ARTicle Films
ARTicle films
ARTicle Films is a Tokyo-based combined sales and production company specializing in Japanese independent films. Established in 2015. We handle films in a range of lengths, from short to features; budgets, from micro to big; and genres. We are best known for documentaries about art, music, ecology, and human rights. A Japan-Mexico co-production The Legacy of Frida Kahlo” (2015), has screened widely at international festivals including the Hot Docs, Guadalajara IFF. Short Film TOKYO KURDS(2018) screened on HOT DOCS and 20 other film festivals. Future Version of TOKYO KURDS(2021) was screened at the Jeonju International Film Festival as an International Competition, and TIDF Asian Competition, as well as theatrical screened nationwide. I am a comedian(2022 ) was selected for DMZ industry Rough Cut Presentation and Cannes Docs, Doc in Progress then World premiere at DMZ and Tokyo International Film Festival.
The company also succeeded as a sales company, titles have been selected for numerous festivals such as IFFR, Tokyo, Sheffield,Yamagata,TIDF, Jeonju, Karlovy Vary,FICFICUNAM , and so on.
I am a Comedian
Fumiari HYUGA
Daisuke Muramoto (39) has been in the entertainment industry for 20 years. In 2013, he became the champion in one of the most prestigious comedy contests in Japan, rising to the top from a field of 1855 contestants. At the time he was flooded with offers, appearing on TV almost every day. However, because he repeatedly criticized politicians and made remarks about nuclear power plants and minority groups that are ostracized from society - topics that are regarded as taboos in the Japanese entertainment industry - in 7 years, Daisuke’s appearance on TV has plummeted to zero
ARTicle FIlms Line Up ~2024 Documentary
ヘッディング 2
The village of Oshika-mura in Nagano Prefecture with a beautiful view of the Minami Alps. On top of that deep mountain,
Voices of the Silenced
Park Soo-nam, Park Maeui
This film delves into the historical experiences of Park Soo-nam, born in colonial-era Japan, retracing the journey of the history of ZainichiーKorean in Japan. Through the lens of two 16mm documentary films shot since 1985 and the restoration of unreleased footage, it resurrects the testimonies of witnesses. The film raises questions for audiences, probing what was lost through colonization and war, and serves as a record of the struggle to reclaim those losses.
Shedding light from the past to the present, it challenges us to ponder the essence of documentary filmmaking and raises inquiries about the significance of reclaiming what was lost in the face of historical injustices.
This film is a collaborative effort between the director Park Soo-nam, who has now lost her eyesight, and her daughter and co-director Park Maeui.
Legendary experimental filmmaker Junichi Okuyama is a pioneer of constructive cinema. He has been obsessed with the particular the beauty of analog films, especially small formats, whose potentials he has enjoyed exploring since debuting in 1964 with the 8mm exercise MU. Director,
and critique, for some 8 years Yu KANEKO followed Okuyama, observed him making and showing his films, and collected printedmaterials.
TOKYO KURDS
Produced and Sales
TOKYO KURDS
Fumiari HYUGA
동네책방 폴란 Polan | 감독 나카무라 코타 NAKAMURA Kota | 24th JEONJU IFF OFFICIAL TRAILER
POLAN
Kota NAKAMURA
An elderly couple continues their routine even as they prepare for the closure of their bookshop, POLAN SHOBO. Kyosuke, the bookseller, says farewell to the customers, and the shelves are taken down. His wife, Chiseko, starts managing an online shop while Yuki, a staff member, decides to open her own bookshop.
Mommy
Produced and Sales
In Post-production
Mommy
Masahiro NIMURA
Bob Suzuki and Masatoshi Kihara are actors, both belonging to the same agency. Bob Suzuki is a veteran actor whose face is rarely recognized despite his countless film credits. At the age of 50, he suddenly feels doubt about his current position as an actor with whom he shed blood, tears, and sweat, rising to fame. He sets out to change himself, but stumbles, not knowing what or how to change.
Kihara, on the other hand, is highly regarded for his plays but is only called on for big roles in small-budget productions. When asked by his wife when he will become a star, he is at a loss for words. Time passes as he finds himself powerless, but to accept his current situation.
Although the two are years apart in age, they begin to struggle shoulder to shoulder. It’s not all that easy, and they can’t fix all their problems, but life just goes on.
ORIGAMI
Produced and Sales
ORIGAMI
Tadasuke KOTANI
Atsushi Suwa, a realist painter, undertakes the work of drawing a portrait of a medical college student who victim of sudden death
A Son『二十歳の息子』 Official Film Trailer | Nippon Connection
A SON
Ryuichi Shimada
Yuki Amiya (40) works as a social worker supporting youth in orphanages to prepare for life outside as independent adults. In 2018, Yuki adopts Wataru, whom he met in an orphanage four years ago, and the two become father and son. Wataru is 20 years old, raised in orphanages all his life, never having seen his parents.
Cadence
Produced and Sales
Cadence
Ryo KATAYAMA
Mana, Sayuri, Mei put their all into their final drama competition in the cicada-roaring summer of their final year of high school. Misao wishes to stop time through the muse of the shamisen, a traditional string instrument. Ryuhei, a fisherman, finds himself needing to grow up to take over his father’s boat as the autumn leaves fall. Kazuya, an aspiring farmer, moves to a snow-covered mountain town to dig his fingers into the soil, only to find himself digging into his shameful past that he must overcome in order to become a part of the city. Connected by the time that flows in the air, four stories delve into the everyday indulgences of Fukui, Japan.
BOOK-PAPER-SCISSORS
book paper scissors
Nanako HIROSE
a 75 year old Japanese book designer Nobuyoshi Kikuchi has devoted his life to design over 15,000 books. The book designer’s job is not only to come up with the outstanding jacket of a book, but also to carefully choose the papers and the fonts, and layout them to create the unique physical book. Each design is inspired by the text in the books, and none of them are the same. Through the lens, we find not only the beauty of fabrication, but also the crisis of physical book’s existence. The director Nanako Hirose, who is an apprentice of Hirokazu Kore-eda, has filmed Mr. Kikuchi for over 3 years to make this film. Nanako hopes that the audience goes to a bookstore after watching this film, and touch and reconnect with books by his or her own hands. This is a film for all the book lovers out there in the world.