Happy Weekend, again!
The Russian invasion of the Ukraine continues with innocent civilians increasingly coming under fire. If you are based in the UK want to donate money to help out, you can do so via the Disasters Emergency Committee.
This is the second trailer post out of three. The first one was yesterday, the next one tomorrow.
What else was released this weekend?
1446: An Eternal Minute. 
永遠の1分。 「Ein no 1-bu.」
Release Date: March 04th, 2022
Duration: 124 mins.
Director: Takeshi Sone
Writer: Shin’ichiro Ueda (Script/Story), Michael Keida (Script)
Starring: Michael Keida, Awich, Katsuya Maiguma, Luna Fujimoto, Mau Nishio, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Moemi Katayama, Alexander W. Hunter.
Tsuyoshi Sone, the cinematographer of One Cut of the Dead, has a new film out where comedy is used to overcome tragedy.
Synopsis: Steve (Michael Keida), an American film director, wants to make a documentary on the Great East Japan Earthquake but a theatrical performance he saw while visiting the disaster area inspires him to make a comedy. As things go awry, the truth about his motivations becomes clear, as does the truth behind the presence of Reiko, a Japanese singer who moved to Los Angeles post- 3/11, who finds some sort of release from her past by working on the production.
Nakamuraya Saketen no Kyoudai 
中村屋酒店の兄弟 「Nakamuraya Saketen no Kyoudai」
Release Date: March 04th, 2022
Duration: 45 mins.
Director: Daichi Shiraisho
Writer: Daichi Shiraisho,
Starring: Kisetsu Fujiwara, Takuma Nagao, Nagako Fujishiro,
Daichi Shiraisho worked on the script of this film while acting. He makes his directorial debut with it. I first wrote about it as part of Kanazawa Film Festival 2019 where it played before screening at the Tanabe-Benkei Film Festival where it won the TBS Radio Award. It also won the Grand Prix at the 30th Tokyo Student Film Festival and the Audience Award at the 11th Shimokitazawa Film Festival.
Synopsis: Kazuma returns from Tokyo to the family’s sake shop after a seven-year absence. As he and his older brother Hirofumi spend time together in such a nostalgic setting, the two sense something is different and are puzzled by the ever-changing present.
Mukwege, a Doctor who Fights in “the Worst Place in the World for Women” 
ムクウェゲ 「女性にとって世界最悪の場所」で闘う医師 「Mukuu~ege `josei ni totte sekai saiaku no basho’ de tatakau ishi」
Release Date: March 04th, 2022
Duration: 75 mins.
Director: Meiko Tateyama
Writer: N/A
Starring: Denis Mukwege, Takako Tokiwa (Narrator),
This was directed by Meiko Tateyama, a producer at TBS.
Synopsis: This is a documentary about Denis Mukwege, a gynaecologist who has saved around 50,000 women in the Congo over the course of 20 years by offering free treatment for the emotional and physical abuse they have suffered at the hands of violent groups fighting over the resources that go into high-tech gadgets like smart phones. Due to these groups, the Congo has become known as “the worst place in the world for women” and between 2,500 and 3,000 women are brought to Denis’s hospital each year. For his efforts, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 but he understands that without a solution to the fundamental problem of violent groups, women will still suffer, and so he is telling the world about the tragedies that are happening to women in the Congo and the causes of those tragedies.
Company Retreat 
ある職場 「Aru shokuba」
Release Date: March 05th, 2022
Duration: 135 mins.
Director: Atsushi Funahashi
Writer: Atsushi Funahashi (Screenplay)
Starring: Saki Hirai, Megumi Ito, Takafumi Yamanaka, Mikoto Yoshikawa, Azusa Nakazawa, Yoshio Taguchi,
Atsushi Funahashi, an Osaka-born director who studied filmmaking in Tokyo and New York, has made documentaries and dramas like Cold Bloom which are based on 3/11 as well as road movies set in the US. His latest one is described as a docu-fiction about the effects of sexual harassment on people, from the victim and perpetrator to individuals around them. The film comes from an actual incident where a hotel receptionist was harassed by her boss. Director Funahashi tried to make a documentary but none involved wanted to go in front of the camera. Thus, he made this film based on real events.
Tokyo International Film Festival Report
Synopsis from the website: In 2018, Saki, a receptionist at a high-profile 
hotel chain was harassed by her superior. This speculative film is based on actual events and imagines how Saki and her coworkers may have aired out their frustration and resentment off the clock. Desperate for a break from the social media backlash, they travel to an idyllic company retreat by the sea. But the group dynamics quickly devolve into mistrust and animosity, compromising any camaraderie they may have had. The retreat is a place that beckons them back, drawing out their darkest feelings, like an old haunted house.
Ranked 121st in the world for gender equality, Japan is behind on the #MeToo movement; workplace sexual harassment is still rampant in all echelons of society. A recent Japanese government survey found that the majority of labor disputes involved either sexual or power harassment, with 82,797 cases reported in a single year. Yet 45% of victims kept silent and chose not to take any action.
Kazuo Nagai Triple-Bill
Two shorts and one medium-length film from director Kazuo Nagai.
Kasumitatsu
霞立つ 「Kasumitatsu」
Release Date: March 04th, 2022
Duration: 20 mins.
Director: Kazuo Nagai
Writer: Kazuo Nagai (Script),
Starring: Megane, Nagiko Tsuji, Mami Ooi, Hiromi Shinju, Masami Shinozaki, Yui Sawada,
Single-named actress Megane is a YouTuber and her channel is Meganetto waku.
No Trailer
Synopsis: Mika is about to graduate from high school but is uncertain about what she wants to do in life. Her two best friends, Hikari, an aspiring actress, and Moe, who has recently found a boyfriend, suggest that she should become a YouTuber and Mika gives it a go. However, as soon as Mika begins filming a video, she becomes unsure as to what her friends are thinking.
Smell, But I Love You 
くさいけど「愛してる」 「Kusai kedo “Aishiteru”」
Release Date: March 04th, 2022
Duration: 24 mins.
Director: Kazuo Nagai
Writer: Kazuo Nagai (Script),
Starring: Daichi Rudelman, Mako Idogawa, Michiru Miura, Masami Shinozaki, Takashi Nasu, Eri Uenishi,
This one is available on Amazon in the UK.
A short comedy about “how to tell someone something that is hard to say.” It won the Audience Award at the Shitamachi Comedy Awards 2015 and the Kyoto International Film Festival 2015 Creators Factory Award for Excellence in the Drama Film Division.
Synopsis: Makoto is troubled by his girlfriend Yui’s bad breath. As Makoto struggles to find a way to tell her, he consults a dentist, who gives him a device to measure bad breath.
This Town and Me 
この街と私 「Kono Machi to Watashi」
Release Date: March 04th, 2022
Duration: 43 mins.
Director: Kazuo Nagai
Writer: Kazuo Nagai (Script),
Starring: Miku Uehara, Hiroki Sano, Yoshinori Miyata, Keitoku Ito, LiLiCo, Katsumi Kawahara,
This is a “community-oriented film” made with the aim of revitalizing the local community in the area where it is set, Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, Apparently, it is based on the director’s own experiences.
Synopsis: and follows the growth and struggles of the main character, who struggles as a TV program AD. Miki Murata works as an assistant director for a TV program production company based in Tokyo. Her initial dreams were of making a comedy show but now she is stuck making a regional TV show called “This Town and Me,” where they introduce the good points of the city. When Miki’s first solo street interview for the show is declared “unusable” by the director, she comes to doubt herself.