The Japan Foundation, University of Oklahoma’s Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the Department of Film and Media Studies, the Ned Hockman Speaker Series and deadCenter Continuum collaborate to bring the series Unspoken Gestures: Films of Shô Miyake with this special FREE screening of Small, Slow But Steady (2022) with director Shô Miyake in attendance.

Based on the boxing memoir Makenaide!, by Keiko Ogasawara', Small, Slow But Steady (2022) is a study of the daily life and perseverance of def pro-boxer Keiko Ogawa by Japanese filmmaker Shô Miyake, who's work often focuses on outsiders and coming-of-age depictions of friendship.

Small, Slow But Steady premiered at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival and won the 2023 Kinema Junopo Awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. Miyake's recent film Two Seasons, Two Strangers (2025) won the Golden Leopard for Best Film at the 2025 Locarno Film Festival.

Critic Robert Daniels says the "This is a movie about life, and how the meaning of sports extends beyond mere championships," Critic Jonathan Romney finds the film's "against-the-grain study genuinely alluring," and Critic Jessica Kiang praises the film as a "graceful vindication for the millions of valiant souls who decide, every day, to fight."

6:30 pm - Oklahoma City Museum of Art Film Society Members Reception
7:00 pm - Film Screens

Following the film will be a moderated discussion with director Shô Miyake.

Special thanks to Allied Arts and Hockman Family Filmmakers Fund, whose generous grants made this programming possible.