KYOTO INTERNATIONAL FILM AND ART FESTIVAL 2020

In July 2020, in the midst of the corona crisis, the filming of the movie "The Actresses", which had been repeatedly rumored to be cancelled, was forced to go ahead. There were problems such as an insufficient budget and the longest rainy season on record, but the leading actresses give a miraculous performance under the worst of conditions brought on about by some terrible luck. This film takes a look at how these amazing performances came about.

Tomoka Igari is playing the female main character, Hinata, who is a shut-in. She wanted to be a racing driver being influenced by her father but gave up her dream due to an unfortunate accident.Satomi Tezuka, who is well known in the TV series “Fuzoroi no Ringotachi” (Irregular Apples), is playing the role of Hinata’s mother who looks over her with kind eyes.Shugo Oshinari, who appeared in “Heaven’s Story,” plays the role of an auto mechanic named Chino who is a kind young man and supports Hinata by remodeling her car. Kenya Osumi is playing a legendary racing driver, Kamisu.Director Ko Honekawa, who directed “Meikyu Café” (A Cup of Life) portrays a heartwarming human drama of repairing a broken family relationship.

A Japanese restaurant in London is threatened by the Russian mafia.When this happens, the father who is the owner of the restaurant risks his life to protect his family and his business.

WILD GRASS is a story about two girls and a boy to get meaning from their lives. In their lives, disappointment and hope are often ups and downs. They never know each other, but their lives are intertwined and they become each other’s hope and savior. Three main characters first enter a booming society from small downtown to test their incredible destiny they experienced in the pursuit of a new life. In this world, they are hurt and humiliated, but stick to their dreams nevertheless.

Like tens of thousands of girls working hard in the big city, Moli, who hails from a small town, yearns for a modern lifestyle and has a strong desire to live glamorously, but the money she has worked so hard to save is taken away overnight by her father who suddenly appears.When she has no other choice but to move to the countryside, she experiences a series of events that force her to take over the shabby Jasmine Inn and pay off her father's debts.In the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges and through her involvement with various people, she develops friendships with her peers, repairs her relationship with her father, wins Ken's love, and gets the inn back on its feet. She shakes off the temptation of big city life and reclaims her existence, enjoying on the happiness of the simple people of her hometown.

During the period of the 'Provinces at war', many lives were lost. A castle architect discovers the possible role of a tea room as a place for warriors to regain humanity.

A crocodile named DINO and a child continue on their journey to find the lost crown.Right behind them is Baku, who is also after the treasure. The relationship between DINO and the child is slowly drifting apart.This puppet animation imitates the stop-motion animation as a special effect in adventure dramas which was widely used until the 1980s.

The gaki is a "biwa" player of the ogre, who plays the instrument well.When he starts to play it at the veranda, surroundings transform into the profound and remote world.Characters come out from the electric wire and then they start to dance to the melody on the line.The music turn into the wind and the wind calls the waves. The gaki integrates with the waves.

In 2017, this omnibus animation was created in honor of the 100th Anniversary of Japanese Animation, and in honor of the oldest surviving animation, “Namakura Gatana”

(Produced by G9+1: Azuru Isshiki, Fumio Oi, Kira Keizo, Tatsuo Shimamura, Shinichi Suzuki, Hiroshi Nishimura, Norio Hikone, Osamu Fukushima, Taku Furukawa + Toshikatsu Wada).

The self-proclaimed oldest animation group G9 + 1 created this omnibus animation in 2019 based on the theme of “waiting for something“

(Produced by G9+1: Azuru Isshiki, Fumio Oi, Kira Keizo, Tatsuo Shimamura, Shinichi Suzuki, Hiroshi Nishimura, Norio Hikone, Osamu Fukushima, Taku Furukawa + Toshikatsu Wada).