Japanese

Gripping documentary account (produced by Jane Campion) of the outrageous conspiracy exposed in the aftermath of a 13-year-old Japanese girl’s abduction in 1977.

Artworld superstar Matthew Barney, creator of the Cremaster series, joins forces with wife Björk to dumbfound the rest of us with this spectacular epic of bizarre courtship rituals and even weirder consummation.

An independent, 30-something single woman fights for self-esteem in the least chic suburb of Tokyo. "Powerhouse writing, directing and acting … truly honest, human cinema.” — Midnight Eye

Yamashita Nobuhiro, Japan's young poet of slackerdom (No One's Ark) distills the listless energy of 21st century high school girls into a comedy of punk attitude.

The most baffling film in the Festival (Drawing Restraint 9) is elucidated in this admiring career portrait of artist/filmmaker Matthew Barney.

One of the most unpredictable, complex, brilliant and headily original animated features ever created – a major breakthrough in anime, winning awards and critical favour around the globe.

Belated NZ debut a hair-raisingly eerie ghost thriller, unjustly eclipsed by glut of J-horror imitations in the wake of Ring’s success. The last word in diabolical technological horror. (2001)

Brainy and playful Altmanesque comedy, set in a Japanese college for the performing arts, where an unstable mix of art and life fuels a class of film students.