Following on from releasing info on the outline of Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022, the Opening and Closing films and also the Online Theater, I will now look at many of the Japanese titles that will be featured in cinemas in Osaka. Details below!
So, now that the programme is available people will be able to see some of what I have been viewing and writing about for the last couple of months as a member of OAFF. The festival has a huge range of movies with a record number of 76 in total and many of them are world premieres. I’ll be covering all of the ones that impressed me the most over the next couple of months, so stay tuned.
For now… what follows are the Japanese films across the Competition, Indie Forum, Housen, and Special Screening sections. There is a section dedicated to Satoko Yokohama, too. Here are the synopses I wrote for the festival!
Competition
世界は僕らに気づかない 「Seikatsu wa Bokura ni Kidzukanai」
Release Date: , 2022
Duration: 112 mins.
Director: Kashou Iizuka
Writer: Kashou Iizuka (Screenplay),
Starring: Kazuki Horike, GOW, Masafumi Shinohara, Tomoka Murayama, Kenji Iwaya,
Twitter: @sekaboku_movie
Synopsis: If ever a film lived up to its title, it’s Angry Son which presents a perma-mad protag Jungo (HORIKE Kazuki), a high school student living in rural Ota City, Gunma Prefecture. Audiences are asked to sympathise with his temper tantrums, most of which are aimed at his feisty Filipina mother Reina (GOW). Fortunately, she gives as good as she gets as she and her son navigate aggravating instances of xenophobia, being a single-parent household, and his quest to search for a father he has only ever known through child-support payments.
If you can resist the urge to dislike the angry one, you will find writer/director IIZUKA Kasho’s drama rich with incidents and issues, from exploring homosexuality and the mixed-race experience, to Filipino life in Japan. It always remains entertaining and has a heart-warming tear-jerker of a finale that replaces anger with love thanks to fully fleshed-out side characters offering a hopeful look at people learning to live together.
Indie Forum
バグマティ リバー 「Bagumati Riba-」
Release Date: , 2022
Duration: 29 mins.
Director: Yusaku Matsumoto
Writer: Yusaku Matsumoto (Screenplay),
Starring: Junko Abe, Kenji Kohashi, Man Bahadur Gurung,
Twitter: @kakifuraiyusaku
Synopsis: Natsuki (ABE Junko) travels from Japan to Nepal after she receives an anonymous postcard with a picture of Mt. Everest printed on the back. It reminds her of her brother Kenji, who went missing while attempting to climb Everest. Natsuki has always wondered about his motivations, what kind of person he was, and who he was close to. While Natsuki realises she doesn’t know her brother at all, she still believes that the postcard was sent by him and decides to go to Everest to find the answers to her questions.
Director MATSUMOTO Yusaku initially planned to make a documentary about KURIKI Nobukazu, a well-known mountain climber, but it became a tribute after KURIKI tragically died during an attempt to scale Everest. Shot on location in Nepal with DP KISHI Kentaro (Noise, The Sower), MATSUMOTO uses the story a woman’s ascent of Everest and the film’s audio and visuals to powerfully convey the awe-inspiring landscape, the exertion involved in inhabiting it, and the spiritual lessons it can impart.
蜜月 「Mitsugetsu」
Release Date: March 25th, 2022
Duration: 130 mins.
Director: Hideo Sakaki
Writer: Takehiko Minato (Screenplay),
Starring: Aimi Satsukawa, Mariko Tsutsui, Itsuji Itao, Masatoshi Nagase,
Synopsis: A twisted take on the perversion of female sexuality begins in an old house deep in the mountains. Mizuki (SATSUKAWA Aimi), 32, lives peacefully with her potter husband but things go awry when her step-brother Iori shows up for the first time in 15 years and tells her that her mother (TSUTSUI Mariko) has died. This sets in motion flashbacks that show how their patchwork family was riven by a mother’s “fear of female sexuality,” a teenage girl learning about the power of her body, and the whirlpool of lust that the men in their lives are sucked into..
In this troubling work based on an original screenplay by MINATO Takehiko (Wilderness, Mother), a family history of sexual abuse and misguided rebellion is brought to the screen by SAKAKI Hideo’s (Disregarded People) his eye for precise framing and a performance from lead actress SATSUKAWA Aimi who bravely plays out a woman’s 15-year journey of love, hate, and guilt.
遠くへ,もっと遠くへ 「Toku he, motto Toku he」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 107 mins.
Director: Shinji Imaoka
Writer: Kishu Izuchi (Screenplay),
Starring: Manami Shindo, Kaito Yoshimura, Hitomi Wada, Ippei Osako, Yohta Kawase,
Synopsis: “A marriage is weaker without something in common.”
Sayoko (SHINDO Manami) is a seemingly carefree woman but she hides doubts about her marriage behind her cheerful demeanour. After five years of being in Tokyo, it is apparent that she has little in common with her husband and so she begins scoping out apartments which is how she meets Yohei (YOSHIMURA Kaito), a real estate agent who is nursing a broken heart. As they tour properties, Sayoko’s girlish charms work their magic on the downhearted man and she convinces him to look for the wife who abandoned him but their journey brings the two closer.
This is the latest work by director IMAOKA Shinji in his exploration of the differences between men and women and their love lives. Following on from “Reiko and the Dolphin” (OAFF 2020), number one in Eiga Geijutsu’s Best Japanese Films of 2020, it is a more light-hearted drama that takes advantage of the natural beauty of Hokkaido.
遠吠え 「Toboe」
Release Date: April 16th, 2022
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: Sheikh M Haris
Writer: Sheikh M Haris (Screenplay),
Starring: Ichiro Hashimoto, Yukino Takahashi, Ryoma Ikegami, Sanae Kotani, Takahiro Ono,
Synopsis: Ryuji (HASHIMOTO Ichiro) is a 40-year-old and has no status, no money, no women, and, just after we meet him, no job as he gets fired for sexual harassment. He’s convinced that it’s not his fault, he just needs a chance. Well, fate has more twists in store for Ryuji as he receives an invitation to a school reunion and an offer of a date from Akane (TAKAHASHI Yukino), a 20-year-old woman. Alas, neither situation turns out as expected as Akane asks him to kill her father and the reunion reveals that Ryuji’s first love, Chisato (KOTANI Sanae), has got herself hitched to the bully who tormented them both and she is being abused now. In a state of emotional confusion, Ryuji believes that a recently acquired gun will allow him to change his approach to life.
Of course, Ryuji’s in way over his head in this tale of desperate women and dangerous guys, all of whom are examples of people living on the edge of contemporary society. The pluses of the film is seeing everyone collide together in various artfully shot and well-acted scenes that capture forlorn people in a dark, yet sometimes comic world.
ひかりのどけき 「Hikari no Dokeki」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 104 mins.
Director: Fumito Fujikawa
Writer: N/A
Starring: Masana Hirabuki, Yuki Hirabuki, Shui Hirabuki, Chikasa Hirabuki,
Synopsis: The story begins with a little boy named Syui, a cheerful child who is focussed on going to a museum with his father. Unbeknownst to him, when he returns home, his mother and sister will be gone as his parents have decided to separate. We get a glimpse of what happens to Syui and his family during this period.
In his latest film, FUJIKAWA Fumito (The Name of the Whale (2015), winner of the Audience Award at the 2015 Pia Film Festival) presents a dramamentary shot in the suburbs of Tokyo with a real-life family of four acting out the split. With no script to work from and naturalistic performances from the Hirabuki family based on their everyday lives, FUJIKAWA and his non-professional cast give us an honest snapshot of contemporary city life in Japan in a light but absorbing experience.
Release Date: 2021
Duration: 16 mins.
Director: Shuna Iijima
Writer: Shuna Iijima (Screenplay),
Starring: Kaori Takeshita, Shuna Iijima,
Synopsis: Natsuko (TAKESHITA Kaori) lives with her husband in the countryside. A few times a year, he goes away for two days to meet his daughter from his previous marriage and it is during these times, while waiting for his return, Natsuko deals with her dark emotions.
In this exquisitely shot short, IIJIMA’s experience on screen clearly informs what she records and how as a lively yet observant camera captures the tiniest of gestures from a powerful performance by TAKESHITA Kaori. Through evocative sets and locations, we get Natsuko’s background and her character’s turbulent emotions come out through TAKESHITA’s restless body and dialogue delivery that aches with resignation and frustration.
北新宿2055 「Kita-Shinjuku 2055」
Release Date: 2021
Duration: 30 mins.
Director: Daisuke Miyazaki
Writer: Daisuke Miyazaki (Script),
Starring: Kan a.k.a. GAMI, Tatsuya Nagayama,
Synopsis: In the year 2055, North Shinjuku has become a de facto closed-off community. While it is still a part of Japan, it has its own rules, history, and politics that the locals stick to fiercely. For outsiders, it is a mystery. A journalist rooting around for information on the area scores an unexpected interview with a local big-shot who promises to explain the history and happenings…
MIYAZAKI Daisuke (“Yamato (California)”, “Tourism”, “Videophobia”) returns to OAFF with another unique vision, a sci-fi story that takes the visually striking form of evocative black-and-white photographs and some footage that shows how a district in Tokyo is defined by Hip-Hop and street culture mixed with ritualistic adherence to community codes of conduct. Overlaying that is an urban soundtrack laced with the duelling voices of the journalist and the street king. As you watch and listen, you will get sucked into their conversation and the locale of North Shinjuku.
ボクらのホームパーティー 「Bokura no Ho-mu Pa-ti-」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 80 mins.
Director: Shuichi Kawanobe
Writer: Shuichi Kawanobe, Hiroaki Nosaka (Screenplay),
Starring: Takashi Hashizume, Keiichi Kageyama, Ryo Matsumoto, Hiroshi Yokoro, Keigo Unohara,
Twitter: @BokupaM
Synopsis: Tomoya (HASHIZUME Takashi) is a 21-year-old a university student in Tokyo. A chance encounter with Shoichi (INOURA Ryosuke), a gay bar owner who operates in Shinjuku 2-chome, allows Tomoya the chance to begin articulating his homosexuality. He will have many men to learn from as he is drawn into a house party hosted by Akito (KAGEYAMA Keiichi) and his partner Yasushi (MATSUMOTO Ryo), Naoki (KUBOTA Sho), a gay club owner, and his friend Masashi (UNOHARA Keigo), and Kenichi (YOKORO Hiroshi), a photographer. As the alcohol flows and the party gets exciting, Tomoya works out all is not well with the other guests as their worries and feelings that have been locked away are gradually revealed…
An independently produced film based on director KAWANOBE’s own experiences, he brings to the screen a realistic story of gay life in Tokyo. The film features cinematography from INOMOTO Masami (A Beloved Wife, 2020, Obon Brothers, 2015, Osaka Hamlet, 2008).
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 14 mins.
Director: Akinori Ikuse
Writer: Takuya Matsuura (Screenplay),
Starring: Ucyu Imagawa, So Morozumi,
Synopsis: How will the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 be remembered by people in the future? Outside the grounds of the Olympic Stadium, Rika (IMAGAWA Ucyu), a woman from the future, meets a mysterious man named Shin (MOROZUMI Sou) and discovers he is from another future. What are their true purposes?
Using a unique time-slip concept that draws upon our media-driven age, memories of the momentous occasion of the games’ opening ceremony are explored by these two characters as they make new, sweet memories. Out of TOKYO 202x is an exhilarating moment of discovery, love, and hope filmed during the darkness of the Covid-19 pandemic. The backdrop and visual tricks give a lively atmosphere and the sound design matches it so we really get a sense of summer of spectacle.
アウトソーシング 「Autoso-shingu」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 34 mins.
Director: Yuichiro Sakashita
Writer: Yuichiro Sakashita (Screenplay),
Starring: Tomoya Maeno, Sara Ogawa, Takumi Matsuzawa, Sarara Saito, Mijika Nagai,
Synopsis: Are you an employer or a job hunter? Whatever the case may be, watch this film and get introduced to new ways of hiring talent. Or should that be confused?
In what starts out like a slickly-produced infomercial, we watch HR rep Miyagawa (MAENO Tomoya) of JobLink Inc. show the benefits of outsourcing the task of hiring new employees to a recruitment agency but after his neat little infomercial finishes, a twist happens and we are left wondering who is hiring and who is being hired!
Just in time for the job hunting season comes the latest work from satire specialist SAKASHITA Yuichiro whose gentle but merciless take on the interview process will leave anyone who has Linkedin, Zoomed, or dealt with HR to say Hello to Work with a wry smile.
ランダム・コール 「Randamu Ko-ru」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 83 mins.
Director: Riki Ohkanda
Writer: Riki Ohkanda (Screenplay),
Starring: Tensho Shibuya, Shin Adachi, Ako, Shunsaku Kudo, Yudai Uenishi,
Twitter: @PaprikaGirl_JP
Synopsis: It has been a decade since Ryo (SHIBUYA Tensho) was a leading man in anything and it seems like he has been relegated to a bit part in his own life as he fails auditions and has lost contact with many people around him. A sudden phone call from an old friend introduces him to a social experiment called “Random Call,” the idea being to call people in the phone book and just meet them without any purpose other than to renew ties. With nothing to lose, Ryo tries out the concept himself and meets up with his former acquaintances and friends. As he begins reconnecting with people, his life is filled with human warmth and he finds himself both inspiring others and being inspired by them.
A gentle comedy-drama where the simple concept of human connections is wonderfully explored by an enjoyably egomaniacal leading man who undergoes an effective character arc of learning humility, its message of just being present for others resonates more in an era of separation due to SNS and Covid-19.
Sanka: Nomads of the Mountains 
山歌（サンカ） 「Sanka」
Release Date: April 22nd, 2022
Duration: 77 mins.
Director: Ryohei Sasatani
Writer: Ryohei Sasatani (Screenplay),
Starring: Rairu Sugita, Naru Komukai, Kiyohiko Shibukawa, Kisuke Iida,Shungiku Uchida,
Synopsis: It is 1965, a time of rapid economic growth for Japan and also a time when the people called Sanka, a nomadic band of outcasts, were fading away. Having arrived at his father’s countryside estate from Tokyo to focus on preparing for his high school entrance exam, a lonely 15-year-old named Norio (SUGITA Rairu) encounters three Sanka, first teenage Hana (KOMUKAI Naru), then her father Shozo (SHIBUKAWA Kiyohiko) and her grandmother. Taken under their wing and drawn to their simple and rugged lifestyle, Norio begins to spend his summer days fishing in the rivers and catching snakes in the bush for food. He also witnesses how they are discriminated against by people like his authoritarian father who rejects their illogical lifestyle. With bad blood already existing between Norio and his father, and a hopeless desire to become one with the Sanka, Norio is forced to confront the cruel reality of his age.
Director SASATANI Ryohei shows how humans live as one with nature and the sharp divide between modernity and the environment in this melancholy film about the loss of innocence that calls into mind JISSOJI Akio’s Poem (1972) in setting and story.
人知れず 「Hitoshirezu」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 38 mins.
Director: Sae Suzuki
Writer: Sae Suzuki (Screenplay),
Starring: Manami Usamaru, Akihiro Yamamoto, Sayaka Nakakochi, Natsuki Murata,
Twitter: @saesuzuki_x
Synopsis: Yukie (USAMARU Manami), a dental nurse in a rural town, doesn’t verbalise her true feelings often but she dreams of living by the sea. This is vague desire becomes something more concrete when the relentless power harassment of her boss turns into sexual harassment and she makes the impulsive decision to flee to Tokyo with the clinic’s cash. There, for one day, she can be free to do as she pleases and so she changes her appearance and personality and meets up with a guy on a dating app who is hiding his own inner pain. Together, they offer each other hope for a new life even as their old ones tether them to reality.
Utilising a contrast in landscapes and sets well, director SUZUKI Sae elicits feelings of suffocation and freedom in the life of Yukie as Tokyo becomes a playground for the wounded woman who achieves a sense of peace, something brought out wonderfully by lead actress USAMARU (“Sisterhood” – OAFF2019).
恋がする 「Koigasuru」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 17 mins.
Director: Azusa Hieda
Writer: Azusa Hieda (Screenplay),
Starring: Rika Kurosawa, Daiki Nunami,
Synopsis: The Covid-19 pandemic is ongoing but in one old house, it is just news reports overheard on the radio by two lovers who have secreted themselves away. While the world reels from the chaos caused by the pandemic, they hold a makeshift wedding ceremony. Then, they receive a phone call…
The Covid-19 pandemic caused pain and suffering for many but also came as a time for self-reflection as people started to reassess their lives. This reflection is what comes to life in a subtle but profoundly heartbreaking short that has a bleak apocalyptic atmosphere due to the backdrop of a pandemic, the setting of an old house full of memories of a broken family but decked out with momentary hope, and KUROSAWA Rika’s melancholy performance as her character comes to realise her old life is not in any way healthy for her.
スイッチバック 「Suicchibakku」
Release Date: , 2022
Duration: 97 mins.
Director: Shunnosuke Iwata
Writer: Shunnosuke Iwata (Screenplay),
Starring: Arham Butt, Suzuka Utsumi, Chiemi Mukoyama, Ryoma Amioka, Natsumi Hirose,
Synopsis: We follow a transformative time for 14-year-olds during a summer and winter in Obu city, Aichi Prefecture. Arham (BUTT Arham) is a junior high school kid from the Brazilian community kicking around doing a whole lot of nothing. Classmates Chiemi (MUKOYAMA Chiemi), who comes from the same background, has a talent for art but is seeking to define what she wants in life while basketball player Suzuka (UTSUMI Suzuka) is new in town and is seeking comradeship. The quartet is complete with Eiichiro (AMIOKA Ryoma), a loner. The four are brought together by a workshop run by KISHITANI Rei (HIROSE Natsumi), an inspirational adult who gets them to look at their home of Obu city with new eyes, thus helping them move forward in their own lives. But when Arham discovers that KISHITANI has manipulated them, it creates a sense of betrayal…
Delicate adolescent feelings and the changing landscape of Obu city take centre stage in Switchback, a film that was produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the city’s founding as part of a project designed to support local children who take up the central roles of the film.
幻の蛍 「Maboroshi no Hotaru」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 86 mins.
Director: Yuka Ibayashi
Writer: Hajime Ibuki (Screenplay),
Starring: Konoha Nogishi, Nonoka Ikeda, Seiko Iwaido, Akiko Kikuchi, Hisashi Yoshizawa,
Synopsis: Kanata (NOGISHI Konoha) and her younger sister Sumire (IKEDA Nonoka) have been living apart since their parents’ divorce. Kanata is having trouble adjusting to her new school and is spending her summer holiday helping her mother run her snack bar. When Kanata’s mother suggests that she go to her grandmother’s house for a final summer holiday memory, Kanata heads into the countryside. Once there, Kanata can’t hide her annoyance at the innocent Sumire who bubbles with enthusiasm for the time they will spend together but a trip with Sumire in search of fireflies, which are not supposed to appear during the summer, forces the lonely teen out of her shell.
Director IBAYASHI brings the warmth and charm of her leading cast, who give beguiling naturalistic performances, and also Toyama Prefecture, from the calm city streets to the wonders of the natural world in the surrounding mountains and waterways. The everyday aspects of the environment that might normally get ignored are made visceral and special through IBAYASHI’s cinematic lens.
Indie Forum < Director in Focus: HIGASHI Kahori >
There will be a focus on up-and-coming director HIGASHI Kahori with her MOOSIC LAB film Melting Sounds, which is scheduled for nationwide release in 2022, and her latest work The Residents getting screenings.
ほとぼりメルトサウンズ 「Hotobori Meruto Saunzu」
Release Date: 2021
Duration: 80 mins.
Director: Kahori Higashi
Writer: Kahori Higashi (Screenplay),
Starring: xiangyu, Keiichi Suzuki, Amon Hirai, Umeno Uno, Tadashi Sakata,
Synopsis: An unexpected winter adventure happens for Koto (played by rising musician xiangyu), a young woman taking a solo getaway trip at her grandmother’s former home in the countryside, for when she arrives, she finds an old man named Take (SUZUKI Keiichi) has taken up residence in the garden and that he is recording the sounds of everyday life on cassette tapes and burying them in the ground to create a “sound tomb.” From dogs barking to washing machines whirring, the old man collects sounds and while a normal person might end up calling a relative or the police to mediate, this is a MOOSIC LAB film where music and a truly tear-inducing twist based on mortality lurk beneath the quirky set-up. From the old-fashioned house to the nostalgia-inducing pre-digital way of life that takes place on screen, the film is laced with a certain comfort, especially as the connections between the characters warms the atmosphere to make this a truly charming and moving experience.
暮らしの残像 「Kurashi no Zanzo」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 16 mins.
Director: Kahori Higashi
Writer: Kahori Higashi (Screenplay),
Starring: Toma Hirose, Yukimi Soma, Rin Oka, Shinoka Mashima, Tiffany Fujimoto,
Synopsis: It is summer and we are taken to an apartment in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward which will be overwhelmed by a number of people who claim to be the resident. First it is a woman who has just quit her job, then it is a woman about to start work as a hostess, and a student who is a flautist. Housewives, lovers, aspiring actors, and a young guy seeking work. As more people pile in and make themselves at home, it becomes clearer just who the residents actually are.
A simple yet wonderfully played comedy of manners is just a cover for a strain of melancholy as quirky characters drawn from everyday life come together to reveal more about being residents.
Indie Forum < Special Screenings >
The indie forum hosts two special screenings, the first, Sino-Japanese War in a Toy Film will be screened with a live piano performance, and the documentary YU-GEKI~side story of “Love’s Twisting Path”~ will be screened with the movie it documents the making of, Love’s Twisting Path (2019).
The Second Sino-Japanese War in Toy Films
おもちゃ映画で見た日中戦争 「Omocha Eiga de Mita Nichuusensou」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 94 mins.
Director: Yoneo Ota
Writer: N/A
Starring: N/A
Synopsis: The Second Sino-Japanese War in a Toy Film brings the hidden shadows of the Showa Period to the silver screen as documentary and propaganda footage of the battlefields of China collected from a number of sources are knit together to give a new perspective on history.
Following the enthusiastic response to the 38-minute version of The Second Sino-Japanese War in a Toy Film at last year’s Kyoto International Film and Art Festival, Professor OTA Yoneo has re-edited it to make a 94-minute work which will be given a special screening at OAFF with a live piano performance delivered by YANASHITA Mie, a pioneer in the art of silent film musical accompaniment.
YU-GEKI~side story of “Love’s Twisting Path”~ 
遊撃 –「多十郎殉愛記」外伝– 「Yu-geki-“Tajuro Junaiki” Gaiden- 」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 88 mins.
Director: Tatsuya Matsubara
Writer: N/A
Starring: Sadao Nakajima,
Synopsis: A making-of documentary that follows veteran writer/director NAKAJIMA Sadao as he returns to the director’s chair to bring the jidaigeki Love’s Twisting Path (2019) to the screen. We watch a master of the samurai and yakuza genres take on this job after a five year break following his last film, the documentary “Chambara: The Art of Japanese Swordplay” (OAFF 2016). At the time of shooting Love’s Twisting Path, he had reached the age of 83, however the energy and precision of an exacting and experienced director shines through in his off-the-cuff style and interactions with major movie figures like FUKUMOTO Seizo and KORA Kengo. Alongside the making-of footage are valuable testimonies from collaborators and also photographs and film excerpts from the career and life of NAKAJIMA to hammer home his place in the Japanese movie world.
Special Screening
Joshikosei ni Korosaretai (Tentative) 
女子高生に殺されたい 「Joshikosei ni Korosaretai」
Release Date: April 01st, 2022
Duration: 110 mins.
Director: Hideo Jojo
Writer: Hideo Jojo (Screenplay), Usamaru Furuya (Original Manga)
Starring: Kei Tanaka, Sara Minami, Yumi Kawai, Riko, Mizuki Kayashima, Yuko Oshima,
Joshikosei ni Korosaretai translates into I Want to Be Killed By a High School Girl
Synopsis: HIGASHIYAMA Haruto (TANAKA Kei) is the new history teacher at Nitaka High School. His handsome looks and easygoing demeanour make him a hit with the female students (and probably some boys, too). However, he has a secret he cannot tell anyone… He became a high school teacher because he wanted to be killed by a beautiful high school girl. His bizarre desire has led him to secretly plan his death over a number of years and it is almost time for his death to be realised. All that remains is to find out which student will be the one to do the deed and so he approaches Maho (MINAMI Sara), Aoi (KAWAI Yuumi), Kyoko (Riko), and Aika (KAYASHIMA Mizuki), four beautiful girls with different personalities.
JOJO Hideo’s latest work is a slick yet delicate suspense film adapted from a manga by FURUYA Usamaru, famous for Litchi Hikari Club, so expect something truly eroguro and devilishly beautiful.
Housen
少年、なにかが発芽する 「Shounen, nani ka ga hatsugasuru 」
Release Date: 2022
Duration: 26 mins.
Director: Yuko Watanabe
Writer: FURUKOTO (Screenplay),
Starring: Seitaro Hara, Kanako Higashi, Kenji Iwaya,
Synopsis: It’s not uncommon for kids to resist eating healthy food like broccoli but one mother’s efforts to make her son eat tomatoes is taken to another level with Boy, Sprouted, when the red fruit causes something to sprout from his body. A battle of wills ensues between a boy (HARA Seitaro) who dislikes tomatoes and his mother (HIGASHI Kanako) who wants him to get over his aversion.
Director WATANABE Yuko takes what is an innocuous narrative, generated by “FURUKOTO” a cutting-edge AI dedicated to story generation, and makes a horror film out of it as she subverts a typical domestic situation with audio and visual elements that are on a level beyond some of the ickiest of Cronenberg and some of the intensest and creepiest camerawork of Kubrick’s landmark horror titles. You’ll probably avoid tomato purée for a few days after watching this film.
Just to reiterate previous info. The physical portion of the festival will take place from in cinemas around Osaka from March 10 to 20 as it graces screens at the traditional venues Umeda Burg 7, Cine Libre Umeda, ABC Hall and the National Museum of Art, Osaka.
There are online screenings featuring Japanese indie films and many of these film will be available to international viewers. This part is running from March 3 to 21 via the festivals online portal, OSAKA ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE where people can stream them. The season pass makes everything really affordable.
Check out more details on the official festival website and check back with me as I will be covering the event!