Bean Cake

Streaming video - 2001

The year is 1933 and a young boy in Tokyo named Uchido has recently moved from the country and attends his first day of school. The class is run in a traditional and strict manner that is designed to teach the children to conform to a strict code of social behavior that includes expressing loyalty to the Emperor. Uchido runs afoul of this intention when he answers the teacher’s question by expressing his love for bean cakes instead of the emperor. This answer causes him to be put in the hallway as a disciplinary measure. He refuses to change his answer and a young girl sympathizes with him and his plight. Winner of the Palme d'Or for Best Short Film at the **Cannes Film Festival**.