A film about Buddhism, or set in Japan, in honour of the birth of Buddha, celebrated in Japan on April 8 as 花祭り (Hana Matsuri, aka Flower Festival)

“Can't you see that whatever you do is futile? The armies of Britain and Japan can come and fight all they wish. Burma is still Burma. Burma is the Buddha's country.”

– old monk

While stationed in Burma, Mizushima disguises himself as a dhutanga, a wandering Buddhist monk, burying the remains of his fellow Japanese soldiers.

Basketball: the final day of March Madness

 

The first full-colour Chinese sports film and an example of how “state feminism” was promoted through popular media, often in opera but also in more humanist form.

Set in Chicago (or pizza) for National Deep Dish Pizza Day, USA.

 

A Polish factory worker hopes to find a better life when he picks up boxing. Initially unsuccessful. he finds himself in Chicago, facing an amateur boxer below his ranking.

An autistic actor or character for World Autism Awareness Day

“Celui qui n’a jamais rien dit

a cinquante ans d’âge

et ne dira jamais rien

s’est appris à lire

dans les moindres gestes”

– Fernand Deligny, Essi & Copeaux. Derniers écrits et aphorismes, via

Fernand Deligny was an educator who promoted play and exploration, as opposed to drugs and force, to open up the lives of young nonverbal, autistic people. We follow Yves Guignard, one of Deligny's “patients”, who, in his own wordless rhythm shows us his world.

 

Over time, the film was forgotten and even lost, until it was found in a tree, then completed with a narrative and soundtrack in 1969, selected for the 1971 Cannes Film Festival and praised by Cahiers du Cinéma, lost once more, and eventually – with support of Chris Marker – restored and brought to a wider audience.

A fool or jokester for April Fools' Day

 

As a child, Shri Krishna, the eighth avatar of Lord Vishnu, was a prankster. The Lord and his childhood friends would steal makhan and, if there was too much to eat all at once, would share it with the monkeys.

 

Kaliya Mardan is one of the handful films from India's early cinematic output that has survived. Do check your attic

A father for OP's father's birthday.

 

A father, and proud teacher, raises his son alone. When the boy is an adult and a teacher himself, the elder's traditional concept of societal hierarchy affirms the balance between the generations.

Mythology on the date Wrath of the Titans (2012) was released.

 

With their shaman lost to alcohol, villagers make their way to a diviner in the hope to appease Chac, the rain god.

“This is the account of when all is still silent and placid.   All is silent and calm.   Hushed and empty is the womb of the sky.”

– Popul Vuh, The Primordial World

Filmed in the forests of Tenejapa, Chiapas, Chac is probably the first film completely in Tzotzil, one of several Maya languages, and based on themes found in the Popol Vuh.

Something buried: discovery of the Terracotta Army on March 29, 1974

 

A German history teacher, unhappy with the standardised history textbooks she has to work with, literally digs up her nation's past and sees how it is reflected in modern society.