Directing
Leslie Kee is a Singaporean fashion and celebrity photographer and film director. He has been based in Tokyo, Japan since 1993. He majored in Art, Photography and Film Making at Tokyo School of Visual Arts.
This film focuses on the "Out in Japan" project in which over 1,000 portraits of Japanese LGBT+ individuals were taken by photographer Leslie Kee and exhibited around the country. Many of the subjects share their stories and come out for the first time in hopes of normalizing the community and adding awareness to closeted Japanese through this project.
Trailblazing artists, activists, and everyday people from across the spectrum of gender and sexuality defy social norms and dare to live unconventional lives in this kaleidoscopic view of LGBTQ+ culture in contemporary Japan.
Thirteen years after abandoning his wife and two sons by stepping out for a pack of cigarettes and never returning, deadbeat gambler Masato dies of stomach cancer. At his funeral, a motley crew of fellow mahjong players, pachinko parlor employees and former drinking buddies gather to pay their respects and tell stories, revealing aspects of Masato’s life that complicate his sons’ resentment towards him.
Masato is a young ramen chef in Japan. When he finds his late mother's journal after the sudden death of his emotionally distant father, he takes it with him to her native country, Singapore, hoping to piece together the story of his family and his life.
In memory of the Japanese earthquake on 3.11, each director presents a 3 minute and 11 second short film in tribute to those who were lost that day.
The stage is a course at a temple to experience meditation and green tea in fresh green Kyoto. It depicts how the life of the heroine changes depending on whether or not she is in time for start of the course!
