Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on April 2014

The French coming-of-age drama Blue Is the Warmest Color, which was named the best film of 2013 by many international critics, has finally been released in Japan. The Palme d’Or winner—a frank telling of a lesbian romance—is playing at Bunkamura’s Le Cinema (2-24-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku; www.bunkamura.co.jp).

In a timely move, Cinema Rise (13-17 Utagawacho, Shibuya-ku; www.cinemarise.com) is screening a  duo of thought-provoking documentaries on the nuclear power debate. On for two weeks from April 19 are Pandora’s Promise, which looks at the pro-nuclear camp and Into Eternity which documents the construction of a storage facility 500 meters under Finland to explore the great responsibility of protecting future generations from nuclear waste.

A very different kind of doc will screen from April 12 at Cine Switch in Ginza (4-4-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku; www.cineswitch.com). On the Way to School focuses on what many of us take for granted by showing kids in remote areas of the world making long treks to school, including Kenyan siblings who risk elephant attacks on their 15km trip.