Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha vacation on Earth as roommates in a Tokyo apartment.

"Trivial Matters" is exactly what it says on the packet. Collection of seven vignettes -- some sad, others sardonic -- have little in common other than a concern with the small things of life and a throwaway attitude very typical of its creator, Pang Ho-cheung (aka Edmond Pang). Hard on the heels of his much more formal "Exodus," pic may baffle those unfamiliar with the Hong Kong writer-director's insouciant oeuvre, and will be best appreciated at Asiaphile events. Pic did so-so biz on local release last December. Though Pang is best known internationally for "Isabella" (in many ways his least typical movie), "Trivial Matters" is closer in spirit to earlier pics like "Beyond Our Ken" and "AV," in which the audience is never sure just how seriously to take what's being shown. Based on Pang's own collection of short stories, it also has a scattergun success rate that's also very characteristic of him. Best segs are the third and fifth, both of which are constructed as mini-movies rather than casual jottings, and are nicely played by their separate casts. In "It's a Festival Today," a girl (Isabel Chan) moves in with her b.f. (Eason Chan) but doesn't want to have sex; finally, at Christmas, she agrees to service the poor guy, which leads him to desperately hunt the calendar for other holidays in order to get pleasured again. Punchline is blackly witty. Tone in "Ah Wai, the 'Big Head,' " the longest and most slickly lensed of the bunch, is more wistful, sketching a friendship between two high schoolers -- quiet Kei (Stephy Tang) and spacey Ah Wai (Gillian Chung) -- as they drift apart but meet again at a class reunion. Stretching from the late '80s to the mid-'90s, and based around their shared liking for Cantopop legend Danny Chan, yarn has a lovely period feel and subtle chemistry between the two actresses that packs quite an emotional punch at the end. Other segs range from passing gags -- thesp Edison Chen as a dirty-mouthed pick-up artist -- to self-consciously clever playing with film form. The simplest, but with a piercing moment of sadness, is the sixth episode, "Recharge," centered on a hotel-room assignation between a businessman (Chapman To) and a Mainland hooker (Zhang Zheng). At a time when Hong Kong production has become increasingly conventional and middle-class, pic is notable for its natural, undogmatic approach to nudity and drug use. Casting of names in all the segments -- including Mainland helmer Feng Xiaogang in a witty cameo as the account manager of an assassination agency -- maintains interest for auds able to recognize the faces. However, general viewers are more likely to agree with pic's opening intertitle: "Life is rather trivial in hindsight."

This is a short 20-minute film by Hiroshi Ishikawa (director of Su-ki-da), starring Horikita Maki and Kuroki Meisa. The film simply shows how those two girls pass their evening. We watch them being carefree, wondering and having fun, but only towards the end the viewer understands the meaning of all these. Amazing performances by both actresses.

Based on renowned Japanese writer Natsume Soseki's same-titled short story collection, Ten Nights of Dreams brings ten fantastical dream sequences to film with great visual and psychological panache. Representing the combined efforts of eleven directors, this outstanding anthology delves into...

High school students, Shun and Nagisa first meet and fall in love with each other during their first year. Years later around the time Shun is about to graduate from university, Nagisa tells him that he can't see a future with him. They make the decision to break up despite Shun’s still strong feelings. Years later, Shun lives alone in a rural area, working as the owner of his own store. But what happens when Nagisa unexpectedly shows up with his 6-year-old daughter Sora, and Shun still harbours feelings for Nagisa. As they begin spending time with each other, can Nagisa accept the feelings he knows have been there all along.

Haru and Reo make up the musical duo Haru-Reo. Despite becoming an overnight success, they decide to disband. However before doing so, they decided to go on one final tour together. Their roadie Shima goes with the girls on the tour. Reo has feelings for Shima, but Shima has feelings for Haru.

While fooling around with a self-made crossbow, Kira accidentally kills his classmate Itsuki. For lack of evidence, the young student is found innocent. However, his trial is widely covered by the mass media, and the following uproar from society won’t leave his family untouched. Based on the question “How would I react to my child commiting a crime?”, Eisuke Naito repeatedly switches angles from youth to parenthood, creating a bleak and compelling drama that blurs the borders between perpetrator and victim.