Of Love & Law

Documentary Focus

East Coast Premiere

Intro and Q&A with director Hikaru Toda

An artist named Rokudenashiko charged with violating Japan’s obscenity law through her vagina-themed artworks. A teacher fired for not singing the national anthem at graduation. People denied legal status due to being born outside the rigid family registration structure. These are some of the cases taken up by Japan’s first law firm founded by an openly gay couple, Masafumi Yoshida and Kazuyuki Minami. Hikaru Toda’s rousing and urgent crowdsource-funded documentary captures Fumi and Kazu’s professional and personal lives at their Osaka-based office representing marginalized individuals who challenge the status quo of a nation projecting homogeneity, while they themselves reflect on their desire to be parents, and love and care for each other amidst their dedicated work.

2017. 94 min. DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Hikaru Toda. With Kazuyuki Minami, Masafumi Yoshida, Yae Minami, Kazuma Tsujitani.

Japanese Cinema Splash Best Picture Award, 2017 Tokyo International Film Festival

"An impassioned and insightful debut feature… Eye-opening"

— Screen Daily