Horoomon (2025)

Soup and Ideology

Confronting half of her mother’s life—her mother who had survived the Jeju April 3 Incident—the director tries to scoop out disappearing memories. A tale of family, which carries on from Dear Pyongyang, carving out the cruelty of history, and questioning the precarious existence of the nation-state.

Arirang Rhapsody

The protagonists of the film are the Zainichi Korean women living in Kawasaki. They were tossed about by the war, and after many trips to and fro across the sea in search of a place to live, they finally arrived in Kawasaki, where they have lived modestly and vigorously.

Memories Showers Seas

The late Kim Dong-il, a Jeju April 3 refugee in Japan, left behind over 2,000 crocheted items and pieces of clothing that preserved her memories, identity, and history. As the film traces the redistribution of her belongings, it illuminates the still-unhealed lives of various Zainichi Koreans who lived through the same era, sharing and connecting their intertwined memories.

Ikaino

‘Ikaino’ refers to a neighborhood in Osaka, Japan, home to a large community of Zainichi Koreans. Though erased from official records over fifty years ago, its name still carries memories and stories.

Our School

This documentary is about the 3rd and 4th generation Korean residents of Japan who are students of Chosen elementary, middle, and high school in Hokkaido. It follows the students through one year of the eventual 11 years` national education. Rather than focusing on special occasions or issues, it reveals what it is like to live in Japan as Korean-Japanese by describing their everyday lives.

I Am From Chosun

After 15 years of knowing Chosun people in Japan I met on Mt. Geumgang in 2002, I face the history of colonization and division that I had not known before. They’ve been to North Korea many times, but never to South Korea. They tell us why they want to live as Chosun people despite the discrimination in Japanese society. 

The Hanbok on the Court

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Dear Pyongyang

Dear Pyongyang is a documentary film by Zainichi Korean director Yang Yong-hi (Korean: 양영희, Hanja: 梁英姬) about her own family. It was shot in Osaka Japan (Yang's hometown) and Pyongyang, North Korea, In the 1970s, Yang's father, an ardent communist and leader of the pro-North movement in Japan, sent his three sons from Japan to North Korea under a repatriation campaign sponsored by ethnic activist organisation and de facto North Korean embassy Chongryon; as the only daughter, Yang herself remained in Japan. However, as the economic situation in the North deteriorated, the brothers became increasingly dependent for survival on the care packages sent by their parents. The film shows Yang's visits to her brothers in Pyongyang, as well as conversations with her father about his ideological faith and his regrets over breaking up his family.

The Voices of the Silenced

Director Park Soo-nam, a second-generation Korean resident in Japan who is losing his eyesight, decides to digitally restore 16mm film she shot a long time ago, relying on her daughter Park Ma-eui's eyesight. The blood, tears, and numerous corpses of Koreans living in Japan are clearly engraved in the film filmed over 50 years.

Strangers on the Field

In April 2013, unfamiliar faces appear at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium during the opening matches between Doosan and SK. The nervous middle-aged men throwing and batting the first ball are, in fact, Korean-Japanese former team members that played on that same spot in the 1982 finals of the Bong-hwang-dae-ki games.

Shiso

A Japanese herb called 'shiso' looks like a perilla leaf but has a unique fragrance. It's like how I have a Korean name and nationality but still feel a sense of alienation in Korean society. The death of my grandmother, a first-generation Zainichi, raises a question for me: Does death also mark the end of the life of an outsider? In the end, where do we return to?

Korean Schools in Japan

In 1948, after the Japan’s defeat, the General Headquarters and Japanese government ordered that the Chosen gakko, schools for Koreans in Japan,ō be shut down. Koreans in Osaka strongly resisted, and 16-year-old Kim Taeil was even shot and killed by the police. This was the Hanshin Education Incident. 70 years have passed, but the Japanese oppression continues. They've removed the Chosen gakkoō from being eligible for free education. Gaining strength from the growing hatred from the conservatives, the Abe administration is misusing the educational issue as a means to cause political strife. In the midst of ongoing conflicts in Japan, nonfiction writer KO Chanyu has directed Korean Schools in Japan, compiling a history of the Koreans' fight for education.

GO

Sugihara, a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean teenager struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him.

Chong

A spirited and brave fiction debut by Lee Sang-il, a Korean-Japanese filmmaker, that explores the taboo subject of the relations between Korean immigrants and Japanese in Japan.

Worst by Chance

Hidenori is a Japanese-Korean man with no sense of belonging, destination or education. He drifts around and meanders through life until a death reminds him of his heritage and so begins a journey to South Korea.

Yakiniku Dragon

Set in the 1970's in the Kansai region of Japan.. Yong-Gil is Korean, but he moved to Japan and settled down. He runs a small restaurant named Yakiniku Dragon. He is married and has three daughters: oldest daughter Jung-Hwa, middle daughter Yi-Hwa and youngest daughter Mi-Hwa. Oldest daughter Jung-Hwa is dating Tetsuo, but they break up. Middle daughter Yi-Hwa loves Tetsuo and marries him, but Tetsuo still loves her older sister and they divorce. Youngest daughter Mi-Hwa wants to become a singer, but she is in love with a married man.

Blood and Bones

In 1923, teenager Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island, in South Korea, to Osaka, in Japan. Along the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko, processed seafood products, in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees.

Fighter in the Wind

An account of karate competitor Choi Yeung-Eui who went to Japan after World War II to become a fighter pilot but found a very different path instead. He changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama and went across the country, defeating martial artists one after another. This film concentrates on the period when he is still young, and developing his famous karate style, Kyokushin.

Death by Hanging

A Korean man is sentenced to death in Japan but somehow survives his execution, sending the authorities into a panic about what to do next.

Rikidozan: A Hero Extraordinaire

Story of Rikidozan, a sumo wrestler who can only achieve limited success in Japan because he's half Korean. But when Rikidozan goes to the United States and discovers professional wrestling, he becomes a hero back home.

Deliver Us from Evil

A retired contract killer goes on a bloody rampage when a young girl finds herself at the mercy of gangland human traffickers and only one man can come to her rescue, with an arsenal of weapons and years of experience in the art of killing.

All Under the Moon

A Korean taxi-driver interacts both humorously and tragically with his customers and employers in '90s Tokyo.

We Shall Overcome Someday

Romeo, A.K.A. Kosuke Matsuyama, is a second-year high school student. A nice, normal, nonviolent type, he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a rampaging crowd of Korean boys, outraged by insults perpetrated by several of his idiotic class-mates on two Korean girls. He makes a narrow escape, but soon after, he and his best bud Yoshio are sent by their home-room teacher to invite the Korean students to a friendly soccer game as a way of restoring the peace.

Empire of Kids

Following a stint in reform school, Ryu (Shinsuke Shimada) returns to his home, the Minami area of Osaka, accompanied by his new friend Ko (Takeshi Masu). He's greeted by his friends, Chabo (Ryusuke Matsumoto) and Ken (Bang-ho Cho). They seek to forge their own path through a multitude of rival gangs in Kita and Minami, including the Hokushin Alliance, backed by the yakuza, the Hope Association, and various other minor factions, including Zainichi Korean groups. What follows is a wild, fast-paced story of violence, revenge, betrayal, and discrimination, that never loses its sense of humor.

Pacchigi! Love & Peace

In 1974, during the height of the recession, a Japanese Korean family relocates to Tokyo to raise money and seek better treatment for their ill son.

Cover Girl: A Gift from God

Dalena is a blond-haired, blue-eyed, all-American white woman who is also a Vietnamese American pop star. A gift from God, she possesses the uncanny ability to sing in perfect Vietnamese. She mimics its beautiful cadences and difficult tones and imbues the songs with her unique melancholy style. Using clips from music videos, concert performances, and actual interviews, Hoang's video resists a simple dismissal of Dalena as yet another instance of cultural appropriation. He rather suggests that within the context of Vietnamese American musical production and consumption, a context marked by a recycling of pre-1975 repertoires, the novelty and innovation of the star-text 'Dalena' allow overseas Vietnamese music fans to negotiate the pressures of assimilation and reflect their desire to preserve a memory of what it means to be Vietnamese while living in America.

Tricolour

Tells the tale of Lithuanian post-war history.

From Hollywood to Hanoi

In 1988, a Vietnamese-American woman returns to her homeland for the first time since childhood against the wishes of her anti-communist father and the US trade embargo.

With Love from Truman

At his Long Island beach house, and on the occasion of the publication of his masterful nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, reporter Karen Dennison interviews celebrated writer Truman Capote, who displays his exuberant personality, makes witty jokes, shares his thoughts on writing, reflects on various aspects of the book and, in a sweet and endearing voice, reads and explains some of its highlights.

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

The extraordinary life of Orson Welles (1915-85), an enigma of Hollywood, an irreducible independent creator: a musical prodigy, an excellent painter, a master of theater and radio, a modern Shakespeare, a magician who was always searching for a new trick to surprise his audience, a romantic and legendary figure who lived only for cinema.

Freedom and Will

This short documentary captures scenes from 多摩美術大学 - the Tama Art University.

L’Offrande d’une vie

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The Carolyn Carlson Company at Work

An extensive eight-month journey immersing in the creative and choreographic process of one of the world’s most celebrated dance companies, the Carolyn Carlson Dance Company. This initiatory journey, from the first improvisations to the grand performance at the Théâtre de Chaillot in Paris, offers a profound insight into the true essence of choreographic creation and the emotions that come with it.

+10k

Pol is 21 years old and lives with his grandmother. He dreams of living in Miami and generating over $10,000 per month. He attends personal development events, follows online coaches, and invests in cryptocurrencies. Pol doesn't know when he'll achieve his goals to become the best version of himself. The only thing he knows is that one day, he will.

Nancy & Tonya

Mary Carillo looks back at the events leading up to, during and following the ladies’ figure skating competition at the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in the one-hour special, “Nancy & Tonya.” The documentary, which originally aired during NBC’s Sochi Olympics coverage, features an exclusive sit-down with Nancy Kerrigan and a one-on-one interview with Tonya Harding.

Contradict

When two friends collect money for the so-called "suffering in America" in the streets of Accra, is it for fun, political provocation, or a prophecy? Two Swiss filmmakers will answer these questions with the help of seven musicians from Ghana-M3NSA, Wanlov The Kubolor, Adomaa, Worlasi, Akan, Mutombo Da Poet, and Poetra Asantewa-who have written new songs and produced video clips especially for the documentary film Contradict.

Idomeni

In eleven chapters, we follow two Yazidi girls from Iraq who hope to find safety and a new life in Germany. We meet them the first time at Idomeni, a temporary camp in Greece on the border to North Macedonia. There they live close together. The mobile phones are always nearby, as the only link to the family and friends in Iraq. Yasir’s wife has been a prisoner of ISIS for a year and a half, but hope of reuniting is rekindled when he receives a message about a prisoner exchange between ISIS and YPG forces. David Aronowitsch’s masterfully portrayed Idomeni is a touching portrait of children and adults during a period of waiting, hope and the deep wounds that will never disappear.

Ninosca - The Woman And The Emigrant's Song

After spending five years of her life as a low-paid immigrant, Ninosca is finally granted European res-idence permit. As European citizen she can visit her home in Nicaragua, knowing that she has the right to return to Spain. Her plan had originally been to work for two of years in Spain, supporting her family in Nicaragua. But as circumstances changed, six long years passed. During this time, Ninosca’s encounter with Europe had made her free. Looking back at her home country now, she realises that she will find it hard to live there again. She does not want to return to the man she left behind and to a life of fear and abuse. Ninosca’s children stayed with their father in Nicaragua whilst she worked double shifts to support them and pay for the children’s education. Her daughter Jenny is studied pharmacology and her son Miguel computer and system sciences.

Beiderseits der Rollbahn

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