My Grandfather is a Nihonjin

Noboru’s grandfather Hideo isn’t the easiest to talk to. Curt and lovably cranky, he’s not exactly forthcoming. So when he’s assigned a school project on his family history, he’s reluctant to ask his jiichan how he came to Brazil from Japan. Almost immediately, their after school conversations unveil a family secret: an uncle Noboru has never heard of before. As Hideo’s story unfolds, he reveals the discrimination and difficulties he faced. They continue to talk (over some increasingly delicious-looking Japanese takoyaki and São Paolo café) and Noboru gains a newfound understanding of his grandfather and his own cultural roots. Artwork from Japanese-Brazilian artist Oscar Oiwa transforms the present-day settings into scenes from Brazil in the 1920s—a coffee plantation, a ranch, the local schoolhouse—letting the characters travel back in time as the story continues, filling the screen with vibrant brushstrokes resonant of Van Gogh and bridging the past and the present.