Inside Lens

Until 1989, the village of Dafen in the city of Shenzhen, China was little more than a hamlet. It now has a population of 10,000, including hundreds of peasants-turned oil painters. In the many studios, and even in the alleyways, Dafen’s painters turn out thousands of replicas of world-famous Western paintings. Nobody thinks anything of an order for 200 Van Goghs. To meet their deadlines, painters sleep on the floor between clotheslines strung with masterpieces. In 2015, the turnover in painting sales was over $65 million. Directors Haibo and Kiki Tianqi Yu followed one of the painters, Xiaoyong Zhao. He and his family have painted around 100,000 Van Goghs. After all these years, Zhao feels a deep affinity with Van Gogh. He traveled to Europe to see the original works at the Van Gogh Museum, and to visit one of his best clients, an Amsterdam art dealer. This debut film is a fascinating, at times picturesque portrait of a village where artists pursue their dreams, but also have them shattered.

The film follows Nasima, the first female surfer of Bangladesh, after her husband kicks her out of the same house that she built by selling her surf board. The film explores the dilemma between her love for surfing and her husband. Bangladeshi National Surfing competition becomes the big stage for her to return to the sport which she championed before.

As the number of foreign travelers and residents in Japan increases, the medical system is adapting to care for them. Dr. Yuko Takeda of Juntendo Medical University in Tokyo is preparing some of Japan's young medical students for a career during which they will most likely be seeing foreign patients in addition to Japanese ones. We follow some of these future doctors who come from a traditionally homogenous society as they navigate issues of culture, religion and sexual orientation...in English.

ShareTwitterFacebookGoogle+ *You will leave the NHK website. Guitarist Kim Jihee (21) has an intellectual disability. Intellectual disability manifests itself as a lack of learning ability and social skills. Being around classmates who do not understand her, Jihee has so far spent dark, lonely days with not even one friend. But as Jihee learned to play the guitar, she started to change. Now, she has grown into a guitarist performing on numerous stages. The guitar, as Jihee’s best friend, has allowed her to get in touch with the world. However, she is still unskilled in communicating with others. The sound of her voice and guitar are not strong enough to fully reach the audience. Nevertheless, people give Jihee a big applause because of the fact that she has a disability. Jihee aspires to become a better musician. But as she gets close to a wall—the absence of creativity—she encounters limitations as a musician, too early on. There is, however, no limit to her efforts to flourish as a musician. In the meantime, Jihee is entering the society, a step at a time.

The 2011 “kanji of the year” was Kizuna (絆). It reflects the spirit in which Japanese helped each other after the disasters. The direct translation in English - "bonds" - gives the impression that ties to others can be restrictive, an imposition on one's freedom, at least to Westerners who cherish individualism. The fact is we are almost all connected to others. I, the director, feel we have much to learn from the ways Japanese interact and think about others. That is the premise of my search for the meaning of Kizuna.

MD Raya was village chief of Waiha for 32 years, exactly as long as Soeharto, Indonesia's notorious dictator. But he is not only famous for that. He is also famous for having 12 wives. Used to living an excessive life for many years, now he has to change. Since he had to stop being village chief because of old age, his wealth decreases...excessively. How does he survive his old age?

Japan is a graying society. More than a quarter of the population is over 65 and life expectancy for women is a whopping 86. Yoshie Senda is a dedicated 80-year-old on a mission. For the past 16 years, she has been rebuilding ties within her community in a collective effort to tackle elderly isolation in Tokyo’s Adachi ward. Located in northeastern Tokyo, the ward has one of the highest concentrations of elderly people in the metropolis. While trying her best to embrace her golden years, Yoshie spends much of her time visiting her peers and creating a space where they can have fun and share their memories

After drifting as a migrant worker in the city for a year, Maofu returns to his family bee farm in rural Northern China. Maofu brings along big ideas for marketing and honey sales. However, his father Lao Yu emphasizes a heart felt connection with the bees which comes from generations of traditional beekeeping. Now in his declining years, Lao Yu witnesses the environmental degradation and pollution that has also depleted his bee colonies. He’s struggling with his own self-worth and values, and mixed emotions of whether his son should even stay in this traditional area of work and trade. In the end, he makes the ultimate sacrifice cutting down a family tree, to build the new bee boxes while securing a portion of it for his own coffin. The animals on the farm echo the emotional intensities of father and son, sometimes providing an unexpected comic relief.

Japanese people are rather fond of sharing important life events together, such as in "shukatsu" (job hunting), "konkatsu" (dating), and "shukatsu" (funeral preparations.) In a rapidly aging society, more Japanese are seeking alternative burial styles, like being entered under a tree or scattering their ashes in the ocean. Design Your Own Ending explores the changing attitudes towards death in modern Japanese society.

Sophoeun left her countryside home at the age of 16 for a factory work in Phnom Penh city to support her parents and 12 siblings. With the country’s cheap labor cost, Cambodia has become a new manufacturing location for internationally recognized clothing brands, but tension started to rise between the workers and the government due to harsh working condition as well as the rising living cost. This resulted in a violent confrontation and Sophoeun’s husband was seriously injured by police gunfire. Sophoeun now faces the dilemma between finding money to save her husband, and seeing her 16 years old sister leaving school for work. Wages of Life examines the cycle that Cambodian workers face in today’s globalized world.

Deep Flowers portrays floral artist Azuma Makoto, whose unusual and impressive flower arrangements challenge our understanding of flowers in our environment. His radical botanical sculptures, sometimes made with thousands of flowers, have been set aflame in caves and frozen into massive blocks of ice. In 2014, he launched a bonsai pine and a bouquet into space. Deep Flowers unfolds in his Tokyo studio, where he crafts his daily creations. The story also takes us to Hokkaido for a performance installation of a 5-meter pine, and to Ota Market, the country’s largest flower market.

China’s rapid modernization has left many Chinese parents questioning what toll this massive societal upheaval takes on their children. What is lost in the increasing emphasis on excelling academically so as to compete for high-paying jobs? Do Chinese schools teach children be good students instead of good people? Today, thousands of parents across the country have joined a growing Confucian revivalist movement, sending their children to special schools to learn ancient teachings in the hopes that children will learn to put their character and relationships before their test scores. Hanyu is the mother of 13 year-old Keke, a typical teenager who directs most of his attention to a computer or phone screen. Worried about her son’s future, Hanyu sends Keke to a tradition Confucian summer camp. There, he learns about etiquette, morality, harmony, and the art of self-reflection. At camp, Keke memorizes Confucian verses, but will he take those lessons to heart once Summer is over? Hanyu and Keke’s journey will test whether an older style of education can meet the grueling demands of a new China.

“OUT OF BREATH” follows a small group of international volunteers who travel to North Korea every six months. They work side by side with North Korean doctors to fight the spread of a deadly infectious disease called multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Each visit, the volunteers deliver medicine and check progress, but the heavy lift of treating and caring for the patients is left to the North Korean medical staff. Working together under difficult conditions, the volunteers and North Koreans have forged unexpected bonds and achieved something incredible – one of the highest MDR-TB cure rates in the world.

'Two Flags' chronicles the life and politics of a quaint French town called Pondicherry in South India. As the 6000 Tamil French people belonging to the Tamil ethnic community, gear up for the French Presidential elections of 2017, the film explores the idea of state, citizenship and home in the post colonial era. ‘Two Flags’ seeks to unfurl, in all its complexity, the intrinsic duality that defines a unique community, through a visual and aural exploration of its routines. The Tamil French community does not necessarily share the same religion, language, customs, history, or indeed ethnicity of their country of citizenship: France. Although entitled to all the benefits of French citizenship, they reside in India, over which France (their government) possesses no sovereignty. In India they are resident aliens. Although they may migrate to France freely, cultural and familial attachments keep them in India. They are outsiders in both India and France.

In 2006, Myongho crossed the border with his family with nothing from North Korea. In South, he becomes a deep-sea diver at the border village between South and North Korea. He wears 60 kg diving suit, only relying on a single oxygen line from the boat, and fishes 30 meters down underwater. If the line goes wrong, he could die in any minute. Myongho once crossed the most dangerous borderline, now he constantly crosses the line between life and death. This film will be the portrait of a courageous man who fights with the life for his family.

Plastic China’s main character Yi-Jie is an unschooled 11-year-old girl whose family works and lives in a typical plastic waste household-recycling workshop. As much as her life is poor and distorted, she’s a truly global child who learns the outside world from the waste workshop that her family lives in and works in - also known as the “United Nations of Plastic Wastes.” She lives her happiness and sorrows amongst the waste,, as well. Small packs of discarded instant black powder tells her the bitter taste of “coffee”; the English children’s learning cards teach her words like “summer” and “father’s day”; and brokenBarbie dolls are her best friends to talk to. This is her world. Plastic China explores how this work of recycling plastic waste with their bare hands takes a toll not only on their health, but also their own dilemma of poverty, disease, pollution and death. All of this to eek out a daily living.

Indonesia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population. It’s also home to Masriyah Amva, the head teacher of an Islamic boarding school. She fights male skepticism about women playing a leading role in society. Her weapon is her interpretation of the Koran. RISING FROM SHADOWS’ director, Norhayati Kaprawi, is a Muslim woman from Malaysia who has a deep admiration for neighboring Indonesia’s tolerant version of Islam. As she follows Masriyah closely throughout her day-to-day life, Kaprawi explores how Islamic societies should approach women’s rights.

Having been forced to consume inferior and unpalatable grain for centuries, some downtrodden and marginalized women in Central India have, over generations, evolved a unique bread recipe. The bread is called Randani Roti. The robust flavor of this bread has won high acclaims. They now bake this bread through a women-led business that contributes to their economic prosperity. However, wealthy local merchants are trying to gain a foothold into their business. But the women are steadily and successfully resisting them. How long can they keep up the fight?

Being the oldest daughter, at 14, Lao Kang had to quit school in order to take care of her parents, and for her siblings to stay in school. She kept asking :”Why me?” She knew that she would never have a chance to go back to school. Until one day, she was introduced to rugby. She saw the opportunity to get out of her current situation and go back to school.

A farmer from rural China with cerebral palsy is not a likely candidate for fame. But when Yu Xiuhua's poetry went viral online, she was suddenly touted for great success. Brutally visceral, her poetry is born from grappling with disability, a loveless marriage, and her relationship with China's eroding pastoral interior. This sympathetic doc lays bare the disjunction at the heart of Yu's life between physical circumstance and inner expression.

In South Korea education success is highly valued, I’ve studied hard with one belief - it will promise my future. I was always an honour student in my school life, even certified as a gifted child in science by the government. But in the final year of the university, I became having a zero confidence and feeling betrayed by the education system which makes me lost. At the same time, my little sister enters into an elementary school. Observing her life filled with extra classes and homework every day, I see my past. With looking back my time there, I try to figure out what I’ve missed and how I will have my own life after all that

"Deadline" talks about the way to school of three pairs of students in Phan Rang, Phan Thiet and Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam. Each student has their own situation, facing different "deadline" and different living burdens. However, they all have one thing in common: their passion for learning and the desire to go to school. The original version is a part of a series of "Way to school" produced by VTV7 - Vietnam Educational Television

The Kurds are called, “the world’s largest ethnic group without their own country.” Approximately, 30 million Kurds are living in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. In 2014, ISIL militants attacked Kurdish cities. The Kurds rose up to defend their homes. They drove back the militants, and suffered many casualties. But the cities were reduced to rubble. In towns laid waste by ISIL, Kurdish boys and girls are making their own films. Iranian director, Bahman Ghobadi and his colleagues taught the children how to make a film. Ghobadi is also a Kurd. Two years prior, he opened a film school in a refugee camp for Kurdish children who escaped from their own hometowns. Eight of the kids’ short films made it to the Berlin Film Festival and drew the world's attention. In 2017, Ghobadi has opened a film school again. Kurdish Children’s pain and hope for the future have been woven together...to create two short films

ShareTwitterFacebookGoogle+ *You will leave the NHK website. Deep Flowers II features floral artist Azuma Makoto, and is the sequel to Deep Flowers broadcast in June 2017 on NHK World. This time, we witness the artist at work during the making of two of his most radical exhibits. In the deserts of southwestern United States, Makoto showcases a floral arrangement sent aloft 30,000 meters into the stratosphere. A few months later off the coast of Japan, he plunges a bonsai and a bouquet together into the deepest ocean on Earth. Through these installations, the artist expresses the idea that the ephemeral beauty of flowers is as powerful as the lasting harshness of the environment. These projects were rife with technical challenges and took months to achieve. We also follow Makoto to India with his Kibou project, in which he randomly hands out free floral bouquets to people on the streets in exchange for nothing more than a smile.