Ayumi is a young and innocent college student who arrives in Tokyo with wide-eyed excitement and hushed apprehension. But two weeks later, she’s a different person. Shot with a Cassavetes-like intimacy Until the Moon Waxes creates a captivating, hypnotic rhythm that emphasizes the subtly shifting moods and relationships of the diverse characters.

Upon her arrival, Ayumi tells her host, Arata, a friend of her brother, that she’d like to visit an area of Tokyo known for its “lady bars.” And with that, her secret is revealed. This fateful night launches Ayumi’s new life as she starts down an electrifying and complex path.

Written, directed, shot and edited by iri, the exciting Japanese filmmaker who founded the Asian Queer Film & Video Festival in Japan, Until the Moon Waxes is a fascinating character study filled with honest emotional moments and candid dialogue. The immediacy of the camera creates a documentary style that fits perfectly with the real transformation of this lovely character as she navigates Tokyo and discovers herself.

Also showing with this program is Ddingdong, in which a twenty-something career woman hears gay bells ringing in her heart for the first time. Keep Walking is a beautifully shot short about the joy and anxiety of two young lesbian lovers as they wander the streets of Hong Ik University in Korea.