Raise Your Arms and Twist! Documentary of NMB48

Launched in 2011 as a sister group to girl band behemoth AKB48, the Osaka-based NMB48 has become a musical force itself. With a string of No.1 hit singles and albums, not to mention sell-out performances, NMB48 continues Japan’s pop-music phenomena. Director Funahashi Atsushi, whose documentary work has previously chronicled such harrowing events as the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, pulls back the curtain on the life and struggles of the band members and the workings of the idol-making industry.

Directed by Atsushi Funahashi, Raise Your Arms and Twist! Documentary of NMB48 leans on a strong ensemble — Sayaka Yamamoto, Fuuko Yagura, Ayaka Okita — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2016.