The Witches of the Orient

Jul 16, 2021

1h 40m

★ 6.5

Overview

The Japanese volleyball players called the “Oriental Witches” are now in their 70s. From the formation of the team at the factory until their victory at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, memories and legends rise to the surface and blend inextricably.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

UFO Production

The Witches of the Orient Trailers

Cast

self

Kinuko Tanida

self

Yoko Shinozaki

self

Katsumi Matsumura

self

Yuriko Handa

Starting with a long and lyrical overture, evoking the origins of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, Riefenstahl covers twenty-one athletic events in the first half of this two-part love letter to the human body and spirit, culminating with the marathon, where Jesse Owens became the first track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.

6.7

Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty

Jun 2, 1938

Part two of Leni Riefenstahl's monumental examination of the 1938 Olympic Games, the cameras leave the main stadium and venture into the many halls and fields deployed for such sports as fencing, polo, cycling, and the modern pentathlon, which was won by American Glenn Morris.

0.0

Salty Dog Blues

Jan 1, 2012

The film looks at men and women of color in the U.S. Merchant Marine from 1938-1975. Through chronicling the lives of these men and women who, with a median age of 82, are beset with a host of life-threatening illnesses, the movie tells how they navigated issues of racism, disparities in the workplace, gender and familial relations.

6.0

White Vertigo

Dec 31, 1956

A documentary covering the 1956 Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

6.3

Alain Mimoun

Dec 31, 1959

A documentary about French marathon runner Alain Mimoun at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

4.6

People, Hopes, Medals

Mar 14, 1960

A documentary covering the 1960 Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, California.

5.3

Olympic Spirit

Dec 31, 1980

A documentary covering the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid.

5.3

One Light, One World

Dec 31, 1992

A documentary covering the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville.

4.4

Atlanta’s Olympic Glory

Dec 7, 1997

A documentary covering the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

5.2

Olympic Glory

Jan 22, 1999

A documentary covering the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, filmed for IMAX presentations.

7.3

Sydney 2000: Stories of Olympic Glory

Aug 26, 2001

A documentary covering the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

7.1

My Generation

Oct 8, 2017

The vivid and inspiring story of British film icon Michael Caine's personal journey through 1960s swinging London.

1.0

Dream Girls

Aug 17, 1994

This film is about Japanese women, escape, glamour and dreams. The Takarazuka Revue is an enormously successful spectacular where the all-women cast create fantasies of erotic love and sensitive men. It is also a world for young girls desperate to do something different with their lives. In return for living a highly disciplined and reclusive existence, they will be adored and envied by many thousands of Japanese women. They will look, act and behave like young men while having no real men in their lives. Dream Girls explores the nature of sexual identity and the contradictory tensions that face young women in Japan today.

6.8

Sardou, autoportrait

Mar 29, 2024

No overview available.

7.9

The Cove

Jul 31, 2009

The Cove tells the amazing true story of how an elite team of individuals, films makers and free divers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate the hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The shocking discoveries were only the tip of the iceberg.

7.8

Tora-san of Goto

Jun 18, 2016

This documentary film follows for 22 years a nine-member family involved in the manufacturing of Udon in the Goto Islands, Nagasaki prefecture. Mr. Toru Inuzuka called by nickname "Tora-san" is making famous 'Goto Udon' and natural salt on the island on which the depopulation is progressing. Seven children get up at 5 o'clock every morning, helping to make udon, and go to school. Children's help is recorded on the time card, and it is pocket money for children. The film talks about children's growth, marriage, childbirth, homecoming, and parting. The 22 years of familiarity of the family is drawn.

4.2

Marathon

Jan 1, 1993

A documentary covering the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

0.0

The Road to the Tokyo Olympics

Feb 8, 1963

A documentary film that includes footage of past Olympics held in different countries with an particular emphasis on the activities and successes of Japanese athletes and how they are currently (circa 1963) improving themselves.

No Image Available

7.2

Tin Tan

Nov 12, 2010

Germán Cipriano Gómez Valdés Castillo, a young radio announcer from Cuidad Juárez, succeeds in drawing attention to the pachuco movement through his character Tin Tan, laying the groundwork for a new form of binational and mass linguistic expression: Spanglish. He soon became a leading figure in theater and film on the American Continent. Singled out by critics as a destroyer of the language, he quickly won the approval of the public. His ability to improvise revolutionized the film industry. His talent as an actor, singer, dancer and comedian contributed to the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. From El Hijo Desobediente to Capitán Mantarraya, from Cuidad Juárez to Havana, from mambo to rock, the legacy of Tin Tan makes him one of the great icons of Mexico today. This film tells his story as it has never been told before.

0.0

London Recruits

Nov 22, 2024

The story of the Londoners recruited to be freedom fighters during the South African apartheid during the 1960s.

The Witches of the Orient

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Witches of the Orient Trailers