Beijing Watermelon

Based on a true story, this Japanese slice-of-life film by Nobuhiko Obayashi (Hausu, Seven Weeks) tells of a grocer named Shunzo, played by Japanese comic Bengal, who shows compassion and offers a discount to poor Chinese exchange students. A simple gesture leads to helping the students more and more, and tensions arise in his family as Shunzo risks his own well-being to help others. A recent restoration preserves the 1989 gem, which captured the culture of the time that included the Tiananmen Square Massacre and feelings around the longstanding issues between China and Japan. – Kat McNevins