese art maverick
A documentary tells the story of Yayoi Kusama's battles with racism, sexism and mental illness during her 70-plus years of creating art.
New four-part documentary showcases history of FIBA World Cup
Before the 2019 FIBA World Cup begins on Aug. 31 in China, basketball's global governing body is celebrating its rich history with a new four-part documentary. FIBA released the first episode of "The History of the FIBA Basketball World Cup" on Friday. A new episode ...
Japanese filmmaker debuts Parkland school shooting documentary
Following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that claimed 17 lives in early 2018, Japanese filmmaker Emily Taguchi and her team spent months with members of the grieving community, documenting their recovery and activism in the wake of ...
Ron Howard frames Pavarotti story through arias for new documentary
Director Ron Howard did not know much about opera, but he understands drama when he sees it, and Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti's life was packed with it. So when it came to making a documentary about the late, beloved "king of the high C's," Howard ...
'Shinjuku Tiger': A story of one man and his mask
Spend enough time on the streets of Shinjuku, and you'll eventually spot a flamboyantly dressed figure in a tiger mask carrying fake flowers, stuffed animals and a boombox. This is Shinjuku Tiger, the subject of a documentary of the same name out this week. Tiger-san, ...
'In Pursuit of Silence': A documentary looks at what it'll take to finally get some peace and quiet
The 1964 tune "The Sound of Silence" by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is a bona fide classic, but it never really identifies just what this "sound of silence" is. That task instead falls to "In Pursuit of Silence," the documentary about this surprisingly ...
Documentary to capture views of young Okinawans on U.S. Futenma base issue
As Okinawa continues to be roiled by tensions over a plan to move a key U.S. air base within the prefecture, filmmakers from Iwate Prefecture are using their next documentary to give younger Okinawans a greater voice. Movie director Shinya Todori and his twin brother ...
