Japanese

A man is trapped after falling down a manhole in this delightfully bonkers single-space survival thriller from Japan that keeps the twists and surprises coming thick and fast until the very end.

Get ready for your annual wintery fix of animated inventiveness from all corners of our big wide world.

Straight from Cannes where its intricately composed script was deservedly awarded, Kore-eda Hirokazu’s latest is a deeply affecting and morally complex drama told from multiple perspectives.

Screening here for the first time in a stunning 4K restoration, one of Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu’s most elusive and under-viewed films, made working as a director-for-hire for Toho.

Wim Wenders hits the sweet spot with this deceptively simple character study chronicling the daily life of a Tokyo cleaner, which is emotionally resonant in its stunning attention to detail and filmic poetry.

Set in Japanese-occupied Korea in 1933, five people are held captive by a security chief determined to find the spy “Phantom” in this stylish, highly entertaining thriller.

This quietly devastating debut depicts a dystopian near-future Japan where the government implements a programme of voluntary euthanasia for those over 75 as the solution for a rapidly aging population.

The team behind festival hit Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (NZIFF 2021) return with an ingenious comedy in which the staff at a traditional hot springs hotel are trapped in a time loop that repeats every two minutes.

An irony-free kaiju blockbuster that simultaneously pays respectful homage to the original Ultraman mythos while re-energising the beloved character with kinetic high-tech filmmaking.