Yusuke KINOSHITA

Director / Screenwriter

Title

"Children of the Empire"

Format / Genre

Format: Feature Film | 90 min
Genre: Coming of age / Family drama

Logline

A ten-year-old boy longs to become the family heir and earn his father’s love. When told to abandon his war-scarred brother, he defies his father to save him.

Concept

Japan, 1945. Even after defeat, a wealthy family that controls a vast industrial empire remains obsessed with strength. Ten-year-old Mamoru wants to earn his father’s approval and become the family heir. As his missing brother returns from the war and begins to fall apart, Mamoru listens for the voice his brother cannot put into words. For the first time, the boy encounters pain, his family’s crimes, and memories that are about to be erased. Questioning the strength his family believes in, and torn between the father and brother he loves, Mamoru discovers his own sense of justice. Set in a haunted mansion haunted by the ghosts of war, the film portrays a family in which love, hatred, and domination have become inseparable—and a boy seeking freedom from that world.

Profile

Born in Tokyo. He spent his elementary school years in Australia. He graduated from Waseda University. His independent film Bird Cage won awards at the 2003 Pia Film Festival. Through the PFF Scholarship, he directed his first feature, Water Flower. It premiered at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival. It was released nationwide in Japan, beginning at Eurospace. In 2012, he directed NOTHING UNUSUAL, produced by UPLINK. In 2018, he directed Mischievous Alliance, a segment of the omnibus film Ten Years Japan, executive produced by Hirokazu Kore-eda. The international project involved Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan. It premiered at the Busan International Film Festival. It was released in the theaters nationwide in Japan, beginning at Theatre Shinjuku, as well as in Hong Kong and Korea. He has participated in international co-production workshops and markets, including Ties That Bind, Talents Tokyo, and Golden Horse FPP. His current project, Children of the Empire, was selected for the VIPO Film Lab NY Script Workshop and ATMOVIE GLOBAL TRACK. In 2026, he founded Spectra Co., Ltd.