Junshin Soga

Seven tales of transformation poetically reimagine Ovid's "Metamorphoses" and paint a picture of violence and catharsis, anchored in mythical landscapes.

The fascinating city of Tokyo is the mesmerizing setting where three people live. A man has been fired from his job, but shame is too heavy a burden for him. He repeats the same ceremony every morning. He gets up, gets dressed and walks out to his non-existent job. He wanders around carrying his lie with him. Eiko works at a twenty-four hour convenience store. Hours and days go by with no emotions beyond the opening and closing of the teller. A man appears into her life. They will start a relationship that will fill in part the emptiness in their lives. A rock band is falling apart. After the last rehearsal, the guitar player announces his decision to quit to his friend, the singer and front man of the band, but he is not willing to accept it. Three everyday stories – three lives are told.

In the city with the highest suicide rate and where people don’t look to each other’s eyes, a gaze between two strangers could change the course of the day.

On an unseasonably hot day in November, Hiro, a Japanese immigrant in New York City, decides to butcher a live chicken for dinner. While showing his visiting cousin Kei around, the pair encounter a medical emergency on the street. After they mishandle the situation and end up causing more harm than good, Hiro cannot bring himself to kill the chicken. Throughout, Kei observes his cousin’s new lifestyle as Hiro and his pregnant wife prepare for their move to Chinatown. As the day wears on, Hiro and Kei’s actions highlight how their lives are complicit in the structural violence that surrounds them.

A half-brother and sister meet for the first time in 30 years at their father’s funeral. Having grown up separately, will the long-standing gap between them still be unbridgeable? As they pass each other and return to their respective lives, they feel a sense of parental love at the moment of parting.

A short film that delves into the intricacies of gay dating in Japan. Aoki, a solitary Japanese gay man, spends a night by himself in a hotel, seeking companionship through a gay dating app. His interactions with Mori leave him feeling hollow and dissatisfied, leading him to ponder the difficulties of discovering love and acceptance as a gay man in Japan. This poignant film explores the human condition and the universal longing for love, acceptance, and connection.