Happy Weekend!
I hope you are well.
This is the third of three trailer posts – you can find the first one here and the second one here.
News broke yesterday that Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75 has been chosen to be the Japanese submission for the Best International Film Film award at next year’s Academy Awards.
The BFI London Film Festival announced their films and the Japanese highlights are Koji Fukada’s Love Life and Sho Miyake Small, Slow But Steady.
As for me, I watched The Stone Tape (1972), The Matsugane Potshot Affair (2006) and that was it. I also completed Dragon’s Crown on PS Vita.
I posted a review of While the Women are Sleeping (2016) and Werner Herzog’s Heart of Glass (1977).
What are the rest of the films released this weekend?
Tyida 
てぃだ いつか太陽の下を歩きたい 「Teida Itsuka Taiyou no shita arukitai」
Release Date: September 02nd, 2022
Duration: 98 mins.
Director: Yuji Nakamae
Writer: Yukiko Into (Script),
Starring: Fumika Baba, Shizuka Nakamura, Yuji Nakamae, Yui Imaizumi, Sho Aoyagi, Takashi Nishina,
Synopsis: Madoka Takahashi lives in Tokyo where she works in a factory and takes care of her mother who is terminally ill. She also has an abusive boyfriend. All told, her experience is pretty miserable. Pushed to her limit, she abandons her old life and moves to Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, a place with wonderful scenery and warm people who take care of her and give her tours of the island. Slowly, Madoka’s heart begins to open to the people of the island. However, on the day of the Ishigaki Marathon, an incident occurs…
Ore o Hayaku Shikei ni Shiro! 
俺を早く死刑にしろ！ 「Ore o Hayaku Shikei ni Shiro!」
Release Date: September 03rd, 2022
Duration: 102 mins.
Director: Naomi Takayama
Writer: Naomi Takayama (Script),
Starring: Keisuke Nishimura, Yuna Miyata, Chiharu Shinkawa, Kanami Ohkuma, Shoji Yuki, Kenichi Morita,
A film adaptation of the play of the same name staged by the theatrical company Team N’s in 2020.
Synopsis: Wataru Sakuma murders his mother and two sisters in order to get the death penalty. When Satsuki, a Christian chaplain, comes to him, he finds that his heart begins to change.
Kienai Niji 
消えない虹 「Kienai Niji」
Release Date: September 03rd, 2022
Duration: 106 mins.
Director: Ichiro Shimada
Writer: Ichiro Shimada (Script),
Starring: Shusaku Uchida, Naoki Inotsume, Kina Yazaki, Masumi Nomura, Miyu Yoshimoto,
Synopsis: Kaoru Tsukinoki is a newspaper reporter who is about to get married but she has memories of her younger sister who died at the age of 13 due to a friend named Akira. When Kaoru investigates the death of a female student who has fallen from the roof of her junior high school, she finds connections to herself that lead to a reunion with Akira.
Gravity and Radiance 
重力の光 祈りの記録篇 「Juuryoku no Hikari Inori no Kiroku-hen」
Release Date: September 03rd, 2022
Duration: 72 mins.
Director: Umi Ishihara
Writer: N/A
Starring: Kiyoshi Kikukawa, Nobuyuki Nishihara, Kanna Murakami, Tomoko Okuda, Masayo Kawauchi,
Synopsis: Umi Ishihara of The Garden Apartment (2018) brings a documentary set in a church in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, where the congregation that includes a former Buddhist priest, a former homeless person, and an abuse victim, perform the Passion of Christ. They combine that story with passages that depict the hardships they have endured and what they are experiencing right now.
Benibana no Moribito 
紅花の守人 いのちを染める 「Benibana no Moribito Inochi o Someru」
Release Date: September 03rd, 2022
Duration: 85 mins.
Director: Koichi Sato
Writer: N/A
Starring: Kiyoshi Kikukawa, Nobuyuki Nishihara, Kanna Murakami, Tomoko Okuda, Masayo Kawauchi, Miki Imai (Narrator),
Koichi Sato is a documentarian who has produced many films set in Yamagata Prefecture. His latest features the narration of Miki Imai, the voice of Taeko in Isao Takahata’s Only Yesterday (1991). There’s a reason for her inclusion and you’ll find out when you read the synopsis!
Synopsis: This documentary follows farmers and artisans over four years of safflower cultivation and dyeing. This was depicted in Only Yesterday. This dye has a long history involving Japan’s imperial factory, the threat of fading away due to the rise of chemical dyes during the Meiji period (1868-1912), and the ban on its cultivation by the government during World War II. Safflower dye is extracted in small amounts from the flowers but it can express delicate tints that cannot be produced with scientific dyes.
Hodokesouna iki 
ほどけそうな、息 「Hodokesouna iki」
Release Date: September 03rd, 2022
Duration: 44 mins.
Director: Masato Ozawa
Writer: Masato Ozawa, Moe Saito (Script),
Starring: Karin Ono, Sarara Tsukifune, Aika Yukihira, Atom Mizuishi, Shuna Iijima, Yukari Tachibana,
Masato Ozawa came into focus internationally with Remiges (2013), a drama about child abuse. His latest is a social drama based on a true story which the filmmakers adapted for the screen by interviewing people at the Child Guidance Centre.
The lead actress is Karin Ono, a rising star who appeared in Ordinary Everyday (2018) and Ribbon (2022). Shuna Iijima of Bad Poetry Tokyo (2017) also appears.
Synopsis: Kasumi works as a child welfare officer at a Child Guidance Centre but it is tough going and she has doubts about her job and workplace. When she is assigned the case of Hina, a 9-year-old girl temporarily taken into care due to parental neglect, Kasumi faces a big challenge as to what to do especially since Hina’s parents profess remorse and it seems that the girl should be able to return home, but…