Focus on Japan Special Shorts Block 2
Special Screening
Schedule
Nov 18, 2026 @ 06:30 PM
BREAK SHOT
19 min | Fiction (black comedy) | 2026 | Japan | Japanese | English Subs
Synopsis:
Six cars on a gridlocked highway at night. Inside, the conversations run on: excuses and posturing, probing questions, work panic, a pursuit, a reckless stunt for views, and plenty of small talk. Then one incident sets off a chain reaction that links strangers who were never meant to cross paths. The only witness to all of it is the drive recorder.
Director
Yutaka Mizuochi
Kuruma is a comedian and member of the comedy duo REIWA ROMAN, winners of the M-1 Grand Prix in both 2023 and 2024. He served as a comedy performance supervisor on the film "The Beast of Comedy" (2024). As an actor, he has appeared in Daigo Matsui’s "Meets the World" (2025) and Yusuke Iwasaki’s "Chilled" (2026), among others. Chilled received the International Federation of Film Critics Prize (FIPRESCI Prize) at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2026, he founded the creative studio “KURUMADE” and made his directorial debut with BREAK SHOT.
Deadlock
虎口の難
21 min | Fiction (crime thriller) | 2025 | Japan | Japanese | English Subs
Synopsis:
Amid betrayal and conspiracy within his organization, young yakuza Kenta Imaeda is suddenly caught up in a serious crime. The key is a single briefcase. In the closed world of a detention cell, the schemes of a mysterious woman, the yakuza, and a lawyer collide. What truth waits at the end of the lies and mind games?
Director
Tekkou Nogami
A multi-creator who works across boundaries as an actor, MC, film director and producer. With an unusual background—six years as secretary to a member of Japan’s House of Representatives and his own run for public office—he has worked at every level of society, from politics to business (TV program producer, head of PR) to serving as chief MC and organizer of the Tebasaki Summit, a festival drawing 120,000 people over three days. In his hometown of Nagoya he serves as a city policy committee member and as “Nagoya Cochin Ambassador” and the second “Tebasaki Ambassador.” His directorial work Ano Hi no Catch Ball (2024) was nominated at the JFF Los Angeles Japan International Film Festival, and his latest film is -Deadlock- (2026).
Lumi Story
13 min | Animation (Fiction) | 2025 | Japan | Japanese | English Subs
Synopsis:
Anger, sadness, joy—every emotion is part of the soul’s journey, and there is no single answer for everyone. LUMI STORY follows children connected by bonds formed on distant stars in past lives as they encounter Lumi, the guardian of harmony, and the twelve zodiac signs who offer them guidance along the way. Through memories that journey across the universe, the story invites children growing up in the age of AI to feel that “your address is Earth,” while discovering gratitude for everyday life, prayer beyond religion, and the light that shines within every heart.
Director
Michelle Michiko
Michelle Michiko is an independent entrepreneur whose work spans asset management, real estate investment and fashion projects connected with Paris Fashion Week. After studying in London and spending four years in Singapore learning about education, she developed learning spaces inspired by Japan’s traditional terakoya community schools. She now develops AI educational robots and works to preserve Japanese culture through her company’s French branch. Guided by the philosophy “Our Address Is Earth,” she brings LUMI STORY to AWFF, a short film set in rural Japan that explores invisible human bonds through the robot Lumi.
Tanabata– Yume Tanzaku
15 min | Drama | 2026 | Japan | Japanese | English Subs
Synopsis:
Hisho (Yoshimasa Uchida) grew up in an orphanage, haunted by the trauma of having been abandoned at a baby hatch. He meets Yuji Matsumoto (played by himself), president of TANABATA, a company where people write their dreams on tanzaku paper strips and help make one another's dreams come true, and begins working there. At TANABATA, Hisho falls in love with Yui (Risa Hinami), a captivating young woman. Overcoming the bitterness he has held toward his mother since childhood, he reclaims his lost youth and his life.
Director
Kinshirou Ogino
Rena Masuyama is a Japanese film director and representative of the Eurasia International Film Festival. She directed FLOWER BLOOM and is the director, screenwriter and editor of TANABATA – Yume Tanzaku –.