Worst by Chance (2003)

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.

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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.

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.

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.

All Under the Moon

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

Pacchigi!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Horoomon

Horoomon: the Japanese word for grilled offal, derived from "something to be thrown away." There were people who picked up discarded animal intestines and ate them—Koreans who moved to Japan during the Japanese colonial era. The Japanese looked down on them for grilling and eating offal, but today, it has become a beloved dish for all. For Zainichi Koreans who have lived in Japan, horomon carries the sorrows and history of their lives.

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.

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.

The Hanbok on the Court

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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.

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.

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?

Changing Tides

Bea, a broke 22-year-old domestic carer has a new patient, an old, angry, alcoholic at the end of his life. After a turbulent start the two form an unlikely bond that changes their lives forever.

Skill Issue

The project is inspired by the director’s own youth during his time at a boarding school in southern Germany. Presents the dilemmas of adolescence between cravings to belong to the group and thirst for freedom.

Invention

In the aftermath of a conspiracy-minded father’s sudden death, his daughter inherits his patent for an experimental healing device. Featuring archives from Callie Hernandez's late father, Invention explores the process of grieving a complicated parent, and the filmmaking itself becomes a part of the process.

Claudia

Eager to escape her high-society life among the English Elite, a woman falls in love with a young musician. Her husband, however has other plans for her.

A World Without Cherry Blossoms

Saki, a high school girl who always skips classes, works part-time as a life adviser.

Ishq-e-Nadaan

Ashutosh's life changes when he meets Ramona at the hotel, which is his work place. On the other hand, Charulata grows friends with Subhash Kapoor, a filmmaker, and shares a secret with him. What is the secret?

The Residence

In the near future, Clarissa, a novelist with writer’s block, joins a prestigious, state-of-the-art artist residency where she’s assigned an AI assistant named Dalloway. The latter quickly becomes more than a simple assistant and turns into a true confidante for Clarissa. Unsettled by Dalloway’s increasing intrusion, Clarissa is warned by whistleblower Mathias, who informs her of the true motives behind the residency and its tech company funder. Clarissa begins to suspect that this seemingly perfect situation is in fact a meticulously crafted trap.

In Praise of Older Women

In the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War, a young man comes of age sexually, through a string of relationships with a wide range of mature, older women.

One Night in Oslo

One Night in Oslo follows a group of young people in Oslo’s Eastern parts on the night before Norway’s National Day, and reflects their expectations and emotions ahead of the celebration.

Road 47

During World War II, looking up the Mountain, in Italy, a Brazilian Expeditionary Force - FEB - mines weeping platoon is hit by a panic-attack that sets them running aimlessly right in the middle of 'no man's land'. Desperate cold and hungry, the ill-prepared soldiers have to choose between facing military court or delve deeper into enemy lines. After a tense discussion, they decide to save their faces with the Brazilian Army by tackling a daring military objective: to disarm the most feared minefield in Italy. On their way there, they end meeting two others deserters; a remorseful Italian soldier trying to join the Partigianos and German officer who is just simply tired of war. with unexpected help of their ex-enemy, the soldiers are set to accomplish a mission that so far had been deemed impossible.

Blessings of the Land

Maria and Jose, a young married couple begin life together in an orchard in the countryside. It isn't long until they have four children: Miguel, Arturo, Angelita, and Lito. The eldest, Miguel, is a deaf-mute. Life is good for the family and the children grow up and bring joy to the community. But trouble enters their lives when Jose makes an enemy of Bruno, a widower, much feared in the village.

Conduct Unbecoming

United States Marine Nick Dodd is charged with callously killing several civilians in Afghanistan. A military trial ensues.

Bond Street

Charts the events occurring during a typical 24-hour period on London’s thoroughfare Bond Street. Linking the four stories together is the impending wedding of society girl Hazel Court and Robert Flemyng.

The Grüninger File

1938. Austria has been annexed by Nazi Germany, and Switzerland has closed its borders for Jewish refugees - a death sentence for thousands. But not all Swiss officials observe this inhuman order.

As We Were

Set at the turn of the 20th century during the Filipino revolution against the Spaniards and, later, the American colonizers, it follows a naive peasant through his leap of faith to become a member of an imagined community.

Diau Charn

Based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Diau Charn is a sublime retelling of a familiar tale with iconic actress Linda Lin Dai (Lam Doi) in the titular role of Diau Charn, one of the four storied beauties of ancient China.

Fairy Couple

The seventh immortal sister flies down to the mortal world and marries Dong Yong until the Jade Emperor obliges her to return to her world...

Long Lost Father

A long-absent father is reunited with his daughter, who still holds a grudge that he had deserted his family years earlier.

Nunal sa Tubig

Ferry owner Benjamin has a regular passenger, Chedeng, who is studying to become a midwife. Chedeng has a friend and neighbour, Maria, and without either of them knowing about it they both have a relationship with Benjamin. When Mary finds out she’s pregnant, things get difficult.

Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos

A woman fell in love with a Japanese soldier, during the Japanese Occupation in the Philippines. The whole town turned against her.

Jailbait

A gritty coming of age thriller about a young girl sent to juvenile prison for the murder of her abusive step father. The film follows Anna Nix's journey into the dark world of an all girls jail where she discovers complex relationships, drugs, mental illness and her eventual search for redemption.

Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder

During the Vietnam War, Brian Anderson, a young Army medic, is stationed in Saigon. Initially apathetic and self-serving, he eventually has his heart won over by the children at a nearby orphanage where he does volunteer work. At first, a doctor named Katherine Cross has to persuade him to help the children. But soon, Brian willingly puts his career and safety on the line to provide the orphans with the food and medical supplies they need.

Child of Sorrow

A war hero forced to participate in a smuggling ring meets a prostitute in the postwar ruins of Manila.

Miss Granny

An unappreciated old granny magically turns 20 years old again and decides to make the most of her newfound youth.

The Mountain II

In a desolate war zone where screams of the innocent echo, on the very line between disaster and valor, 7 Maroon Berets will dance with death.

Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan

The story of a young man who dreams to become a movie star.

Axolotl Overkill

Mifti is a teenager as beautiful as she is reckless. Mentally unstable, fed up with her dysfunctional family, oblivious to the youthful world, and aware of the sexual magnetism she gives off with her peculiar appearance, she wanders through the dark path of several bohemian adults with questionable lifestyles.

Tiger Milk

Best friends Nini and Jameelah are both 14 years old and live in the same housing complex in Berlin. Jameelah's family is from Iraq and might be deported if their application for citizenship isn't approved, but right now, the girls try not to worry about these existential problems. They look forward to the Berlin summer and the school holidays.

Asphaltgorillas

Small-time crook Atris is tired of working for Berlin crime lord El Keitar. Yet in order to build his own syndicate, he needs money. When his friend Frank offers him a lucrative deal, Atris thinks his chance has finally come, not knowing that he is about to set in motion a fateful chain of events.

This Crazy Heart

When 30-ish rich kid Lenny has to take care of 15-year-old David, who’s suffering from heart disease, it’s the beginning of a wild adventure. Lenny fearlessly breaks all the rules to fulfill his young friend’s every wish.

Love Me Anyway

Love Me Anyway is a sun soaked drama about a filmmaker falling for a dreamy surfer, a man trying to save his marriage and a young wife exploring the greener grass of an extramarital affair with another woman.

A December Bride

Aspiring interior designer Layla is dreading the Christmastime wedding of her cousin who’s marrying Layla’s ex-fiancé. Although Seth is the one responsible for introducing the bride and groom, she begrudgingly accepts his offer to be her date as she’s out of options. Seth gets carried away at the reception and announces they’re engaged, forcing a mortified Layla to keep up the pretense.

Young Casanova

Gerard Casanova is the man that all the rich and beautiful women call when they need a little more then the husbands to give them. He's always on call to satisfy their every sexual urge.

Boost

Hakeem and A-Mac are like brothers. Together facing immigrant life in Montreal, while 'spotting' cars after school. Boost gives us a glimpse into the awkward adventures of teenage boyhood, then the jolt, when that innocence ends abruptly.