Of Love & Law

(Ai to hou, 愛と法)

In her debut feature documentary, Hikaru Toda shines a spotlight on the side of Japan that the rest of the world rarely glimpses. It follows the personal and professional partnership of Fumi and Kazu who operate the first and only law firm in Japan set up by an openly gay couple, tired of being made to feel invisible by the laws and traditions of their nation. Attracting clients with similar stories of marginalisation in a society often misrepresented by the West as universally conformist, the couple’s fight for equality and personal freedom highlights the conflict between an individual’s human rights and the traditional rigidity of the community they were raised in. Will they secure justice and freedom of expression for their clients?

Spanning several years and exploring the internationally relevant need to challenge the status quo, Toda’s film exposes a nation in flux as it is forced to adjust to the existence of hidden diversities and hear their increasingly louder calls for visibility.

This film has been programmed as part of the Japan Now Special Strand and will have a limited screening.

2017/94 min/English Subtitles

Director: Hikaru Toda

Documentary

Showing at:

Curzon Soho
21 February 2019

HOME
22 February 2019

Showroom Cinema
25 February 2019