Happy Weekend
I hope you are well.
This is the first of a two-part trailer post with the films released today in Japan.
What are the first batch?
My Small Land 
マイスモールランド 「Mai Sumo-ru Rando」
Release Date: May, 2022
Duration: 114 mins.
Director: Ema Kawawada
Writer: Ema Kawawada (Script),
Starring: Lina Arashi, Daiken Okudaira
This one played at this years Berlinale.
Synopsis: Sarya has lived in Japan since she was five and while she pretends to be German, the reality is that her family are Kurds from Turkey who are hoping to secure a refugee visa. As they wait, life seems to be stable as Sarya is aiming to go to college and her father works but even then she has to look after her younger siblings while he is away. Just as Sarya sets her sights on college and her work colleague Sota takes an interest in her, they get news that their asylum application has been rejected and so Sarya’s life is turned upside down…
Lesson in Murder 
死刑にいたる病 「Shikei ni Itaru Yamai」
Release Date: May 06th, 2022
Duration: 128 mins.
Director: Kazuya Shiraishi
Writer: Ryo Takada (Script), Riu Kushiki (Original Story),
Starring: Sadao Abe, Kenshi Okada, Takanori Iwata, Miho Nakayama, Yu Miyazaki, Ryo Sato, Takuji Suzuki, Miki Kamioka, Ririka Kawashima,
Kazuya Shiraishi of The Blood of the Wolves / Last of the Wolves teams up with Sadao Abe (Eyes of the Spider) for a serial killer story.
Synopsis: Masaya (Kenshi Okada) spends his days going to a second-choice university so you can imagine how negative his days are. Fate brings further darkness into his life when he is contacted by a serial killer named Yamato (Sadao Abe) who used to run a bakery that Masaya went to as a school student. Now on death row, Yamata is facing his final days but he claims that he did not commit the last murder that he is accused of. Masaya decides to investigate… rather than leaving it alone and concentrating on his studies to get into a better university.
IDOL NEVER DiES 
アイドル ネバー ダイ 「Aidoru Neba- Dai」
Release Date: April 30th, 2022
Duration: 44 mins.
Director: Noboru Iguchi
Writer: Noboru Iguchi (Script),
Starring: Momoka, Fuuka Kaede, Miyuu Nakagawa, Noa Niikura, Sumire Kudo,
This ensemble coming-of-age sci-fi drama is by Noboru Iguchi, director of The Machine Girl and Mutant Girl Squad.
Synopsis: It’s the end of the world as we know it, and the idol group “Evening Laurie” are holding a training camp in Tochigi Prefecture to prepare for a live broadcast and music video as the apocalypse nears. When staff and idol girls start to disappear and turn up dead, a mystery is uncovered concerning radio waves…
Pâtissier-san to Ojousan 
パティシエさんとお嬢さん 「Patishie-san to Ojousan」
Release Date: May 06th, 2022
Duration: 96 mins.
Director: Tomoyuki Furumaya
Writer: Tomoyuki Furumaya, Sumomo Kamata (Script), Gindoro (Original Manga),
Starring: Tsubasa Sakiyama, Natsumi Okamoto, Ryota Murai, Ryugi Yokota, Yurano Ochi, Hiro Komura,
Synopsis: For over a year, Fumiko (Natsumi Okamoto) has visited Patisserie Cheval every Friday to purchase some sweets as a reward for a busy week at work, This is where a patissier named Takeshi (Tsubasa Tsukiyama) works. She has a crush on him and she has a crush on her but it takes the intervention of Takeshi’s older brother Ryo (Ryota Murai) to prompt the young man to ask her name.
Fast Mission 
ファーストミッション 「Fa-suto Misshon」
Release Date: April 30th, 2022
Duration: 82 mins.
Director: HAYATE
Writer: HAYATE (Script),
Starring: Moka Kodama, HAYATE, Shinpei Tsueda, Juria Nagano,
Action actor HAYATE makes his own film with the help of Junya Kobayashi, a representative of the “Stroke Festival,” a community and event for stroke patients, and a stroke survivor and physical therapist himself. The cast and staff include survivors of various disabilities and intractable diseases.
Synopsis: A brother and sister of the Hirose family are the inheritors of the duty of protecting Funabashi, in Chiba Prefecture, since ancient times. Then one day, the evil organization “Corona” appears and threatens the peace of Funabashi with its bio-terrorist plans.