Inside Lens

Mindanao, the southernmost island in the Philippines, has long faced armed conflicts from various rebel factions. Violent encounters between the government troops and rebels have recently intensified, and this led to the declaration of military rule in the region. Thousands of Lumads, the indigenous peoples in the region, have evacuated their ancestral lands. Soldiers have occupied schools and used them as camps, forcing students and children out of the area. To flee from the violence, some of them evacuated to Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.

This film is about the psychological journey of a filmmaker and her mother in Bangladeshi Muslim society. The daughter tries to find out the reasons why her once joyful and outgoing mother has suddenly turned very conservative. At first, she thought Mom had changed because of the Hajj, the biggest Muslim pilgrimage. After the Hajj, Mom transformed into a very religious lady and cocooned herself within the 4 walls of the house. She no longer approves of her daughter's filmmaking profession. On the top of that, she wants to take her daughter on the Hajj along with her so that she can understand her mother's beliefs. Before going on the Hajj, the daughter starts filming her mom to better understand her. Slowly, through this filmmaking process, the daughter realizes that her mom was very lonely in her world. She's still writing poems in private, which she once did when she was young. She sought freedom through her poetry, but she never published it or shared it with anyone, not even with her husband. To fulfill the void in her life she finally submits herself to God.

Li Chunyuan is an idealistic, lower-level Chinese government official who is determined to get a grip on local air pollution. He is in charge of air pollution in the Langfang Environmental Protection Bureau. Langfang used to be one of the most polluted cities in China. Li uses quick methods to clean up the air and reduce smog, but, little by little, loses control. We follow his journey.

Uyashinai, once a thriving rice-farming village, is on the brink of extinction. The young have fled to cities with no sight of return and the village elders are left to protect their ancestral land. But this could all be able to change because Uyashinai has caught the attention of Japan's most popular sake maker, Yusuke. Yusuke wants to grow his own sake rice in Uyashinai. This is an unexpected opportunity for the villagers to revive their fields and pass on their ancestral land. But, not all are on board Yusuke's radical plans. Yusuke doesn't want to grow just ordinary sake rice; it must be organic. Yusuke deploys his Master Brewer, Koseki, to grow the village's first harvest of organic rice in 70 years. However, Koseki is a sake brewer and has no experience of farming. He hasn't even ever planted a flower. Will Koseki be able to successfully grow organic rice, and most importantly change the hearts and minds of the village? This story follows how this forgotten village and Japan's finest sake brewery as they come together to achieve the first steps of their dreams; to make the most authentic cup of sake and save their ancestral land from disappearing forever.