Winner of the New Directors competition at San Sebastian, Hiroshi Okuyama's strikingly original and playful debut follows a young Yura who makes friends with an imaginary Jesus.

Following his Grandfather’s death, nine-year-old Yura moves with his parents from Tokyo to a countryside town to live with his widowed grandmother. Enrolled at the nearest school - which happens to be a Christian establishment - shy Yura must adapt to his new life. At first he struggles with the religious enthusiasm of his classmates but when, in the midst of prayer, a very small Jesus (played energetically by Australian comedian Chad Mullane) manifests himself, the boy finds himself with a new friend who makes his every wish come true…

Deadpan in its oddball humour, Jesus carves out territory somewhere between whimsy and WTF – but behind the gentle and playful veneer Okuyama directs a sensitive, subtle drama about religion and the way children perceive the world.

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