The best Kiki Sugino’s movies

To save her relationship, a woman puts herself through extensive plastic surgery.

Chihiro is depressed and obsessed with his own mortality. Him and his wife, Yuri (Yoko Mitsuya), decide to take a trip to Bali, Indonesia to see his pregnant sister, Kumi (Kiki Sugino). They hope the trip can bring about change.

15 short films with an animated end-title sequence by young women directors born in late ‘80s to ‘90s.

Julian is a soldier stationed on a remote island in the Philippines. He has finished his three months of service on the island and is ready to leave, but news of a coup d’état in Manilla forces Julian to stay on the island longer. All Julian has is a walkie-talkie, radio and TV. Meanwhile, Julian senses someone watching him. When Julian loses contact with the main base, soldiers Lucio and Eric (Luis Alandy) are sent to the island. The soldiers then talk about a soldier previously stationed on the island and his encounters with a mermaid.

In this black comedy the lives of a timid small-time printer and his young wife are turned inside out by the arrival of a stranger who moves in and takes over their world. Set in a village-like outpost in the heart of Tokyo, this is a wry commentary on Japanese xenophobia. Kiki Sugino heads a spritely ensemble cast.

After failing her university entrance exam, Sakuko is invited by her aunt Mikie to spend summer vacation in a beautiful seaside town. Sakuko gets to know the people of the town, including Takashi, a shy relative of her childhood friend.

Football seen through the eyes of some of the best directors of the world.

A teacher is sexually involved with an underage student. She visits her father's home and discovers a boy who's been kept as a sex slave. The teacher continues harboring the boy out of fear and begins to feel sexually attracted to him.

One snowy night, in a mountain hut, Minokichi, a hunter, sees a snow woman killing his mentor Mosaku. “Should you tell anyone, I will take your life” she says, then drifts off. A year later, Minokichi meets and marries a beauty named Yuki. She bears him a daughter, Ume. 14 years pass and Ume blossoms into a radiant lady who befriends the sickly Mikio, the village leader’s son and Mosaku’s distant relative. Mikio soon dies in the same hut as Mosaku, with his body showing the same frostbite scars. Minokichi is reminded of that horrid night, and wonders what it was that he saw, and who Yuki really is.

Hiroshi, who runs a mental clinic, has never recovered from the shock of his wife’s suicide. One day, Ayako, a mysterious patient comes to his clinic…. A down to earth love story by MANDA Kunitoshi, casting NAKAMURA Toru for the first time after “The Kiss” (2007). Starring SUGINO Kiki and SAITO Takumi.

A dreamlike drama produced by and starring Sugino Kiki, a rising star in the independent film world. Two women who meet on a mysterious resort island become captivated by its allure and venture into an ethereal realm. It is the second feature directed by Malaysian filmmaker Lim Kah Wai. Japanese Kiki (Sugino) and South Korean Kkobbi (Kim Kkobbi) arrive on Hong Kong's Lantau Island. They have both rented rooms at a hotel near the Mui Wo forest, but when they enter the lobby, the only other person around is a bellboy.

One day in Spring, a college student Sayaka visits Shonan with Yui. Sayaka is secretly attracted to Yui, but Yui's best friend Momoko was waiting for them. The three girls started to stay at a holiday villa by the beach. Sayaka's anger and disdain towards Yui intensify as she finds it hard to keep up the pace with Yui and Momoko and there was an uncomfortable feeling among them. At the same time, there was Akihiro who was invited to the same villa to play at a party. While the girls enjoy chatting about Akihiro, he became interested in Sayaka and tries to attract her. Meanwhile, a Korean international student Min Jun cajoles Yona, who came to visit colleges for her study abroad, to come to the villa with him...

Saeko and Yukako live together in a small apartment complex in Tokyo. After the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, both live in a state of unease. Saeko, who is in a divorce, is worried that her daughter is exposed to radiation. Yukako is also afraid of radiation and tries to convince her husband to move. The two become friends after Yukako tries to save Saeko after a suicide attempt.

A unique black comedy set in Ginza Cinepathos, a long-established movie theater that closes at the end of March 2013 while being familiar to movie fans with its retro appearance and unique lineup. Unique guests visiting the theater draw a human pattern during breaks.

Whimsical film in which students and teachers come together during a weekend for a wedding. The film flutters back and forth between the various characters and their feelings until the wedding starts. Shot in the old beach hotel where the great Ozu wrote his screenplays. © iffr.com

It is a youth film about the boys in their late teens spend before they become adults. Sho and Tiaga, who grew up in the same neighborhood since they were little, are in their last year of high school. They are also the duo who beat the drums at town festivals. However, Taiga announces that he will not play drums this year to prepare to go to college. Sho, who has no plan of his future, cannot think straight. Like The Blue Bird by Maurice MAETERLINCK, the film tells the story of the youth realizing that happiness is not far away.

Sakura is a 20-year-old college student who has sex for money to fund her shopping addiction. After her customers leave her apartment, she spends her time spying on Leo, a young, beautiful and (dyed) blond-haired boy, who works at a male escort service across the street. One day, Leo pays her a visit, and so starts an unlikely friendship. But Leo has a troubled past. He is the son of a prostitute who worked for his current pimp and died before she could repay money that she owed. He himself entered the business when he graduated from junior high school. Though Leo refuses to make love to Sakura (he has a policy of not having sex outside of work), the two fall in love and become inseparable until Leo gets into a fight with Sakura's boyfriend and gets him into a car accident. Leo turns himself in, and Sakura moves to Okinawa to wait for him at their dream destination.

An unknown calamity is killing off ninety-percent of mankind. There is no cure, no hope and no future. A man and woman, who are laden with suffering and anxiety, are drawn together. They spend their final days, and perhaps the final days of the planet, together in a different environment somewhere in central Japan of the near future.

A man, who moved to Tokyo to become a musician, returns to his hometown for the first time in 10 years. He sees the beautiful scenery of his childhood years and the kind people who supports him.