Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Instruments of a Beating Heart

Play trailer Poster for Instruments of a Beating Heart 2024 23m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 1 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
First graders in a Tokyo public elementary school are presented with a challenge for the final semester: performing "Ode to Joy" at the ceremony for the new incoming first graders. Ayame, who often struggles to keep up with the group, is determined to play a major part, the big drum.

Critics Reviews

View All (1) Critics Reviews
Christopher Campbell Nonfics (Substack) It’s not just a sweet little documentary made to pull your heartstrings. There’s cultural substance to the film’s depiction of young Japanese students...It’s one of the purest and most perfect observational documentaries I’ve seen in a while. Feb 14, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

View All Cast and Crew

Ema Ryan Yamazaki

Director

Eric Nyari

Producer

Adam Ellick

Executive Producer

Mizue Kunizane

Executive Producer

Akihiko Sugie

Executive Producer

Shin Yasuda

Executive Producer
View All Instruments of a Beating Heart photos

Instruments of a Beating Heart

Instruments of a Beating Heart (2024) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis First graders in a Tokyo public elementary school are presented with a challenge for the final semester: performing "Ode to Joy" at the ceremony for the new incoming first graders. Ayame, who often struggles to keep up with the group, is determined to play a major part, the big drum.
Director
Ema Ryan Yamazaki
Producer
Eric Nyari
Production Co
Cineric Creative, The New York Times, NHK Enterprises, Inc.
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Japanese
Runtime
23m