Masafumi Yoshida and Kazuyuki Minami – or Fumi and Kazu as they are known – operate Japan’s first openly gay law firm in Osaka. Across their 15 years together, the couple have gone against the grain of traditional Japanese society that has been reluctant to embrace the change in societal norms around sexuality. Director Hikaru Toda is granted access to their lives and those of their clients, gaining a wider understanding of LGBTQIA+ culture and the evolving challenge for civil rights in Japan. In doing so, it touches upon themes of discrimination, adoption, domestic abuse, immigration, art, the rise of nationalism and the damage silence has on marginalised individuals who do not have the freedom to express themselves.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
