Documentaries


The Witches of the Orient
How does a Japanese women’s volleyball team from the late 1950s become an international sensation, feminist role models, the subject of a wildly popular comic book and a still-influential anime? A group of Osaka textile workers are transformed into a fiercely competitive volleyball team by their astonishingly ruthless coach whose unconventional techniques emphasize speed and aggression. Wonderful archival footage of the women in training and on the court, animated versions of their championship games, and moving interviews with the women today are set to a pulsating electronic score.

Showtime(s)


Director:  Julien Faraut
Writer:  Julien Faraut
Producer:  William Jéhannin
Cinematographer:  Yutaka Yamazaki
Editor: Andreï Bogdanov
Country:  France
Language:  Japanese
Subtitle:  English
Runtime:  100 minutes