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.

大阪で法律事務所を開く同性愛カップルと、2人のもとを訪ねる相談者の姿を追ったドキュメンタリー。性的マイノリティー、「君が代不起立」で処分された教師、作品が罪に問われたアーティストなど、社会の仕組みに合わず葛藤を抱える人々を通し、人間の多様性や個性を描く。(Japanese synopsis by Eikoku News Digest)

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

2017/94 min/English Subtitles