Luca

Maïnoumi, une saison dans la vie d'un lutteur de sumo

January 1993 •French

The Giants

July 2021 •English

We follow the epic lives of sumo legends who made it from humble beginnings in Hawaii, to becoming the first foreigners to rise to the highest ranks in sumo. Starting with Takamiyama who paved the path for Konishiki, Akebono, and Musashimaru who soon followed and ignited sumo fandom around the world. As diplomats for the sport and Japanese culture, these 600 pound outsiders share their hero’s journey from a small Hawaiian village, to having God-like adulation from fans across the world.

The Story of Sumo

October 2005 •English

Sumo wrestling is the national sport of Japan dating back over 1500 years. The huge but graceful wrestlers proceed with precision and great formality through the elaborate ceremonies and ornamentation. That doesn't stop crowds from going wild as the two huge wrestlers dressed only in loincloths battle each other. There is nothing crude about the fight; it proceeds in a series of infinitesimal moves made with as much power as the individual wrestler can summon. When one wrestler's foot is out of the ring, or any part of his body touches the ground, the other has won. A bout rarely lasts even a minute. Japanese schoolboys learn Sumo as their North American peers learn hockey and baseball.

A Normal Life. Chronicle of a Sumo Wrestler

March 2013 •French

The diary of Takuya Ogushi, a 18 years old Japanese, who begins his new life as a sumo wrestler.

Wakanohana: The Story of the Devil of the Dohyō

December 1956 •Japanese

A film about sumo wrestler Wakanohana Kanji I. He was nicknamed "Devil of the dohyo" due to his excellent fighting spirit and endurance.

Memoirs of a Geisha

December 2005 •English

In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.

Animal Sumo

December 1931 •Japanese

It’s sumo time! Plenty of animals come together for a rousing set of battles in the ring, but only one will prove victorious. Will it be the duck, the monkey, or maybe even the elephant that will win the day? Only time and skill will tell!

Summer Days with Coo

July 2007 •Japanese

A small, lone Kappa miraculously survives over 200 years into modern day Japan, when he is found by young Koichi. Coo, who is secretly adopted by Koichi's family, searches with his new human friend for unpopulated places in hopes of finding any remaining of his kind.

A Matter of Size

April 2009 •Hebrew

Four overweight friends from the Israeli city of Ramle are fed up of dieting and the dieting club they belong to. When Herzl (155 kilos), the main protagonist, loses his job as a cook and starts working as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant in Ramle he discovers the world of Sumo where large people such as himself are honored and appreciated. Through Kitano (60 kilos), the restaurant owner, a former Sumo coach in Japan (who is supposedly hiding from the Yakuza in Israel), he falls in love with a sport involving "two fatsos in diapers and girly hairdos". Herzl wants Kitano to be their coach but Kitano is reluctant - they first have to earn their spurs. "A MATTER OF SIZE" is a comedy about a ‘coming out’ of a different kind - overweight people learning to accept themselves.

Children Hand in Hand

March 1964 •Japanese

My Dick Was Penetrated

December 1992 •Japanese

Manila city. Fernando Suzuki noticed the popularity of sumo in Japan and decided to make a profit by holding sumo classes locally. They are recruiting young people who want to succeed as sumo wrestlers in Japan. Philnando can't stop smiling at the unexpected number of applicants. They immediately start a training camp, but it is difficult to teach sumo to young people who have never tightened a mawashi, let alone how to step on a shiko. As Fernando watched the sweaty young men take a shower, he noticed one of them, Enrico. He immediately called her to his room...

The Chrysanthemum and the Guillotine

July 2018 •Japanese

In the wake of the social unrest caused by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, two female sumo athletes, Kiku and Tokachi, and an anarchist group called the Guillotine Society, spark an unlikely connection.

Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank

July 2022 •English

A hard-on-his-luck hound finds himself in a town full of cats in need of a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain's wicked plot to wipe their village off the map. With help from a reluctant mentor, our underdog must assume the role of town samurai and team up with the villagers to save the day.

Secret Society

October 2000 •English

Daisy is the love of Ken's life - she is also large... and very pretty... and on the dole. But Ken is a dreamer, all his dreams to make a fast buck ending up where they started - as dreams. With the rent unpaid, the bailiffs at the door and Ken's dreams in tatters, Daisy sets out to bring home the bacon and gets a job in the local factory. There she meets Marlene and half a dozen other large women who are all united in a secret passion - Sumo wrestling! Ken doesn't know what's hit him.

Ushi Must Marry

February 2013 •Dutch

Ushi Hirosaki has to marry according to Japanese tradition before her 30th birthday. Because time is running out, her family decides she has to marry a huge sumo wrestler. A rather unfortunate combination, so Ushi wants to look for a nicer candidate herself. She travels halfway around the world to find her dream husband. Along the way she does valiant efforts, for example to learn table manners and to lose her Japanese accent.

China Town

April 2011 •Malayalam

Three childhood friends Mathukutty, Binoy and Zachariah re-unite in Goa to fight a Casino don who was responsible for the deaths of their fathers.

The Endless Summer

June 1966 •English

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

9 Songs

July 2004 •English

Matt, a young glaciologist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall - London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages unfold in counterpoint to nine live-concert songs.

8 Mile

November 2002 •English

For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.

Walk the Line

September 2005 •English

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.