Makiko Watanabe

Sugar Glass Bottle

Near-future Tokyo. Kou, through the help of his high school best friend, finds a surprising way to express his mounting frustration at the insidious forces of commercialism that are forcing out the neighbors he cares most about. Initially inspired by a prank that the writer-director Neo Sora (The Chicken, 2020) had pulled on him in his childhood, a sense of warm nostalgia and cold, material reality intermingle to tell a tale set in the not-so-distant future about disappearing spaces and the forces of policing and gentrification that drills this process forward.

Second to Last Love 3

The Harbor Lights

The growth and struggles of Akari, a third-generation Korean born the year of the Great Hanshin Earthquake. A post-disaster story based on people living in Kobe.

Or Utopia

Japan, 2024. The Earth is dominated by a mysteriously giant creature (That Thing) and the group of 12 survivors has formed an uneasy community out of necessity to survive Two years later, Hirayama, the hotel owner, is found dead. Is it suicide or murder? As they search for the truth behind his death, the past and the secrets of each individual are revealed.

Happyend

In a near-future Japanese city bracing for a devastating earthquake, a group of teenage friends navigate personal struggles and fractured bonds amid rising tension.

Desert of Namibia

Desert of Namibia follows a bipolar young woman who burns the candle at both ends. A portrait of an unidealized Tokyo gen-Z, that surprises with its incredible energy and irreverence.

Secret Makeover

Mitsuko Motomiya (Haruka Fukuhara) is a mysterious total coordinator. To get what her client wants, she changes their visuals from head to toe and also their mentality through coaching. Using any means necessary, she always makes her client successful. Her next client is Natsu Imai, who is a single mother with a string of bad luck. Natsu Imai's aim is to become the president of a large company that is run by a family. Meanwhile, Mitsuko Motomiya has a secret.

Red Roof on the Slope

Eighteen years after the murder of a high school girl's parents. A new novelist's serialization project leads the characters into the depths of "black emotions".

The Great Passage: I'll Make a Dictionary

Kishibe Midori (Ikeda Elaiza), an editor for a popular fashion magazine, finds herself transferring to the lexicography division following the magazine's discontinuation. The place is filled with a group of quirky characters, led by Majime Mitsuya (Noda Yojiro), a boss with a shaggy hair who is extremely serious. While being tossed about by them, Midori is influenced by their patience and passion for making a dictionary which takes over a decade, and she gradually immerses herself in the work. This drama depicts their struggles in creating and finalizing the dictionary, "The Great Passage."

Ozu

Commemorating the 120th anniversary of Ozu Yasujiro's birth, six up-and-coming filmmakers remade six of his early silent films as a contemporary mini-series.

Family

Based on the comic by Tsuchida Seiki, inspired by the artist's own life experience, this film portrays the loss and regeneration of the life of four men.

Tengu's Kitchen

At 14-years-old, Izuna On discovers he and his brother Motoi are both descendents of Tengu (flying goblin-like creatures of Japan folklore). Motoi has wings, which is somewhat rare among Tengu descendants, while On has the ability to communicate with animals. Due to their heritage, the two brothers live together, separated from normal society, and the story focuses on their everyday lives.